‘Trapped Dead: Lockdown’ Review (PC)

Zombies seem to be an easy monster to fit into games these days, they even have a standard story that can be fit over any set template. Trapped Dead: Lockdown is an action RPG that if anything tries to be Diablo style adventure set in an apocalyptic world infested with the undead and psychotic gun wielding survivors. Where this could work well in theory, it tends to get repetitive fast.

Putting the gamer in the guise of either a Marine, Butcher, Exorcist, Marshal or Assassin each with their own story to play through they all start in the same position, on the streets searching for something. Straight away the structure of the game is, find a survivor who will give you a task then do that task to get to the next part of the level. Each character type feature different types of combat, featuring ranged attacks (guns), melee and “Spiritual” which is a magical type used by the Exorcist.

The stories for each character are interesting enough to give the player a reason to play, but this has to be matched with gameplay that provides the same. The problem here though is that the gameplay is repetitive and offers little new even as you progress through the game. You do get to drive vehicles at points, but the annoying controls for these don’t exactly offer a positive move for the player, though running over crowds of the dead can be fun. For those invested in the story it gets to be a case of grinding through the missions to get to the next chapter of the tale, all in a linear form. Don’t expect open world side missions with this one.

There is an RPG system behind the fighting with plenty of weapons to pick up. My favourite character to use tended to be the Butcher who is a melee fighter, though I was annoyed at how quickly the weapons decided to break when in use. To defeat zombies, including the boss characters the main tactic is to simply bash on the attack buttons till the enemy dies. If you die in the process, the boss is waiting for you with an energy meter that hasn’t replenished, which means that progress can still be made.

Looking at Trapped Dead: Lockdown, it really depends what you want from the game. There are nice touches such as the blood splattering the screen as you bash away at the constant hordes of the dead, but this is where the repetitive nature comes into it. Each time you progress the game basically offers you yet another similar mission to get through. For me this wasn’t a game that made me want to keep playing for long periods of time, though I did find myself coming back to made some more progress, which has to be a positive really.

There have been some great zombie games released and this is why the undead keep on making it into our games. For all the Left 4 Dead games or even The Walking Dead adventure game there are way too many games that just don’t manage to pull themselves out of the horde. Trapped Dead: Lockdown isn’t a total disaster, but neither is it a must play especially with the likes of H1Z1 and Day Z evolving the playing style of the undead game. At £14.99 though it may be a game to try out if you are stuck for something to play, and at a time when most of the big releases are still struggling to get out this may be the perfect time to give it a chance.

*** 3/5

Trapped Dead: Lockdown is out now from Headup Games