Dead Age (Alpha)

Dead Age is a rogue-like RPG with turn-based combat (currently Early-Access/Alpha). Permadeath applies to you and to all of your allies, and healing items are often hard to come by; ditto for ammo and other much-needed supplies. Your team only heals a small amount each night, so you will have to decide whether or not it's worth it to press on to the next area in search of, say, bandages to make more Medkits with, knowing that you could lose someone for good. Of course, this being a rogue-like, you might also end up finding a place for your current battle party (of up to three members) to rest up to full ... that is, of course, unless they're interrupted by some inconsiderate undead. You never know. Meanwhile, the guard you posted back at camp is dealing with a raiding party of punks in leather jackets and praying that the hunter you sent out in search of food will make it back in one piece.

The Story So Far

The nation – and perhaps, the world – has fallen victim to your standard everyday zombie-type apocalypse, complete with an Infection that spreads via biting live victims. The government, if it's still out there, is out of contact; all you have is a bloody club and a pistol with half a clip of ammo remaining. Since this is a rouge-like, you never know if you'll come across half a dozen clips over a day's time, or none whatsoever (hint: it'll almost always be the latter).

Controls and Gameplay

Dead Age is a PC game that uses mouse and/or keyboard controls. The combat mechanics are blessedly simple – on each turn, choose from among several actions divided into Melee, Firearms, Engineer (traps and bombs), Medic (buffs and heals), or Backpack, then choose the specific action from the menu that pops up in its place. Simple, quick, and straightforward. There’s no manual saving in this game; the game saves at the start of each Day, and if your main character dies, that's it. You start all over again, with bonuses from special Tokens applied to future runs(Tokens are earned by completing special achievements in-game). Of course, the upside of this is that each new play through is a unique experience.

Enemy variety is better than expected – generic zombies, buffer zombies, healers, summoners, and powerhouses that can either buff themselves or get stronger based on how many of their allies are still up. You get the idea. Living human enemies such as Punks are also in the game, and often present more of a challenge. Their AI seems to be a bit more sophisticated – e.g., their Engineer might drop a bear trap (causes a fair amount of damage if you use a melee attack) in front of their AK-47 user, who will then drop into a stance that counters your ranged attacks for a few rounds. They also have more visual variety, and could be wearing anything from a t-shirt and jeans to a Bojack horsehead mask.

Some tips I’d share with other players: Give everybody at least one point each in Melee (even if they're a “gun bunny” type) and one in Medicine. The former, so you can conserve ammo early on, and the latter, so they can use Combat Readiness to buff up their own defense, or to simply skip a turn if you want. This comes in handy for those times when an enemy is using something like that “bear trap & ranged counterstance” combo I mentioned. Also, give them all a point in either Survival, so they can contribute to hunting for Rations; or Cunning, so they can help as Guards, if you don’t have anything else for them to do back at camp. An Engineer with bear traps and high Cunning makes for a superb guard. Finally, load up your main character on Cunning so he can have an easier time picking locks on car trunks and sealed containers on the road – which happens quite often.

Being an alpha, there are some limitations. Level caps out at 10, which you will easily approach or reach on most of your characters by day 10 (out of 20 in the Alpha; 33 days in the final game). Also, be prepared for the occasional crash or graphical freeze.

Graphics and Sound

Dead Age is surprisingly detailed for a game this early in development. It features some decent animation, and they obviously paid a huge amount of detail to the backgrounds – in most any area, it’s worth taking a moment or two just to check out the scenery. Highway areas have burned-out hulks of cars scattered about, with their former occupants lurching out on the far side of the median. An overpass has damaged highway signs and the ever-looming zombie hordes eyeing you from a distance. Wooded areas are reasonably creepy, with the occasional zombie chowing down on a victim a few feet beyond where you're fighting (complete with appropriately icky sound effects). And so on, and so on. The interstitial, static drawings that appear after many fights – indicating a decision you'll need to make – are quite well-drawn, and fit in well with the overall aesthetic of the game.

There’s little actual music aside from stings when something important happens. Instead, that effort has gone into ambient audio effects – the sound of an undead pedestrian calmly ripping the meat off of a nearby corpse; the groans and moans of a horde in the background as you fight some shotgun-wielding punks; howls of huge dire wolves in the distance, waiting for their chance to take a bite out of you. Hits feel (and sound) “meaty,” and have impact. Very well done!