Undead Nightmare

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
multiplayer

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is a standalone

side quests
along the way.

Rockstar Games, the game's publisher, had a long-standing interest in creating a zombie game. They found the Red Dead Redemption universe and its American countryside to fit the cinematic heritage of the horror film genre. Rockstar wanted their additional content to function outside rather than within the base game's story, but draw on its characters and atmosphere. The company released Undead Nightmare as downloadable content for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms on October 26, 2010, and as a retail disc bundle with other downloadable content packs in late November. It was released for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 alongside the main game on August 17, 2023.

Undead Nightmare received generally favorable reviews at its release, and the retail disc sold two million copies by 2011. It was praised as a model for downloadable content and named among the best of the year, with top awards from the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards and Shacknews in this category. Critics praised its production values and handling of the zombie video game motif, and noted its lightheartedness compared to the main game, although some reviewers struggled with the game's character movement controls and found the combat unvaried. It is retrospectively considered to be among the best downloadable content packs ever made.

Gameplay

Undead Nightmare is a modified expansion of the 2010 video game

save files.[2] It does not share play progress and items from the main game,[5] nor does it require the base game in any form.[6]

As in Red Dead Redemption, the player can diverge from the main story on

side quests: requests from strangers, checklist challenges, and other digressions.[4] These missions are similar in format to those of the original but their objectives are replaced to fit the zombie horror theme. For example, the player hunts for the missing family members of survivors instead of fugitives or empties graveyards instead of gang hideouts. John is called to liberate towns overrun by the undead, which unlocks ammo, new places to stay,[2] quests, and the assistance of the living townspeople.[7] After John's assistance, the towns remain free of zombies for several in-game days, but will eventually require the player's assistance when zombies return once again.[4] The player decides whether to share ammunition with the townsfolk: ammunition serves as a currency in the game since the shops have closed.[7] The player has fewer correctives for immorality, such as helping or killing other survivors, given the dire circumstances. The game puts a greater emphasis on hyperbolic fun.[2]

The expansion's zombie enemies are similar to that of other games. "Walker" zombies are slow from afar but run when they near the character. Fat zombies attempt to knock the player-character down and others spew green venom. John has new weapons, including holy water, bait for the undead, and a blunderbuss that uses zombie parts as ammunition. The player can use a combination of these skills to defeat hordes of reanimated humans, who stop only once their heads explode. For example, John can bait a group to an area to set off a bomb, use the time-slowing Dead Eye mode to shoot each in the head,[2] or eliminate enemies from a roof because zombies cannot climb.[7] Other non-playable characters who contract the infection turn into the undead in real-time and are likely to attack the player.[2]

Undead Nightmare removes the traditional fast travel features of the base game, and this encourages the player to use settlements to store their caravan. John rides undead horses in Undead Nightmare, which he can summon by whistling. Four mythical horses—the four horses of the apocalypse—with faster abilities are scattered throughout the game for the player to find, tame, and ride.

achievements.[4]

Apart from the single-player story, Undead Nightmare adds two multiplayer modes: Undead Overrun and Land Grab.[2] The former is a horde mode in which up to four players cooperatively fight off waves of zombies. Players must open coffins between waves to replenish a countdown timer, which discourages players from camping in the same location. It is also designed so as to encourage cooperation such that players can revive each other if nearby.[7] The other mode, Land Grab, is an additional game mode within the main game's multiplayer free roam and otherwise unconnected to the undead theme. In Land Grab, players attempt to secure seven areas across the game's environment. While players with the base game can join in Land Grab games, only Undead Nightmare owners can initiate them.[2]

Plot

Shortly after being reunited with his family, John Marston (

treasure hunter Seth Briars (Kevin Glikmann), are supposedly responsible for the outbreak. He meets with both men, who deny any involvement, although Seth voices his suspicions that the Aztecs
had something to do with the entire ordeal and tells John to travel to Mexico.

John travels to Nuevo Paraíso, only to discover that it is in a much worse state than America. He encounters a group of

Ayauhteotl and thanks John for his help, gifting him one of the four horses of Apocalypse
to return home.

John returns to Beecher's Hope to find that Jack and Abigail have been cured, and is happy to be reunited with them. Months later, following John's death, Seth finds and steals the mask, causing the dead to rise from their graves once again. John is among those resurrected, but because he was buried with holy water, he is now a revenant, keeping possession of his soul.

