Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Developer(s)	Rockstar San Diego Rockstar North
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Distributor(s)	Take-Two Interactive
Writer(s)	Dan Houser Michael Unsworth
Composer(s)	Bill Elm Woody Jackson
Series	Red Dead
Engine	RAGE, with Euphoria and Bullet
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release date(s)	October 26, 2010[1]
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is an open world, western action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles on October 26, 2010, as a downloadable expansion pack to Red Dead Redemption. The game follows John Marston as he searches for a cure for an infectious zombie plague that has swept across the American Old West.

Undead Nightmare is played from a third-person perspective in an open world environment, allowing the player to interact with the game world at their leisure. The player can travel the virtual world, a fictionalized version of the Western United States and Mexico, primarily by horseback and on foot. Hordes of zombies traverse the world, often attacking towns. Gunfights emphasize a gunslinger gameplay mechanic called "Dead Eye" that allows players to mark multiple shooting targets on enemies in slow motion. Two gameplay modes were added to Red Dead Redemption's online multiplayer mode upon release of Undead Nightmare, allowing up to 16 players to engage in both co-operative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting.

Upon its release, Undead Nightmare received generally positive reviews. It won year-end accolades, including Best DLC awards from several gaming publications. A Game of the Year Edition, bundling the game with Red Dead Redemption and all additional content, was released in October 2011.

Gameplay

Undead Nightmare pits protagonist John Marston against a zombie outbreak.

Undead Nightmare features an open world with numerous zombie-related elements incorporated into the atmosphere and environment. Random encounters with bandits, lynch mobs, etc. have been replaced with random zombie encounters. Bounty missions are now replaced with missing person missions. Gang hideouts are replaced with graveyards across the map, in which the player can clear out hordes of zombies.^[2]

Players can now hunt zombie animals such as cougars, bears and wolves, as well as mythical creatures such as Sasquatch, Chupacabra and a unicorn.^[3] The Four Horses of The Apocalypse can also be tamed and used as mounts, each having their own unique ability or effect upon zombies and the environment surrounding the player.^[4] The game also introduces new weapons for the player to use. Much like skinning animals and looting dead bodies in the original single player, players can now loot zombies for parts. In turn, these zombie parts can be used as ammunition for the blunderbuss, in order to conserve ammunition.^[5]

Along with new single player features, Undead Nightmare introduces new multiplayer features, including "Undead Overrun," in which up to four players must work together to fend off increasingly difficult waves of zombies.^[6] Undead Nightmare introduces "Land Grab," a new feature for regular free roam, in which players must hold a territory in one of seven major towns for a set amount of time, defending their territory from attackers. The player at the end who held it for the most time as well as having the most kills gets the majority of the awarded points.^[7] In addition to new game types, Undead Nightmare includes eight zombie multiplayer skins for players to use.

Plot

At the Marston Ranch, an undead Uncle (Spider Madison) attacks Abigail Marston (Sophie Marzocchi). Her husband John Marston (Rob Wiethoff) kills Uncle, but Abigail turns into a zombie and bites their son Jack (Josh Blaylock), infecting him. John hogties both of them, locking them inside the house. At Blackwater, which has been overrun by the undead, some survivors tell John about their theories about the cause of the outbreak. John investigates the theories, leading him to Seth Briars (Kevin Gilkmann), who informs John to travel to Mexico, and Nigel West Dickens, who discovers an entrance into Mexico.

In Mexico, John meets Mother Superior, a nun, who tells him of a theory that Abraham Reyes (Josh Segarra) caused the outbreak. John finds an undead Reyes attacking a woman, and kills him. The woman tells him that Reyes stole an ancient Aztec mask, causing the outbreak. When John returns the mask, the plague stops, returning the undead to their previous conditions. Upon returning to his ranch, John finds that Abigail and Jack have returned to their normal state. A few months later, Seth steals the Aztec mask, causing the plague to return. John, who died in those months, rises out of his grave with the body of an undead but the mind of a man.

Soundtrack

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack of video game music used in the game. The music was mainly composed by Friends of Dean Martinez member Bill Elm and ex-member Woody Jackson along with additional contributions from various musicians. Recorded at 130 beats per minute in A minor, most of songs featured are constructed from stems in the game's dynamic soundtrack.^[8] The songs in Undead Nightmare feature heavier rock overtones than their counterparts in Red Dead Redemption, and some songs are "distorted" or "creepier" versions of songs that were in the original Red Dead Redemption.

All music composed by Bill Elm and Woody Jackson, except where noted.

Reception

Undead Nightmare has been well received by critics. As of June 2011 it has sold two million units at retail.^[9] Undead Nightmare received a 10/10 from IGN, stating "Undead Nightmare is what downloadable content should be – a lot of bang for your buck." As of the 1 February 2011, Undead Nightmare has an aggregate review score of 87 (which indicate generally favourable reviews) for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions on Metacritic.^[10][11] At the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, Undead Nightmare was awarded as the Best DLC (downloadable content) for 2010 video games.^[12]

References

External links

• Official website
• Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare at the Internet Movie Database