Dead Effect is a first-person shootervideo game developed by inDev Brain and published by BulkyPix for iOS and Android. It was released on September 12, 2013 for iOS,[1] and on October 15 for Android.[2] Initially available in the App Store and Google Play for purchase, the game switched to a freemium model in February 2014, with the inclusion of in-app purchases.[4] On February 20, 2014, the game was greenlit for Steam.[5] An early access version was released for Windows and OS X on April 15,[6] with the game going gold on December 17.[3] The game has received mixed to positive reviews, and has been downloaded over three million times.[7] A sequel, Dead Effect 2 was released on October 29, 2015.[8]
Gameplay in Dead Effect. The player aims at an approaching zombie. The virtual joystick is on the bottom left, the fire, reload and ironsights buttons on the bottom right. Weapon selection is on the top right.
The gameplay mechanics of Dead Effect are similar to other first person iOS/Android shooters, such as the games of the Modern Combat or N.O.V.A. series. In the default setup, movement is controlled by a virtual joystick on the left of the screen, with sight and aim controlled by the player moving their finger across the touchscreen, although there are two shortcut buttons on the left and right of the screen to allow the player to instantly turn 90 degrees to the left or right. Players can use explosives, iron sights, reload, change weapons, shoot and enter slow motion mode using virtual buttons on the right of the screen. Controls can be customized from the main menu, with each icon individually repositionable as the player sees fits.[9]
In story mode, the player can play as either a male (Gunnar Davis) or a female (Jane Grey), although there is no difference in storyline or weaponry.[10] The game features twelve missions, which the player must complete in sequence, fighting enemies in the form of zombies and completing tasks such as finding codes to open doors.[11] On various levels, the player also encounters bosses. Each level features pods which replenish the player's health, and in later levels, pods can be found which will upgrade the player's stats. Every level also contains secret orbs, which can be shot, and hidden tablets, which can be collected.[11]
In survival mode, the player must survive for a set amount of time, killing as many enemies as possible.[10] In biohazard mode, the player must defeat waves of enemies. Scores and achievements are tracked through Game Center.
Story
Set in 2045, the game begins with Jane Grey[lower-alpha 1] awakening from cryostasis 178 days into the flight of the colonization spaceship ESS Meridian. A member of the elite security team, "Unit 13", Grey is unsure why the computer has awoken her early, and so sets out to learn what is happening. She discovers that the crew of the ship have turned into zombies; detecting unusual activity on board, the computer automatically awakened Unit 13 as per its security protocol. When Grey is able to reactive the comlink on her suit, the computer tells her that there is something wrong with her, but before she can investigate further, she is contacted by Dr. Wagner of the research division. Wagner tells her that the crew have been attacked by a virus that kills and then reanimates them, and that she too is infected, which is why her suit reported health anomalies. Wagner directs her to the med-lab and a computerized medi-bed administers a detox serum.
Wagner tells Grey that the virus is man-made, developed as part of the "Dead Effect" project, but was accidentally leaked and infected the entire crew. He explains that in the absence of the pilot, the ship activated its autopilot, which is programmed to return to Earth. If the Meridian reaches Earth, the virus will infect the whole of mankind. The only way to stop the ship is to manually shut down the propulsion unit. Grey does so, and Wagner directs her to his own location, saying they will decide what to do next together.
When Grey arrives in the lab, Dr. Wagner reveals that she herself is actually part of the "Dead Effect" experiment; they are not on a spaceship at all, they are on a massive orbital research centre, and there was no accidental zombie outbreak - the entire exercise was part of Wagner's research into developing mutagens to increase combat stamina (collectible log files clarify that Dr. Wagner is delusional, and that the ESS Meridian really was a colony ship; Dr. Wagner deliberately mutated the crew and converted the ship into a combat testing ground for his experiments). He tells Grey that she has performed very well, and her results will be archived for future study. He tries to kill her using a medi-bed, but Grey escapes and vows to hunt him down and kill him.
She escapes from the lab and goes in search of Dr. Wagner, who has used a virus on himself, turning him into a zombie-like creature with electrical powers. She finds him in the core of the station, and kills him.
Dead Effect has received mixed to positive reviews. The iOS version holds an aggregate score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on ten reviews,[13] and 70.62% on GameRankings, based on eight reviews.[12]
TouchArcade's James Paterson was impressed, scoring the game 4 out of 5. Although he was critical of the lack of originality in the plot, the poor voice acting, the absence of a run ability and no online multiplayer mode, he concluded that "at its core, Dead Effect is yet another fun shooter featuring everyone's favorite reanimated beings. You won't find anything new, but it offers a decent challenge, and has some great replayability in survival mode and trying to earn all the achievements. If you're a fan of violent, bloody, horror themed games, you'll find a good distraction in this one."[11]
Modojo's Chris Buffa also scored the game 4 out of 5. He found the voice acting to be so bad, that it helped the game, by introducing unintended comic elements into an otherwise serious story. He concluded that "Dead Effect entertains despite following the same route we've seen in countless zombie games. Bottom line, it's a good start to what should become an even greater experience in the months ahead. Zombies in space? Sure, why not?"[10]
Pocket Gamer's Harry Slater scored the game 7 out of 10, writing "There may not be much in the way of subtlety in Dead Effect, and it might not rank among the most innovative games on the App Store, but there's a lot of gory, mindless fun here. And sometimes that's all you really want from a game. A big silly shooter with lots of zombies to plough through, Dead Effect is far from a classic. But it is brainless fun."[15]
148Apps' Blake Grundman scored the game 3.5 out of 5, writing "It isn't anything overly special, but it is a passable first person shooter on a platform already littered with far less fruitful attempts. Those looking to indulge their inner B movie lover need look no further."[9]
MacLife's Chris Pereira was less impressed, scoring the game 2 out of 5, and writing "The weapons, setting, music, and enemies are all uninspired, and the gunplay is too weak to compensate. As a result, Dead Effect is a thoroughly run-of-the-mill first-person shooter." He was critical of the controls, the similarity of the levels, the enemy AI, the dialogue and the voice acting. Although he praised the sound effects, he concluded that "for every positive element there's something to gripe about on the other end, whether it's the dull upgrade system or unremarkable shooting. Dead Effect is an uninspired first-person shooter that does nothing original, proving most memorable for its hilariously awful dialogue."[14]
Notes
↑ For the purposes of the plot synopsis, all references to the player character are to Jane Grey, as opposed to Gunnar Davis.