Development

Following the 2010 release of the base game, Rockstar San Diego prepared and released a series of downloadable content packs, of which Undead Nightmare was one.[8] The Red Dead Redemption world was designed to be not necessarily serious but within the Western genre without regressing to "cheesy or camp" pastiche. After finding success, Rockstar wanted to make more content in keeping with the game's atmosphere. The team balanced the "inherently ridiculous" zombie concept with their horror aspects and some self-aware humor. They relied on the backstory of the universe's characters and popular associations with the American countryside to build the narrative's emotional content. In the game's canon, the Undead Nightmare scenario fits in the time between when John Marston returns home and the end of the base game, though the expansion's events do not cross the main story in any way.[9]

Rockstar found a match in the Red Dead Redemption universe for their long-standing aim to create a zombie game. In lieu of making a new intellectual property for such a game, Rockstar instead wanted players to see how a zombie outbreak affected a world already familiar to them. The company thought that this would make the zombie trope more interesting. Rockstar also saw similar "cinematic heritage" between the Western and zombie horror genres. The team used the analogy of a 1970s film set to explain their ambitions—that Undead Nightmare in the Red Dead Redemption universe would feel like its characters filming a "serious, revisionist Western" by day and a "somewhat insane horror movie" with the same cast and set by night. Following its experience with Grand Theft Auto IV's downloadable content packs, Rockstar wanted its add-on packs to be a separate story with possible overlaps rather than a continuation of the main story. Rockstar vice president of creative Dan Houser described several reasons for not using the Grand Theft Auto universe for the zombie release: (1) that Red Dead's shooting mechanics, including its slow-motion Dead Eye feature, were a better fit for zombie headshots, (2) that zombies were a better fit for the Great Plains landscape, more reminiscent of a 1970s horror film, and (3) that John's character was a better fit for hunting zombies than the protagonists of Grand Theft Auto games.[9]

Houser said that reviews of the base game had little impact on the development of Undead Nightmare, though the team used the smaller downloadable content packs and patches to add features that others wanted in the main game. "I don't think we ever saw the phrase 'what this game is missing is the supernatural'", Houser recollected on the team's feedback and their interest in doing something that would not be expected by fans yet enjoyed nonetheless. "And that is part of what attracted us."[9] Hip hop musician Oh No made drum tracks for the expansion as preparation for his work on Grand Theft Auto V.[10] Rockstar released Undead Nightmare on October 26, 2010. Rockstar's Dan Houser said that the team was satisfied with their results and how the Red Dead Redemption world and zombie theme supplemented each other's context and depth.[9]

A standalone retail disc release of Undead Nightmare followed in late November 2010.

Double Eleven Studios. A physical release was released on October 13.[1]

Reception

Undead Nightmare received "generally favorable" reviews, according to

Minerva's Den (BioShock 2).[18] IGN awarded the title a perfect score as a "masterpiece" and editor's choice,[2] while GameSpot wrote that, while fun, the game was not as much a masterpiece as the original.[7] Dan Whitehead from Eurogamer credited Undead Nightmare's nuanced treatment of John Marston as proof of him being "one of gaming's great characters".[5]

As a continuation, "Red Dead Redemption's elegiac tone knits incredibly well with [its expansion's] arch Gothic horror", wrote Whitehead.[5] Critics found the expansion's story to be much more lighthearted in comparison to the main game, with a different overall feel.[2][7] IGN marked the title's exaggerated theatricality and overtones of horror B movie panache.[2] At the time, zombies were a recurring motif in video games.[2][4][16] Whitehead added that Rockstar's ability to use the "most played-out and over-exposed cultural meme" in their "epic Western" without the product appearing silly or gimmicky was a testament to their design acumen.[4] For instance, a talk with Sasquatch was both absurd and poignant. The expansion's script, he wrote, understood the spirit of its characters and balanced sardonicism and honest pathos. While Whitehead wrote felt positively of the treatment of the main character, he considered the expansion's mission design lackluster and complained of too many quests in which the player fetches items for other people and traveling between points only to initiate cutscenes.[4] GameSpot praised the story's humor but felt that it was less interesting and varied compared to the main game.[7] Reviewers recommended finishing the base game before starting the downloadable content, not for spoilers but to make the most of the game's references to the original story.[2][7]

Reviewers noted the amount of work Rockstar put into the expansion's production.

Left 4 Dead series.[2][5] This disappointed Eurogamer's reviewer in consideration of Rockstar's reputation as a pioneer rather than an imitator.[5] GameSpot's highlights from the game included its multiplayer, imaginative weaponry, mythical mounts, and eerie soundtrack.[7]

Critics reported that players rarely need to use Undead Nightmare's new weapons.[5][7] Whitehead (Eurogamer) said that Marston's firearms are mostly indistinguishable apart from the blunderbuss, which is only useful when the player is overrun by zombies.[5] GameSpot added that the game's combat is repetitive and less fun in the expansion, as zombies barely pose a threat. The zombies, without guns, cover, horses, lack the complexities of cowboys and, apart from some of the special zombie types, are only a threat at short distances. The reviewer found little variation between weapons when firing at close range, which is more effective than aiming at a distance. The fun of the new guns quickly faded for the critic, who found little incentive to use traditional gunfight strategies.[7] Whitehead (Eurogamer) too noted that the base game relied on its use of cover during gunfights, which the expansion jettisons altogether. Thus the player is forced into the technique of backtracking and turning to use the time-slowing Dead Eye mode to clear zombies with headshots.[4] The reviewer also found the controls clumsy and often tripped on piles of zombie bodies or became stuck in doorways. While the idea of zombie animals scared Whitehead, he was both relieved and disappointed to find that bears and cougars, like the humans, died with a single bullet.[5]

