Zombies and Cowboys, what's not to like?
It's been awhile since I played Red Dead Redemption. So when I heard about this new DLC I was mildly curious, plus I had some spare money so I figured I'd go ahead and give it a try.
I must say I was quite impressed with what Rockstar accomplished.
Undead Nightmare plays as an independent story. The narrative sets the stage around the end-game of the normal game. John Marston feels something eerie in the night air, low and beyond the dead are lurking and all hell breaks loose.
The first thing you'll notice is that Rockstar didn't skimp on the story element of UN, bringing back practically the entire cast while Marston searches for the answers to what's happening. The game cinematics are just as good as the normal game, carrying the same style and setting... just with zombies. Though due to plot timeline, it may spoil certain elements in the normal game for those who haven't beaten it yet.
Gameplay wise it's just like the normal game. You have the whole world to explore only now zombies and other undead creatures roam about, making for some interesting random encounters. You travel from one story mission to the next, with plenty of side missions as well.
There is an increased tension to the game however. The rural towns dotting the lands are in chaos with what few survivors remaining trying desperately to fend off the zombies. A unique gameplay feature is helping them kill attacking zombies as well as supplying the survivors with ammo. At first this seems simple except for the fact that supplies are far from plentiful. If you aren't careful you may run out of rounds dealing with the shambling flesh eaters, and these buggers don't go down easy. Not without a well placed headshot that is.
There are also a unique set of challenges to rank up. These are more vital as most of the rewards are items, ammo and the like which you'll be hard pressed to gather otherwise.
The cost of UN is $10, but given you'll spend a good number of hours of playtime, depending on whether you work on the side missions and challenges, it's well worth it.
All in all I have to give it to Rockstar. I figured this would just be a couple side missions in the normal game. What it is is an impressive and rather grand extension to the game. Featuring a good story with many familiar faces and a number of surprises that I won't spoil here.