Related Research Articles
Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom with online playability for the PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to Resident Evil Outbreak, and the final installment of the spin-off series. It was released on September 9, 2004 in Japan, on April 26, 2005 in North America, and August 26, 2005 in PAL regions.
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou is the fourth arcade game in Cave's DonPachi series. The history section of DoDonPachi Resurrection on iPhone calls it DoDonPachi Blissful Death in localisation. CAVE later ported the game to iOS under this localised name.
Minigore is a 2009 survival horror action shooter game for iOS, developed by Mountain Sheep and published by Chillingo. On December 6, 2012, a sequel, Minigore 2, was released on multiple platforms. Minigore was not updated for iOS 11 and was removed from the App Store until returning in 2019 under publisher GameClub.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed and published by Gameloft for iOS, Xperia Play and Android devices. The game is a remake of the original Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six video game.
Shadowgun is a 2011 third-person shooter video game developed and published by Madfinger Games for iOS, BlackBerry PlayBook and Android. The game was followed by successful sequels Shadowgun: DeadZone (2012) and Shadowgun Legends (2018). The company is also preparing Shadowgun War Games focused on team based PvP gameplay and esports. In 2013, the game was ported to Ouya and BlackBerry 10, and was also released as a pre-installed app on PlayJam's GameStick for anyone who supported the GameStick Kickstarter campaign.
Dead Trigger is a zombie-themed video game developed and published by Madfinger Games. It was released in June 2012 for iOS and Android mobile devices. The game is single-player only. Author Micah Nathan contributed to the script.
Dead Trigger 2 is a zombie-themed first person survival horror video game was developed and published by Madfinger Games, later acquired by DECA Games. It was released for Android and iOS devices on October 23, 2013, and for Facebook on February 20, 2014. As with the original Dead Trigger, Dead Trigger 2 is a single-player zombie-themed shooter. Nvidia showcased Dead Trigger 2 as the first tech demo for their upcoming Tegra 4 mobile system-on-a-chip; Slide to Play and Android Police compared the graphical quality to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Mega Dead Pixel is an arcade and indie game developed by About Fun and published by Chillingo. The game had more than one million downloads during the first fourteen days after its initial release. The game was released for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. As of October 2019, the app was unavailable on the App Store and the Play Store.
Mikey Hooks is an iOS game by BeaverTap Games, and released on August 8, 2013. It is part of the Mikey series of games, which includes Mikey Boots and Mikey Shorts.
Scarface is a role-playing iOS game developed by Canadian studio Fuse Powered Inc. and released on April 26, 2012.
Pro Zombie Soccer is an iOS and Android game developed by Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team and published by Chillingo in 2010.
Monster Burner is an iOS game developed by Ubisoft and released on November 3, 2011.
Air Mail is an iOS game developed by British studio Chillingo Ltd and released on May 24, 2012.
Cordy is an iOS and Android game developed by SilverTree Media/SilverTree Holdings LP and released on July 27, 2011. Cordy is a platform game with 27 levels.
Fragger is a popular trajectory-based puzzle game created and developed by Harold Brenes and released in 2009 for the Internet. After achieving popularity on the Internet, being played more than 100 million times, it was licensed and ported by Miniclip to iPhone in 2010, and to Android and PlayJam in 2012. By August 2014 it had become the second-placed paid app for iPhone and third overall top-grossing app in Apple's App Store. The gameplay is similar to Angry Birds. The game has had "generally favourable reviews", garnering a Metacritic score of 86% based on 5 critic reviews.
The Walking Dead: Road to Survival is a role-playing video game for Android and iOS, based on the comic book series The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, as well as the story of The Walking Dead TV series writer Jay Bonansinga. Road to Survival was developed by Scopely and co-created with IUGO Mobile Entertainment.
Strikefleet Omega is a hybrid tower defense and real-time strategy video game for iOS, Android, and Fire OS. The player is put in control a small fleet of human ships, the titular Strikefleet Omega, in a series of battles against a race of aliens that have destroyed the Earth. The player must defend their large, immobile ships by dispatching groups of smaller space fighters to fend off alien ships approaching from all directions. In later stages of the game, additional types of fighter and additional weapons become available.
Dead Effect 2 is a 2015 video game developed and published by BadFly Interactive. It is a sequel to Dead Effect.
Resident Evil 2 is a 2019 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. A remake of the 1998 game Resident Evil 2, it was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in January 2019 and for Amazon Luna, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in June 2022, and a Nintendo Switch cloud version released in November 2022. Players control the rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and the college student Claire Redfield as they attempt to escape Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak.
Pixel Gun 3D is a 2013 first-person shooter game developed by Lightmap and published by Cubic Games for iOS and Android. Players choose from a variety of single-player and multiplayer modes, with single-player revolving around fighting enemies and multiplayer putting several players up against each other in competitions. These competitions range from attempting to get the most kills, to being the last person standing in battle royale. A single-player campaign is available, which puts the player in the role of an unnamed protagonist investigating the sudden "square-ification" of the world and the outbreak of numerous monsters.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
