Gamezebo has diligently followed Kickstarter projects for some time now, long before Double Fine’s big splash with their multimillion dollar Double Fine Adventure project. By now, it’s safe to say that Kickstarter has entrenched itself as an exciting new way for developers to make games. It’s also an exciting new way for us gamers to directly support ideas we like. As for me, I like strategy games. I like role playing games with branching dialogue and open ended stories. I also like survival horror. That’s why DoubleBear Productions’ new Dead State has got me so excited.
Gamezebo has diligently followed Kickstarter projects for some time now, long before Double Fine’s big splash with their multimillion dollar Double Fine Adventure project. By now, it’s safe to say that Kickstarter has entrenched itself as an exciting new way for developers to make games. It’s also an exciting new way for us gamers to directly support ideas we like. As for me, I like strategy games. I like role playing games with branching dialogue and open ended stories. I also like survival horror. That’s why DoubleBear Productions’ new Dead State has got me so excited.
Dead State is, as I intimated above, a strategy RPG for Windows with an emphasis on survival that has successfully surpassed its goal on Kickstarter. It’s a zombie game, but not the rehashed, brain-dead kind of zombie game that shambles en-masse through the App Store these days. This is not about killing. It’s about the humans that band together in defense against zombies.
Instead of simply blowing off undead heads, you must worry about shelter, food, morale, and interpersonal relationships. You will assign jobs to fellow survivors, raid the surrounding town for supplies, upgrade/repair weapons in your workshop, and reinforce the barricades surrounding the public school that serves as your homebase.
Don’t get me wrong though. You will still blow off undead heads. You will also be able to bust undead heads with melee weapons. Combat is turn-based and tactical, in the same vein as time honored PC classics like X-Com.
And speaking of time honored PC classics… allow me to nerd out for a bit. Brian Mitsoda, the owner of DoubleBear Productions and the project lead of Dead State, has worked for some of the best RPG developers of all time — Black Isle (Fallout, Baldur’s Gate), Troika (Arcanum: Magick Obscura), and Obsidian (Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas). If none of that means anything to you, don’t worry. All you need to know is that Dead State looks like a zombie game with brains, and it’s being made by people who can deliver. Unfortunately, they won’t be delivering for some time. DoubleBear is aiming to have this complete around December 2013.
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