Spartan Rex
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Red Dead Redemption: Zombies Ate My Everything
Rockstar's upcoming add-on will fill your tummy with delicious brains.
October 14, 2010
by Erik Brudvig
I recently sat down with Rockstar to play about an hour's worth of the upcoming expansion to Red Dead Redemption, dubbed Undead Nightmare. I was not prepared for how massive this downloadable add-on is. For just 10 bucks (800 Microsoft points), Rockstar is adding what nearly amounts to a whole new game. There's a roughly six hour storyline, complete with cutscenes and new music. There are all new enemies, mounts to ride, outfits to wear, side-quests and challenges. There's even new multiplayer content (which I can't talk about until next week). This download is, to put it succinctly, absolutely huge. And it's all going to be available October 26.
Rather than continuing where Red Dead Redemption left off, Undead Nightmare is a side-story to the main campaign. Once you have it downloaded, you can select it from the main menu screen and hop straight into a tale of zombacalyptic proportions. This is a complete side-story -- everything you do in Undead Nightmare does not interact with your game progress in the main game.
The story goes like this: An infection is sweeping through the land, turning everyone into zombie shells of their former selves. As John Marston, it's up to you to discover the source of the outbreak and set things right. The brief bit of the actual storyline I played showed that Rockstar is clearly approaching this add-on with a sense of humor. The cutscene featured the old grave robber Seth -- as loony as ever -- trying to play poker with a zombified version of his old pal Moses. Things don't work out that well.
After watching this little introduction, I got to ride out into the countryside to see how different this alternate universe actually is. The landscape is the same, but just about everything else feels drastically altered. Buildings and towns are in disarray, overrun with the undead. The infection has even spread to animals as bats fly overhead and zombie wolves nip at your heels. Should your horse die and you whistle for him, you'll find a zombie version comes racing back. They look awesome and have better endurance and speed than your average horse, though they don't always follow directions.
Zombie horses are pretty sweet, but they're not what you'll wind up riding for long. Mythical creatures, including the four horses of the apocalypse, can be found in this add-on. I managed to find War, a horse with flames for hair that would ignite any zombies that shambled too close. Also up for grabs, if you can break them, are Death (it instantly explodes zombie heads on contact) and Famine and Pestilence (both have unlimited stamina and can't be killed).
Eventually, you'll want to get off your horse and get face to face with the zombies. That's when you'll find that the entire map is infested, including most every town and settlement, and that you can't camp or sleep anywhere that zombies exist. To get to a bed, you'll need to clear out an overrun town. You can do that either by providing the leftover townsfolk with supplies or by killing all of the zombies yourself. In exchange, you'll get a place to sleep and a few crates full of ammo -- a big prize in a world where the economy has crumbled and the only real currency is bullets.
But then, even after you clear out a town, the zombies will eventually come back. They always do.
There are a bunch of other side quests to keep you busy. Clearing out the five graveyards -- the equivalent of gang hideouts – is a big one. Others include new ambient challenges, or rescuing missing people (the Undead Nightmare equivalent of hunting down wanted criminals).
The Zombies are pretty tough, as you'll quickly learn. Bullets to the body don't do much. To thin the hordes, you'll want to aim for the head – it helps conserve precious ammo as well. Making matters worse, there are four different varieties of undead, ranging from simple zombies to fast moving Bolters all the way up to big Bruisers and a type that spits toxic bile for a ranged attack.
Thankfully, there are some new weapons to use against them. Holy water, zombie bait, and boom bait are new items that can be tossed into a crowd for massive damage. There's also a blunderbuss that uses zombie bits and pieces as ammunition. Scavenge any killed zombie for parts and you'll get fingers, eyes and limbs to shove in this shotgun of sorts. It's easily the most powerful weapon in the game -- a single shot will cause any zombie to explode into a mist of blood. That also makes it so you can't scavenge any zombies killed with the blunderbuss, limiting its overall use.
Rockstar really went all out on this download. It's not just a cosmetic change -- this feels like a whole new world to explore. Just go ahead and lasso a zombie. Listening to it groan and watching it randomly kick about while I tied it up was downright hilarious.
Remember, mark your calendars for October 26. The Undead Nightmare is coming just in time for Halloween. Stay tuned for IGN's review.
