Undead Nightmare, The VGAs, a Soundtrack, and a review!

It was a big night at the Spike TV Video Game Awards on Saturday for Red Dead Redemption. It picked up 4 of the 9 categories it was nominated for, including Best Score (which I can personally say is great), Best Song (Far Away by José González), Game of the Year, and Undead Nightmare took home the award for Best DLC. It was a great night for Westerns (and Weird Westerns!) .....at least on the Video Game front.

The Official Synopsis:
When former outlaw John Marston wakes up at his farmhouse, he finds a world gone insane: overnight, deranged hordes have overrun the towns and outposts of the American frontier. In a desperate attempt to save his family, Marston must traverse a world torn apart by chaos and disorder, using every skill he has to survive long enough to find a cure.

For anyone who hasn't picked up Undead Nightmare, (and isn't as interested in the main Red Dead Redemption game) now is your chance to see what all the fuss is about. Rockstar has released Undead Nightmare as a stand-alone disc. It has the entire world created for Red Dead except mutated into a Zombie Apocalypse of Undead Nightmare, and you dont need the first game to play it. From personal experience I can say that Undead Nightmare is a GREAT game. It works best as a final chapter to the main game. Characters and situations play carry over from Red Dead and the humor of the game comes from your familiarity with the things you've seen before. Its also the reason the game works on a horror level. Seeing the towns and landscapes that you've become familiar with in the first game, so strangely different, firmly puts you into the shoes of John Marston as he deals with what has happened his home.

However if that stuff doesn't matter, Undead Nightmare is a great Zombie Western all on its own. It has plenty of scares and laughs (and frequent frustrations) to make it a fun experience for first time players. It might even pique the interest of some to pick up the original, a wise investment in my humble opinion.

The music in Red Dead is great, and the music in Undead Nightmare is equally great, yet different. In some of the quieter scenes the soundtrack is full of bass harmonicas and strange alien chirping....almost as if the landscape itself were making the noises. There is even a track of music that reminds me of the creepy whistling from High Plains Drifter, very appropriate. Other times, especially during fight scenes and in action areas, the soundtrack breaks into some groovy 70s rock tracks that fit the scene perfectly. Its as if you are watching a cool 1970s Italian Zombie Western.

They just released the Soundtrack to Undead on iTunes, and its great. You can pick it up there or you go HERE and listen for yourself. Make sure to check out the the stand out track Bad VooDoo by Kreeps, which I posted below, you won't be disappointed! The game and soundtrack don't take them selves too seriously, but even so the scares come honestly.



My final analysis on Undead Nightmare is if you are looking for a great Zombie Western video game, and dont care about not being familiar with elements of the previous game, you can't beat it. When I first started playing it I loved it more than the original game, however by the end I found I loved it only just as much. There are some tough parts that I wouldn't want to do again (cleaning out the graveyards becomes increasingly difficult as the waves of Zombies become nearly endless by the final round). Also it is nice to go back to the original game sometimes, after awhile it gets a little tiring constantly having to look over your shoulder for a surprise Zombie attack (but honestly, I probably wouldn't change a thing). For the price this is an absolutely fantastic game. Music, graphics, gameplay all carry over flawlessly from the first game. The story is good, and spending more time with John Marston is always a plus.

If you have a game console and you haven't picked this or Red Dead up yet, shame on you...but now is your chance to make amends. And if you are a fan westerns and Weird Westerns, Double shame! Well worth the price and very, very fun. Plus, sometimes its just so satisfying to go out onto the plains, riding around on your horse and shootin' zombies!

I give it 4 out of 5 Bloody Spurs

The End is Nigh......

There has been so so SO much Undead Nightmare material from Red Dead Redemption that has come out lately (about an average of 2 to 3 things a day for the past month) that Ive been hesitant to post anything quite yet for fear of this site becoming the Red Dead Emporium! ...but with the impending release of the game just one day away (Oct 26, i.e. tomorrow) the time has come...

Undead Nightmare is basically an alternate story that diverges from the main story of Red Dead Redemption. It takes place during the "Home" period when John Marston, having finished his obligations to the government, returns home to be with his family and start his farm. However things aren't as he remembers them.



This game looks insane! Someone described it as being like a movie set where, during the day everyone is shooting a stright forward Western, but at night a crazy director comes in a shoots a bad ass Zombie Horror Western using the same cast and crew and thats exactly what this seems like; a completely separate story that uses the same characters.

This is going to more than satisfy my Weird West lust the way that Red Dead satisfied my desire for an open world sandbox game (ever since I played Gun...which is very much an open world Western game in the vein of Red Dead but at much smaller scope.)

The game also has an insane Multiplayer feature. Its called Undead Overrun and its basically stay alive for wave after wave of zombies. Everyone IS going to die, just how long can you prevent it from happening!



They revealed some mythical creatures as well. My favorites being the 4 Horses of the Apocalypse!



There are also new weapons, 4 New classes of Zombies, new in-game challenges and achievements....its practically a whole new game (wrapped in a bundle of Weird West awesomeness)!

Plus anyone who doesn't own the original Red Dead Redemption will have a chance to buy Undead Nightmare as a stand alone game in about a month....and Ill keep everyone informed as to the date when its announced.

