Review: Red Dead Redemption - Undead nightmare DLC

Red Dead Redemption is the latest of Rockstar games iconic sandbox free roam games taking place in the dieing west. You play as John Marston; one of the last true cowboys and you are seeking to redeem you're past by doing the governments dirty work for them by hunting down you're old gang. However in there latest DLC it is not government you are working for or former gang members you are killing... But zombies!

That’s right Red Dead Redemption has released it's fourth DLC Undead Nightmare and if zombie cougars weren't enough to put the fright into you then get ready for our review on this DLC. As gamers we are not new to the zombie genre as there are many out there like Left 4 Dead, Call of duty 5 Nazi Zombies and Dead Rising. But Undead Nightmare adds a whole new element to it that we have not seen before and that is the robust and extremely well designed open world you have gotten used to with Rockstar games with a zombie apocalypse twist in it.

This time unlike the other DLC packages offered for the game it brings it's first single player experience to the game. You start out once again as John Marston after you get almost to the end of the normal story mode. After a series of strange events your wife and son become infected with the virus and to Johns dismay and courage he sets out to find a cure taking him to all the places you remember from the normal storyline and even meeting a few of the characters you come across in it. It also offers up two new weapons into the mix which are the Blunderbuss which fires zombie limbs out of it causing devastating damage and the torch which replaces the knife to light the undead on fire whilst at the same time bashing them with a blunt melee weapon.

You also have the chance while wandering the undead west to find and break the four horses of the apocalypse being war, famine, pestilence and death all with different abilities that when rode into an undead does something different for each one. At the same time there are other animals like Sasquatch and a unicorn you can also break which rides majestically and has a rainbow stream come out of it's behind when you ride it which is kind of funny. And then there are the undead animals that roam... you will have a chance to ride some undead horses, kill some undead bears, wolves, cougars and coyotes and feel satisfied when you can say “I killed an undead bear that was not only 400 pounds but also on fire!”

However this is not the only thing this DLC offers. What it comes with is a multiplayer game mode called Undead Overrun and it is a 2-4 player co-op which is a mode where it
is not a matter of if you will die, it is a matter of when... There are several maps taking you to various places all of which are based around graveyards of the old west so you can almost guess where they will be placed at but this new game mode offers a rich experience that will keep you on the edge of you're seat once the waves start getting higher and higher. I myself entered a game with my posse of 3 and we got to work with the normal headshot after headshot doing out best to survive until it got to around wave 7 and we realized it was time to dig our heels in as there were no more ammunition drops and we were running low on ammo as the undead hordes came in much larger groups and were harder to kill... We fought hard but we only made it to wave 13 which is testament to the fact that an undead apocalypse would be one hell of an experience and an almost unsurvivable one at
that.

However some thing did not live up to what we thought like for example the two new weapons, now as fun as it is to literally blow an undead to nothing but a blood smear it just did not come through as an all-time fun weapon to have as when used on other players it does not do what it would to a zombie which was disappointing. And the torch as well did not live up to what we had though as the bashes it had were not strong enough to kill zombies as we would have liked but instead relying on the fire it caused to kill them. All would be fantastic until you face some of the stronger enemies like the bear or the bruisers and a fight can last up to 5 minutes trying to kill one creature with this torch.

The single player experience itself was not gripping as it was in the normal storyline as it almost rushes through the entire experience and it almost made you feel like you were in a dreamworld as much of the story did not line up with the man storyline however this is to be expected as the title of the DLC is “Undead Nightmare” but what is probably most disappointing of all is the fact that there is no zombie free roam in the multiplayer. It was asked by many and it was just too good of an idea to pass up but it was not delivered sadly. But overall it has a decent replay value if you want to just go back into the old west and save some town and perhaps finish off the 8 side missions that are offered
through the singe player game.

However for only 800 Microsoft points and 9.99$ PSN (7.99$ PSN+ users) it is quite a steal and should be a must-buy for anyone who is a Red Dead Redemption fan or just looking to purchase there first Red Dead DLC as it is so far the most enjoyable of them all. And for that we thank you Rockstar for giving us this overall great experience!