Cue the Benny Hill theme
Rockstar's upcoming add-on will fill your tummy with delicious brains.
October 14, 2010
by Erik Brudvig
I recently sat down with Rockstar to play about an hour's worth of the upcoming expansion to Red Dead Redemption, dubbed Undead Nightmare. I was not prepared for how massive this downloadable add-on is. For just 10 bucks (800 Microsoft points), Rockstar is adding what nearly amounts to a whole new game. There's a roughly six hour storyline, complete with cutscenes and new music. There are all new enemies, mounts to ride, outfits to wear, side-quests and challenges. There's even new multiplayer content (which I can't talk about until next week). This download is, to put it succinctly, absolutely huge. And it's all going to be available October 26.
Rather than continuing where Red Dead Redemption left off, Undead Nightmare is a side-story to the main campaign. Once you have it downloaded, you can select it from the main menu screen and hop straight into a tale of zombacalyptic proportions. This is a complete side-story -- everything you do in Undead Nightmare does not interact with your game progress in the main game.
The story goes like this: An infection is sweeping through the land, turning everyone into zombie shells of their former selves. As John Marston, it's up to you to discover the source of the outbreak and set things right. The brief bit of the actual storyline I played showed that Rockstar is clearly approaching this add-on with a sense of humor. The cutscene featured the old grave robber Seth -- as loony as ever -- trying to play poker with a zombified version of his old pal Moses. Things don't work out that well.
After watching this little introduction, I got to ride out into the countryside to see how different this alternate universe actually is. The landscape is the same, but just about everything else feels drastically altered. Buildings and towns are in disarray, overrun with the undead. The infection has even spread to animals as bats fly overhead and zombie wolves nip at your heels. Should your horse die and you whistle for him, you'll find a zombie version comes racing back. They look awesome and have better endurance and speed than your average horse, though they don't always follow directions.
Zombie horses are pretty sweet, but they're not what you'll wind up riding for long. Mythical creatures, including the four horses of the apocalypse, can be found in this add-on. I managed to find War, a horse with flames for hair that would ignite any zombies that shambled too close. Also up for grabs, if you can break them, are Death (it instantly explodes zombie heads on contact) and Famine and Pestilence (both have unlimited stamina and can't be killed).
Eventually, you'll want to get off your horse and get face to face with the zombies. That's when you'll find that the entire map is infested, including most every town and settlement, and that you can't camp or sleep anywhere that zombies exist. To get to a bed, you'll need to clear out an overrun town. You can do that either by providing the leftover townsfolk with supplies or by killing all of the zombies yourself. In exchange, you'll get a place to sleep and a few crates full of ammo -- a big prize in a world where the economy has crumbled and the only real currency is bullets.
But then, even after you clear out a town, the zombies will eventually come back. They always do.
There are a bunch of other side quests to keep you busy. Clearing out the five graveyards -- the equivalent of gang hideouts – is a big one. Others include new ambient challenges, or rescuing missing people (the Undead Nightmare equivalent of hunting down wanted criminals).
The Zombies are pretty tough, as you'll quickly learn. Bullets to the body don't do much. To thin the hordes, you'll want to aim for the head – it helps conserve precious ammo as well. Making matters worse, there are four different varieties of undead, ranging from simple zombies to fast moving Bolters all the way up to big Bruisers and a type that spits toxic bile for a ranged attack.
Thankfully, there are some new weapons to use against them. Holy water, zombie bait, and boom bait are new items that can be tossed into a crowd for massive damage. There's also a blunderbuss that uses zombie bits and pieces as ammunition. Scavenge any killed zombie for parts and you'll get fingers, eyes and limbs to shove in this shotgun of sorts. It's easily the most powerful weapon in the game -- a single shot will cause any zombie to explode into a mist of blood. That also makes it so you can't scavenge any zombies killed with the blunderbuss, limiting its overall use.
Rockstar really went all out on this download. It's not just a cosmetic change -- this feels like a whole new world to explore. Just go ahead and lasso a zombie. Listening to it groan and watching it randomly kick about while I tied it up was downright hilarious.
Remember, mark your calendars for October 26. The Undead Nightmare is coming just in time for Halloween. Stay tuned for IGN's review.
Cue the Benny Hill theme
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