A Time-Looping Terror in a Sci-Fi Bunker
There is something terrifying about being hunted; knowing that one wrong step, one movement around any corner or any loud noise might give away your location and be the end of you.
Films have used this fear brilliantly, from the Alien movies to the slasher horror films of Friday the 13th and Halloween. It seems like we love things hiding in the shadows waiting to pounce. Games are good at this as well, with the Dead by Daylight series and a lot of stealth-based games.
Dead Reset leans heavily into the sci-fi Alien theme but also has a lot of gore, blood, and time travel. What more could you want?
Waking into a Time Loop
Full-motion video (FMV) games on the Xbox have had a bit of a revival in this generation and the last. One of the big leaders in this genre has been Wales Interactive, who have made FMV games like The Bunker and Simulacra. It’s been a while since we had a new game from them, but we now have it with Dead Reset. This is a filmic game where you must make choices that decide the outcome of scenes and unlock up to four different endings.
The game starts with a man lying on the floor and waking up. Instantly, he is dragged to his feet by a security guard with a gun. The man is dressed in a jumpsuit with the name “Cole” written on it. He doesn’t know where he is or who he is. A scientist tells him to operate on a woman lying in a bed, as there isn’t much time. As you go to do this, you see there is a creature in the woman’s stomach; the creature comes alive and kills everyone. You die in a bloody mess, and then you wake up in the same place as you did before. Yes, it’s a time loop.
For reasons unknown at the moment, Cole has the ability to time loop backwards when he dies, but he only has the memory of the last loop. The place he is in is a bunker-like facility, which could be underground or a spaceship. What happens as the loops increase is that you build up relationships with the crew around you, unlikely allies emerge, and you discover the truth about yourself and this strange ability you have acquired. You must also figure out how to defeat this ever-increasing-in-size alien creature that is now hunting all of you…
B-Movie Brilliance
I liked this story, which I thought was clever with its time-loop material, and on the other side of the coin, not afraid to lean fully into its B-movie influences. I think the characters were good, with some nice writing and good story hooks.
The whole set-up and how the secrets of the story are revealed slowly throughout the narrative works extremely well, and it always amazes me how, in the FMV world, the team must write different actions based on the choices you make. You can be sure those choices are fun and interesting to see.
Old-School FMV
Gameplay is always a matter of debate for these types of games. Some recent games have added new mechanics and tried to shake up the binary choice system a bit, with some great and some dodgy results. Dead Reset is an old-school FMV game where you are just making choices; to do one thing or the other.
Each of these choices will influence the game’s direction and who lives and dies, as well as the endings, of course. But it is quite basic, and there are moments where you will be left to just watch a film for quite a while before you are allowed to participate.
Practical Effects and Professional Performances
Dead Reset has an impressive visual design, with the film having a very atmospheric and professional colour grade to it. The production design does an excellent job with the budget they likely would have had. The creature itself is mostly in the shadows, and when you do see it, it’s all practical and not CGI, which I think works brilliantly. There are some impressive special effects with horror elements as well, including eyeballs and operation effects. The only criticism I have with the film is that the delay between making a decision and seeing the action can be too long.
The sound is on point, and the effects are excellent. I think the performances do a wonderful job of taking the B-movie premise and completely committing to the serious situation the characters are in. A big shout-out to Daniel Thrace, who plays the lead, Cole, and to all the cast, the director, and the production team.
An FMV Experience with a Retro Feel
As an FMV game, Dead Reset comes complete with good production values, a great premise, and excellent performances. The gameplay mechanics, though, are quite basic, and sometimes you will be left watching along, without playing for too long. But it’s great to play a game in this genre again, and it’s good to see Wales Interactive producing another banger.
Important Links
Your Choices Could Be Your Last – Dead Reset is a New Interactive Horror – https://www.thexboxhub.com/your-choices-could-be-your-last-dead-reset-is-a-new-interactive-horror/
Master a Terrifying Death-Loop in Interactive Sci-Fi Horror Dead Reset – https://www.thexboxhub.com/master-a-terrifying-death-loop-in-interactive-sci-fi-horror-dead-reset/
Buy Dead Reset on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/dead-reset/9mv9l1t63r4d