But until then, there's more information than I could possible post at the Official Undead Nightmare site. There are videos, TONS of pictures, and a full description of the game. More than enough to keep you occupied until the impending Zombie Apocalypse....

...which starts tomorrow, btw...

Red "Undead" Redemption - Undead Nightmare Trailer and artwork!

This has been quite a week for Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar Games has been releasing images and video for their "game add-on" Undead Nightmare all week, and I gotta say I am VERY excited!

If you read my previous post about this you'll know that I LOVE Red Dead Redemption, due to it's story and detail it is quite possibly one of the best Western games ever created....and while taking a very realistic game and adding in a Zombie element might seem mildly weird to the uninformed, it is amazingly clever as well. Fighting Zombies in the Old West is Classic!

The story is this:

Unleashed upon the world of Red Dead Redemption, the Undead Nightmare Pack will feature an entirely new mostly single-player campaign that follows John Marston as he tries to find a cure for the highly infectious zombie plague that has spread across the frontier.

WOW!

Yesterday they released some great High Def screen shots, (including John Marston, the games protagonist, riding a Zombie Horse!) which you can see HERE......but its all been leading up to today, when they released the first teaser trailer for the game.



WOW WOW!!

A lot of fans of Red Dead have been complaining that this is going to ruin the integrity of the original game, but they shouldn't worry, Rockstar has confirmed that the story is going to be a separate from the normal game. Personally, their complaints have fallen on the deaf ears of this Weird Westerner.....although I certainly understand their concerns.

The images and trailer look like they've channeled a little bit of Grindhouse, and a smidgen of some Italian Horror, some great 70s horror in general (the original game channels Spaghetti Westerns nicely, especially in the music) and hopefully this "Episode" will be really scary and a lot of fun!

Rockstar has an official site with everything that has been released so far HERE and its a very safe bet that this wont be the end, so as more info and media is released Ill post it here at the Emporium!

Until then......braaaaaaains......

Red Dead Redemption goes Weird West!

Probably one of the best video games to come out in the past few years is Rockstar San Diego's Red Dead Redemption....When I say best video games, I mean it is an absolutely gorgeously executed work of art..that you can PLAY! The detail is awe inspiring, every tree has individual leaves, as do the plants, the lighting is magnificent and day changes into night in an incredibly realistic fashion. And the weather, sudden rainstorm create puddles on the roads, and flashes of lightning illuminates an entire valley of raindrops, and its all held together by an incredibly compelling protagonist and colorful cast of supporting characters.....if you haven't had a chance to play it yet you should, it stunning!

Now the good folks at Rockstar are about to make things all the more interesting with the Undead Nightmare Downloadable Content Pack. For those who dont know, a Downloadable Content Pack (or DLC for short) is newly created content that Rockstar has created for the game that that you download from the internet onto your Playstation 3 or XBox 360 console and the game seamlessly integrates it into itself. Parts of the game maps can be expanded, and new characters are added, and it will all feel as if that stuff has been apart of the game the whole time.

The Official word from Rockstar is this:

Today, we are proud to announce plans for an ongoing series of downloadable content for Red Dead Redemption.

Four packs of add-on downloadable content will be released for PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE over the next few months, starting with the ‘Legends and Killers’ Pack at the beginning of August and culminating with the Red Dead Redemption ‘Undead Nightmare’ Pack this fall. These packs follow the recent release of the Free ‘Outlaws to The End’ Co-Op Mission Pack, which is available now on PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE.

Undead Nightmare Pack
Ghost towns and cemeteries come alive in a West gone horribly wrong:

* Brand new single player adventure, Challenges and quests
* 8 New Multiplayer Zombie characters
* Additional animals unleashed in the world
* New Dynamic events
* More details to follow...
* Release date TBC
* Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE)

Sounds Spectacular!

Theres no word yet about when it is coming out (besides Fall) but its assumed that the Zombie pack will be out around Halloween. I sure hope so, fighting undead Zombie cowboys sounds like a great way to spend the Holidays!

Now, of course Red Dead Redemption isn't necessarily a Weird West game, although elements of the Weird West have been snuck in (either intentionally or by accident). An old abandoned Mansion in the Ghost Town of Tumbleweed is said to be Haunted, voices can be heard in the Basement and, if the conditions are right, an apparition has been seen sitting in the dark (supposedly)

I will admit that last time I was there, I heard a dog barking....and there was no dog around...hmm

There is also supposedly a Werewolf in the area known as Tall Trees and an Undead Horse Mount you can obtain (by futzing with your game system...not advised)

On most occasions, however, the game tends to glitch, and it has happened often enough (and weirdly enough) that RDR glitches have become an entertaining past time. People have been seen flying in the air like birds, another person has been seen running around and attacking people like he was a cougar, and my 3 personal favorites:

Donkey Woman


The Gunslinger Dog!


So far info has been light on the new Undead Zombie Pack, but as soon as I hear something (and get my hands on some pictures) I'll post them here....but until then, get them firearms broke down and cleaned, there's gonna be some Zombie fightin' to do in the near future!