It’s 2023 and over the weekend I unintentionally stayed up far later than I anticipated replaying Undead Nightmare on my Nintendo Change. Not solely am I having a candy time with the 13-year-old growth, however I’m excited that among the best zombie video games ever made, and considered one of Rockstar’s biggest hits, is lastly accessible to extra individuals by way of the newly launched Change and PS4 ports. It’s only a disgrace they value $50.
Whereas the unique Pink Useless Redemption was a grounded and gritty story of revenge and attempting to flee one’s previous, the western’s one and solely single-player growth went a really completely different course. Undead Nightmare, launched on October 26, 2010, was a paid growth that added a complete new mini-campaign for RDR gamers. The creepy growth added spooky creatures and lethal zombies to the huge open world of Pink Useless Redemption. After his household will get contaminated by the undead curse, RDR’s protagonist and former outlaw John Marston grabs a shotgun and a lasso and heads out into the zombie-infested prairies and deserts to save lots of his spouse and son, and probably the world.
And now the unique recreation and its beloved growth are mixed right into a single launch on Change and PS4. And fortunately, the Change port is a strong solution to play this zombified western.
Undead Nightmare remains to be completely creepy and enjoyable in 2023
There’s lots to like about Undead Nightmare, however what retains me coming again to it each few years is the ambiance and vibe of its zombie-filled open world. In Undead Nightmare, particularly throughout the early portion of the DLC, you’re outnumbered and always weak to the undead lurking across the complete map. There aren’t any automobiles or huge buildings to cover in. That is the Previous West. Machine weapons are large and impractical, ammo is spare, weapons aren’t correct, and horses present little safety from a horde of hungry contaminated. Exploring the creepy and haunted world of Undead Nightmare feels terrifying and unnerving in a manner most zombie video games fail to seize.
Serving to the vibes of Undead Nightmare lots is the unbelievable music, taking a few of the themes and devices present in the primary RDR soundtrack and twisting them into horror-inspired tunes that add an exquisite bizarre west vibe to the motion.
Additionally serving to the vibes: The complete world is spooky and harmful. Each character you meet is out of their minds, individuals get eaten by zombies always, Bigfoot and the Chupacabra run wild, and even the moon is a pale, sickly inexperienced. As you journey from city to city, serving to push again the horde of undead and securing short-term protected havens for survivors, you’ll all the time really feel such as you’re enjoying by means of some grindhouse-era horror movie about cowboys and zombies. It’s fantastic, and the proper recreation to play throughout Halloween.
In my time with the brand new port on Nintendo’s ageing console, I hardly ever bumped into efficiency points. The one main exception occurred throughout fights with large hordes of zombies and survivors. Right here the sport would begin to chug for a bit, much like the way it performed on the Xbox 360 again within the day. (On a extra constructive observe: The PS4 model didn’t buckle almost at throughout related giant horde fights.)
It’s disappointing that every one these years later, on a brand new console, this $50 port doesn’t carry something new to the desk like a 60fps mode or enhanced visuals. It’s additionally a disgrace that Undead Nightmare’s on-line zombie horde mode is absent from the Change and PS4 variations of the sport, as that mode was a ton of enjoyable with mates.
Nonetheless, in case you can overlook the lacking on-line modes and the shortage of visible upgrades or tweaks, it is a implausible solution to play Undead Nightmare. I can think about taking the Change out on a tenting journey into the woods and enjoying this spooky recreation at night time round a campfire, leaping at each noise you hear from the darkness round you. It’s simply that the excessive price ticket may understandably maintain some people away till Pink Useless Redemption’s new ports go on sale.
