Even those enemies that rush you, have higher firepower, or have greater HP can be dispatched in two or three shots on standard difficulty. You can routinely clear out entire areas from the doorway you enter them, leaving you to walk around an empty section with little to worry about.Īdding to this lack of satisfaction from combat is the absolute lack of weight to weapons, which may as well be Nerf guns. Despite operating 1900s hardware, you’re perfectly capable of headshotting enemies across the map with the rifle or magnum, right down to the pixel. I never thought I’d think this was a problem in an FPS, but some of the guns are too accurate. In the darkness, you can often only make out enemies by their glowing eyes - a neat touch. ![]() However, Kingdom of the Dead’s weapons take some getting used to. Other gun pick-ups and their ammo provide rare splashes of color, particularly the blood they spill. ![]() You can cut their limbs off or just shoot them in the head with your magnum. Stages are nicely designed and make the most of its simple but detailed direction, but you’ll often fly through them so quickly, you’ll not stop to enjoy them.Ĭombat is admittedly fun and simple to get to grips with, as you initially come up against sword-wielding, androgynous zombies that look a bit like John Malkovich. Kingdom of the Dead’s levels are short and sweet–each one can be cleared in 15 minutes or under, depending on your playing style–but this is due to its primary focus on replayability, clearing levels across different difficulties as fast as you can. As with its storyline, it soon becomes clear that for all its intriguing ideas, there may not a great deal to keep you invested. Yet for all its screenshots show and premise may promise, the game quickly loses its shine as the experience unfolds. It can be tweaked with various color palettes, but these alternatives range between comic and outright unplayable. Kingdom of the Dead’s art style is delightful, and reminiscent of a cross between Wii classic MadWorld and last year’s “hand-penciled horror” Mundaun, creating a weird, stark, and atmospheric experience that is perfectly paired with a wonderfully hammy soundtrack and SFX. Letters are provided by Jerome Gagnon, who gets a cover credit by the way, who uses a well spaced out type of font that helps the reader flow through the book.Īn enjoyable mash up of the medieval and zombie tropes, that whilst playing within the expected confines of each is well produced that engages the reader. As well as the art works across the book, the fight scene is a tad confusing with characters looking very similar, perhaps the star of the show are the colors which carry the tone of the book across its various environs, be it the opening scenes, the forest, the town or even the clothes that are worn. The simplicity of art is understated, carrying the emotions and the horror of the situation. It figures as both this book and Mignola- verse books encapsulates horror along with a more rural, historic look and feel. Derepentigny’s strength is clearly storytelling, in both writing and art.ĭerepentigny’s art has a simple, almost cartoon like style, that is reminiscent of the Mignola-verse stylings. Of course, the alternative idea is that a third person can add a different take on aspect of a book. Maybe as both writer and artist Derepentigny is able to recognise what to show and what to tell in the first instance without having to rely on a third party, which could possibly dilute the ideas on show. The dialogue works well, both educating the reader and moving the story along, this is a rare skill for a lot of creators. It is important to world build, even if it is going to torn down in a couple of issues. The book is pacy, though Derepentigny does spend time doing a little bit of world building. Taking the writing first, Derepentigny wastes no time in setting the scene with a touching dismemberment, turning into lunch before introducing the protagonists. How this will affect the loved up twosome and their world remains to be seen,Ĭreator Etienne Derepentigny pulls triple duty as writer, artist and colorist. Where all dreams are torn asunder, the dead don’t care with their single minded focus on eating. ![]() Two lovers, one a soldier or peacekeeper and the other a mysterious young girl who may be a witch are parted via his orders to investigate a village which holds a dark secret. Now Red 5 Comics has taken the oft used trope and applied a totally different environment for the walking dead to stalk! But I guess you can’t keep the undead down for long. You would have thought that by now the whole zombie craze had, pardon the pun, died an undead death.
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