Trapped Dead Review
Iceberg Interactive was kind enough to send a copy of “Trapped Dead” to us for review. Quick points, the game has been released overseas since 2010 and has only recently come to the United States. Trapped Dead was awarded “Best Action Game 2010″ in Germany, so it is coming to us with a bit of a reputation. Iceberg is quoted as describing the game as, “The First-time ever tactical zombie survival game.” So far on paper it sounds pretty good to us as lovers of video games and zombies.
First impressions are pretty good going in. I’m liking the artwork, the 1980′s style from classic zombie films. I can even appreciate (at first) the cheesy voice acting, staying in line with the 80′s horror theme. Even the story line is a little bit refreshing for this genre that has been beaten to death with the same catalyst of zombie creation. Trapped Dead’s take is that genetically engineered food from Missouri is turning the residents of this small town into zombies.
Fryin’ Some Zombies
Going through the first level I started to notice a few things I liked and others not so much. The graphics are alright for what the game is, it’s nothing that will win any points or awards… at least from us. The controls and camera movements seem to be a little bit tricky but I just figure that it will take some time getting used to. The combat seems pretty straight forward with just clicking on the zombie and telling your character to smash it’s skull in. You can also use the environment against them by dropping a car on an unsuspecting zombies head.
Moving on through the other levels, my frustration started to grow. The controls were just killing any kind of fun this game was providing. It’s as if they took the character and camera controls from the Sims 2 and threw them into a highly tactical zombie killing game. This seems ridiculous because I’m not telling my Sim to go to the fridge and eat a snack. I’m telling a group of survivors, one at a time, to change weapons, reload, move, and kill zombies.
Hoards of Zombies
Added to this frustration of the controls is that there is a vagueness and delay with every command. It seems you have a 50/50 chance of your character actually doing what you want him to do. However, the game does let you pause to give your party commands. Thinking you’ve successfully laid out a master plan to take a group of zombies down, you take the game off pause. That’s when your carefully laid plan turns to shit and your characters do whatever the fuck they want.
I don’t like to say a game is hard, just that you have to figure out how to play it right. But yeah, this game is hard. You will die and have to go all the way back to your save point all the time. Each time this happens, you will want to just give up and play something else. However, being stubborn and proud I enjoy a good challenge… even if I am not having fun. But after telling my character to beat a zombie to death with a baseball bat and having him walk up to the zombie and do NOTHING for the hundredth time, I gave up. The game didn’t beat me, the controls did… yes, it cheated.
Trapped Dead has all the right ideas for something that could have been a really good game. I like that it is tactical and you get to use that to your advantage. This isn’t Dead Rising where you just mow through zombies, you have to go in with a plan. In the end, without the controls to implement this, the game fails at what it was trying to achieve.
Concept:
It’s the 1980′s, survive the zombies.
Graphics:
Acceptable for this game, but could really use some improvement.
Sound:
The voice acting is extremely cheesy. However, it adds to the 1980′s horror effect. Other than that, the sound quality is nothing exceptional.
Playability:
The tactical approach to Trapped Dead is something new and we like this. If it wasn’t for the controls, we would have given a much higher score.
Entertainment:
Tactical approach will constantly challenge you. However, it does get old quickly.
Re-playability:
The situations are always a little bit different. The AI also helps keep things fresh. With this said, I would probably not replay the game.
