Dead Season

Dead Season is a turn-based tactical game with RPG elements. It's reminiscent of the popular XCOM series. The game is the debut work of Snail Bite, an independent, one-person studio from the Netherlands.

Plot

Dead Season takes us to a world affected by the zombie apocalypse. During the game, we take control of a four-person group of survivors who are forced to fight for survival. The threat to them comes not only from the living dead, but also from hostile people who feel at home in the devastated world. The story is mainly conveyed through cutscenes styled like comic book frames.

Mechanics

In Dead Season we see the action from a bird's eye view. Over the course of a series of missions, we reach various locations - from abandoned farms to deserted towns - where we complete the quests set before us and face dangers. We can also avoid direct confrontation with our adversaries. Ammunition for firearms is a scarce commodity here, and to make matters worse, enemies often outnumber us (this applies especially to zombies). All this means that when wandering the streets and searching buildings, we have to act quietly, trying to avoid drawing attention to ourselves.

Sooner or later we have to face alive or dead enemies in combat. The battles take place in turn-based mode. The key to success on the battlefield is cooperation between individual members of the squad and the skillful use of their abilities and equipment. We can use pistols, rifles, shotguns, as well as melee weapons (especially useful when we want to handle things quietly or when our magazines are empty). From time to time, we have to make use of more inventive murder tools, such as a combine harvester, whose blades can eliminate in wholesale quantities.

As we progress, we develop characters and acquire better equipment, which makes us feel more confident over time (although we should never let our guard down).