Tower Defense games usually follow a certain formula. As a rule, the object is to protect your base, build structure-like gun turrets, and repair any damage while fending off hordes of enemies.
Dead Block by Candygun Games incorporates the same formula from the Tower Defense genre, but with zombies, indoor environments seen from a 3rd person perspective, and a team of three survivors that discover each other later.
Your adventure begins as Jack, a muscular construction worker trapped inside a garage. There’s very little time to think as zombies begin to crawl through windows and walk through doorways. The object is to break down your environment – cabinets, cupboards, seats, sinks, etc. – into useable pieces of wood and metalscrap to build blockades and traps. This is done by rapidly pressing the B button.
The first blockade allows you to board up windows with wood collected from destroyed objects. After selecting the trap with the D-pad, you approach a window and press the A button. A small bar appears with a nail that slides back and forth. There is a green patch that indicates when A button should be pressed. If this is done correctly each time, the barricade becomes stronger. Missing these green segments will cause the barricade to be weaker, allowing the zombies to break through quicker.
Additional traps can be acquired depending on the character being played. While every character has the window barricade ability, character Jack can create a freeze trap on doors and windows. As you would guess, the zombies freeze when they come in contact with this device, making it much easier to kill them. Some of the other traps include a cardboard box that blinds zombies and a disease trap that dispenses waste. Your arsenal also includes Nail Guns, Hamburger smart bombs, meat that can be fried on radiators, and a melee weapon that can be upgraded via power ups.
The object of each level is to survive the overwhelming zombie menace while piecing together guitar equipment. While you’re scampering around the locale breaking items and digging through boxes, you’re also collecting coins for the soda machine and jukebox. The jukebox is very important; it can be used as a weapon when there are too many zombies. When activated, any zombies that are inside the room will begin to headbang until they explode. This is usually a good time to repair any broken traps and / or window barriers.
Soda machines will dispense health if you have coins in your inventory, so use the coins you find sparingly. Sometimes it’s between healing yourself and using the jukebox to fend off the undead, and unfortunately, what you choose is always a gamble.
Gamers looking for a quick melee fix will not find it in Dead Block. While melee combat is possible, the game advocates problem solving over button mashing. Combat is fairly one-sided; the survivors inflict very little damage. Even with melee upgrades available, the zombies still overpower the player. Dead Block requires the player to wear his/her thinking cap while playing. You will spend most of your time breaking objects, collecting items, running, and piecing together a guitar kit to rock your way out of the level.
Once the guitar kit is assembled (i.e. amp, speaker and guitar), a Rock Band-like QTE appears, with buttons resembling the joypad. If you can keep the rhythm, a rock song plays making every zombie in the level dance. The level will end and you are graded on your performance. It’s an interesting way to survive a zombie apocalypse that’s for sure.
Dead Block isn’t without its issues: the camera will sometimes zoom in on corners when you’re breaking chairs and tables. You can rotate the camera with the right analog stick, but this doesn’t reset the vantage point. This will leave you vulnerable until you are finished destroying the object in question.
The gameplay never seems to evolve beyond barricading windows, setting up traps, and using the same failsafes to survive. Basically, it can become repetitive after a few levels.This is a shame; Dead Block’s concept has so much potential. Hopefully, developer Candygun Games will consider adding more variety in either an update or a sequel.
Dead Block isn’t a bad game; it offers enough content to keep Tower Defense gamers busy. If you can overlook the repetitive gameplay and the occasional camera glitch, Dead Block will certainly keep you entertained.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Candygun Games
Publisher: Digital Reality
ESRB: T (Teen)
Price: 800 MS Points
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| The graphics are decent; they look very cartoonish. | |
| Sound | |
| Dead Block offers a variety of rock 'n roll sound tracks. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Despite its repetitive nature, Dead Block is still fun to play. | |
| Overall |  |
|---|---|
| Tower Defense gamers will find Dead Block a refreshing take on the genre. | |