Eurogamer noted the annoyance of returning to defend over 20 towns each with recurring zombie problems, but said that the game mechanic is never too bothersome and even appreciated its element of time management, similar to that of the Dead Rising game series.[4] IGN thought that the lack of fast travel was an impediment.[2] Reviewers also noted technical issues with moving John's character, especially when climbing ladders and outrunning zombies.[2][5]

Critics praised Undead Nightmare as a model for downloadable content[2][5] especially in its balance of content and price.[2][16] Neil Davey (The Guardian) said that it was the best purchase of 2010 at its price range,[16] but staff of the Official Xbox Magazine found the price slightly too high.[6] Henry Gilbert of GamesRadar thought that the game's concept sounded like a ploy to make easy money without much work, but admitted how wrong and surprised he was at the game's depth.[17] At the time of its 2010 release, the Official Xbox Magazine counted Undead Nightmare among the best downloadable content in existence.[6] The standalone retail disc had sold two million units as of August 2011. No sales figures were released regarding the download pack itself.[20]

Legacy

Undead Nightmare has been heralded among the best expansion packs ever produced for a video game.[21][22][23] Kotaku wrote of its originality, despite the trite zombie theme, and added that the expansion functioned best when Rockstar used the game's pretense to exercise their sense of humor, with undead versions of normal animals, and new mythical creatures. The reviewer related the game's level of entertainment to it being the first Rockstar release in years to "wholeheartedly embrace the inherently madcap nature of open world games".[21] Undead Nightmare took a good title and "put it over the top", as USgamer put it.[24] Hardcore Gamer cited the expansion as an example of downloadable content that would have never fit in the main game but instead let the developers explore other ideas.[25]

Microsoft added the game to its

Windows;[30] they were removed in October 2022.[31]

Notes

  1. Double Eleven Studios.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b McWhertor, Michael; Carpenter, Nicole (August 7, 2023). "Rockstar's bringing Red Dead Redemption to modern platforms". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Steimer, Kristine (October 27, 2010). "Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Review". IGN. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  3. ISBN 978-0-7440-1030-5
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Whitehead, Dan (October 28, 2010). "Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Pack". Eurogamer. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Whitehead, Dan (October 28, 2010). "Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Pack". Eurogamer. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d e f OXM Staff (February 2, 2011). "Xbox Review: Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare". Official Xbox Magazine. Archived from the original on February 2, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Calvert, Justin (October 27, 2010). "Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Pack Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  8. ^ "Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Social Club Multiplayer Events on PSN (October 28th) and Xbox LIVE (October 29th)". Rockstar. October 29, 2010. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d Gamespot Staff (October 18, 2010). "Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare Q&A". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  10. ^ Martin, Matt (March 20, 2015). "GTA 5's biggest score: creating the soundtrack to Los Santos". VG247. Archived from the original on March 21, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  11. ^ Cullen, Johnny (October 26, 2010). "RDR: Undead Nightmare disc SKU gets US and EU dates". VG247. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  12. ^ Mastrapa, Gus (July 8, 2010). "Pricey Zombies Shamble Into Red Dead Redemption". Wired. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  13. ^ "The Free Red Dead Redemption Myths and Mavericks Bonus Pack DLC is coming in September". Rockstar Games. July 27, 2011.
  14. ^ "Myths and Mavericks". Rockstar Games.
  15. ^
    Fandom, Inc. Archived
    from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  16. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077. Archived
    from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  17. ^
    GamesRadar. Archived
    from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  18. ^ a b Shack Staff (December 29, 2010). "Best of 2010 Awards: DLC Add-on". Shacknews. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  19. ^ a b Anderson, Joe (December 12, 2010). "Spike VGA 2010 winners – Red Dead Redemption scoops GOTY". VG247. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  20. ^ Makuch, Eddie (August 8, 2011). "Take-Two sales sink 12% in June quarter". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  21. ^ a b Lane, Rick (December 23, 2015). "The Ten Best Game Expansions". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  22. ^ Steinlage, Tate (September 27, 2011). "More Red Dead Redemption DLC on the Way, Holiday XP Weekend". GameZone. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  23. ^ Martin, Garrett (February 14, 2014). "5 Videogame DLC Expansions That Get It Right". Paste. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  24. USgamer. Archived
    from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  25. ^ Beaudette, Matt (February 21, 2014). "Why Is Most DLC Sub-Par?". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  26. ^ Frank, Allegra (July 5, 2016). "Red Dead Redemption will finally be backward compatible with Xbox One". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 5, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  27. ^ Frank, Allegra (July 8, 2016). "Is Red Dead Redemption any better on Xbox One?". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  28. ^ Morgan, Thomas (April 4, 2018). "Xbox One X's 4K Red Dead Redemption looks sensational". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  29. ^ Sarkar, Samit (September 15, 2020). "Here's how the Xbox Series S and Series X will handle backward compatibility". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  30. ^ Sarkar, Samit (November 30, 2016). "Play Red Dead Redemption on PS4 and PC next week, thanks to PS Now". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  31. ^ Phillips, Tom (October 18, 2022). "After six years, Red Dead Redemption has gone from PlayStation streaming". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Undead_Nightmare&oldid=1191251705"