Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

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Taking place just before the last few events of Red Dead Redemption, you once again control Wild West badass and family-man, John Marston. Beginning during a thunderous, stormy night, Marston is suddenly confronted with an undead wife and child. After hog-tying his beloved family members it’s up to Marston to find a cure. However, it soon becomes clear that the problem is more widespread than initially thought, and only Marston can return the West to normal. Many characters from the main game make a reappearance (alive and undead), and provide most of the missions, along with piles of apocalyptic humour: “I’m going to wander down this lonely, deserted street and get my bag.”

Obviously, the gameplay is very similar to that of the main game. However, some significant changes have been made. The money system has been removed - ammo replaces coin as the main commodity in the undead West. Completing missions, helping strangers and clearing towns/graveyards of the undead all result in ammo rewards, meaning Marston can continue his quest to plug zombies full of bullets and find a cure.

Zombies vary in size, speed and ability. Many seem to have limped and moaned straight from Left 4 Dead II, but there’s no shame in adopting a formula that’s worked well in other successful zombie games. In true Rockstar fashion, the delights are in the details: bats fly from the long grass at the loud bang of a gunshot; half-eaten undead horses roam the barren fields; zombies run towards you mindlessly from the fields.

Amazingly, the undead disease spreads before Marston’s eyes. If you see a character get bitten and die, moments later they’ll rise up as one of the zombie horde. New weapons include holy water and, my personal favourite, the blunderbuss, which uses undead body parts for ammunition. It’s fairly satisfying to explode groups of the undead using parts from their fallen friends. The soundtrack deserves a special mention, combining the characteristic music of the Wild West with a creepy, foreboding score.

As expected from Rockstar, the main expansion can last around an impressive 8 -10 hours, with new multiplayer modes providing even more hours of extra fun. Undead Overrun mode sees a group of players battling wave upon wave of zombie masses, reminiscent of Horde Mode from Gears of War.

The amount of content is truly amazing. I challenge players to find another game where a friend could ask what you are doing in the game, only to hear you reply “oh I’m just hunting sasquatches and zombies using holy water, all the while riding one of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse”.

If you enjoyed Rockstar’s Wild West opus, then don’t hesitate to download this expansion now. And remember – aim for the head.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is out now in stores, on Xbox Live and on Playstation Network.

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