Reviewed by Brandy Shaul
Views Just in time for Halloween comes the Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare DLC pack, RockStar’s shining example of how DLC should be done. The DLC is an entirely separate experience from the main game proper, even requiring a new and unique save file. And while this pack might outwardly seem like just an excuse to cash in on the Halloween holiday by throwing zombies into the mix, there is actually a fairly in-depth storyline to be found here, containing all of the humor and sarcasm you’d expect.
Long story short, the dead have risen and the entire world has gone to hell as zombies roam the land. John Marston’s wife and son have been infected, giving you, as Marston, a very personal reason to find the cause of the undead uprising and put an end to it before your family can put an end to each other, and to you. The game takes you through the entirety of the Red Dead Redemption landscape, including Mexico, where you’ll meet familiar characters from the main game, as well as a few new introductions.
The cutscenes and voice acting are just as polished, sarcastic, and downright funny as ever. Marston’s one liners find a fantastic home in this setting, as everyone in the world has a different explanation for the zombie outbreak, with these wild rumors ranging from government conspiracies to an overpopulation of immigrants, and in the case of a very paranoid store owner, the cause being every other person in the world besides him.
As for the gameplay itself, the majority of your time will be spent traveling from town to town and cleansing them of the zombie scourge. This is done by killing enough zombies within an overrun town to fill up a safety meter. Once that’s complete, the town will become safe enough to travel through without much fear, and you can easily save and sleep without the fear of being made into a zombie’s midnight snack. These towns can and will be re-overrun, if you will, as you play the game, so you’ll need to do some back-tracking every now and then to cleanse the city once more.
When you’re not cleansing cities, or even graveyards of the undead, you can take on the main storyline, which sees you asking anyone and everyone with a pulse for help as to figuring out what in the hell (literally) has happened to the world. Again, each character seems to have their own opinion as to what caused the outbreak, and these opinions often decide which type of story mission you’ll be undertaking next, whether it be a collection quest, a “kill so many” quest and so on.
Aside from these two major gameplay elements, Undead Nightmare is chock full of actual sidequests and challenges, ranging from simply killing a certain amount of enemies (including the new zombie wolves, bears, and cougars) to finding and taming the Four Horses of the Apocalypse (each horse has a different special ability or attribute that makes them worth finding). Missing persons quests, and even quests that see you hogtying zombies round out the available gameplay options.
As you complete quests, you’ll earn new munitions that outfit Marston to the same catalog available in the main game, but items like zombie bait, exploding zombie bait, a flaming torch and holy water are new to the experience.
What really makes Undead Nightmare shine is its length. Red Dead Redemption itself is no short game, but Undead Nightmare can easily last you 8-10 hours, and that’s just in getting to the climax of the storyline. You can continue to play after (save more cities, finish more quests – it isn’t just an open-world with nothing to do), giving the DLC even more staying power. Sure, 8-10 hours isn’t remarkable for a full retail release, but for a $10 DLC pack, it’s more than worth the price of admission. What’s more is the ability to purchase Undead Nightmare bundled with the rest of the game’s DLC for a price of 1600 MS Points, or a cool $20.
All told, the Undead Nightmare DLC pack is worth every one of its 800 MS Point price. The gameplay is challenging, yet forgiving enough to always remain fun. The slight repetition of the mission variety is lessened via the great cutscenes and the sheer multitude of things to do (Bored with saving cities? Go kill Sasquatch in the mountains – no, I’m not kidding). If you love Red Dead Redemption, you’ll love Undead Nightmare, it’s as simple as that.