For those of you who are looking for a story, or plot material for this particular game you will have to look somewhere other than the game itself as "Dawn of the Fred" does little to explain the goings on of Fred, and his friends' world. Even so you'll find some fan based story spin-offs on the internet such as that of @MasterBlud's "Fred's Fridays" articles vvgtv as well as my own a multi-part story arch which can be found on this very blog. It was actually The head guy behind StickyDpad Games who had asked us lowly indie journalists to come up with a background story as well as post some articles promoting "Dawn of the Fred", and the other Fred indies that are slated for future releases. Being allowed to do such a thing was a privilege indeed. In order to find my contributions to the game simply click on the links I've provided at the end of this review. I can assure you that you'll enjoy all of the reading material as it sheds light on the development team, and the mysterious zombie apocalypse that Fred has become a part of.
Dawn of the Fred as an indie is a simple yet effective take on the zombie shmup (shoot'em up) genre. At the helm of this zombie ridden tale of survival you'll find a diverse cast of ethnic, and gender based characters as well as some horrific 'Silent Hill' worthy undead creatures. While Fred is obviously the main protagonist of the game you can choose to play as one of the other four characters which are all made available from the start if you prefer to do so. The game itself features only one mode of play (SURVIVAL) with a plethora of in-game, and out of game features. Outside of the game, within the main menu system (Fred's Diary) you will find the standard options sub-menu where you can tweak the game to your hearts desire as well as adjust the options pertaining to gore, and music. Along with these standard options also comes a stat menu titled "Overall" which displays all of your in-game feats (Kills, Damage Dealt, Deaths, etc, ...). Also adding some flair to the "Fred's Diary" is StickyDPad Game's own version of a "Bestiary (Creature Dictionary)". This particular menu which is appropriately named the "Beastography" gives you file-like layouts of all the zombie types including pictures, and detailed descriptions of their abilities (Regen, Acid Spit, etc, ...) , and capabilities (movement speed, power, etc, ...).
When all the settings, and options are adjusted to your liking you will be able to tackle the main part of the game which is "Survival" mode. Upon clicking on the "Survival" menu you will immediately be taken to the character select menu in which you'll choose to play as one of five different characters. Fred is a reddish haired teenage boy sporting a backpack, Josh is a musclebound African-American, Rand is a rough looking rocker type fellow, Lisa is a true lady sporting a dress, and last but not least there's a younger kid named Maxx who is obviously crying tears of fear. Whomever you choose to go with you'll notice that when in the actual game locales (House, Supermarket) their profile picture follows along with them, and shows off their wounds as damage is taken. This HUD image also doubles as a way to keep track of ammo, health, and monetary gain/loss within the game.
Next up is map location selection. Being the indie game that it is I actually expected to find more maps, but 'StickyDPad Games' unfortunately gave us only two options. These two options are "Home", and "Supermarket". Upon picking your map of choice you'll be reborn onscreen via a momentary splash of spurting blood. Afterwards you'll find yourself with only a pistol, and $1,000. Shortly thereafter the first wave of zombies will give you a proper welcoming as they try their hardest to tear you limb from limb, and feast upon your entrails. The first wave basically acts as an introduction to the increasingly difficult gameplay, and as such you'll find that it is made to be easily passable. Since it is an introductory wave you will initially be shown the control functions via onscreen imagery. The controls you'll use are your basic dual thumbstick layout. The only significant difference from standard shmup controls is the way in which you switch guns. At any given time you can carry with you two weapons. To switch between these weapons you will need to press either the "LB", or "RB" buttons.
As you can likely imagine 'StickyDPad Games' went all out with the weapons in this game. Within each map, and between each wave of zombies you will be able to visit a vendor located within a building. It is this vendor who will gladly sell you the latest weapons assuming you have the loot to pay for it. Upon accessing the vendor menu you'll find a list of low end, and high dollar weapons that will aid you in your survival of the zombie apocalypse. These weapons range from melee types such as an axe to the more "Weird" and "Wondrous" gun types such as the 'QWERTYZ' alien blaster or the 'PEWPEW!' gun. In order to afford these luxurious items of mass destruction you will of course need to send the undead back to their graves (or blast them to gory bits ^.^). Upon killing said denizens of the dead you'll find that rupees/gems will fall in their stead (that rhymes xD). Loot in this game comes in the form of what looks like "Rupees", or mutli-colored gems for those of you who don't have a clue in hell as to what I'm speaking of. All of you 'Legend of Zelda" fans out there will know what I'm talking about though. As the waves become filled with more, and more zombie types you will be able to score more, and more loot which will in turn allow you to upgrade your weapon selection as well as refill ammo, and health via a separate vending machine (Think "Borderlands"). Unlike the vendor you will find a couple of vending machines at different locations on each map. This will give you multiple opportunities to refill health, and ammo during and after each wave.
The goal, or aim of each wave is simply to survive, and clear all of the zombies included within that wave. As with any shmup though you will find that your gameplay is limited by the amount of health that you have. If you are damaged enough by enemies it will be "Game Over" for you, and you will join the living dead as they try to disembowel the next gamer who dares attempts reaching the highest wave possible (not really though, but it's a cool thought nonetheless ^.^). Completing a wave is not only complicated by health, or zombie attacks, but also by the types of zombies that you encounter. The developer has included a rather interesting selection of zombie types that seem to appear in random groupings throughout survival mode.
These zombie types can be your normal everyday variety, larger in size (Larger, Gargantuan), or even have some sort of unique attack/ability that will hinder your progress. Zombie types such as the "Regenerator" will usually hang with large crowds giving them constant invulnerability further complicating the current wave's completion. Until you kill the 'Regenerator' the threat will remain. The same goes for the "Spitters (Spits Acid)", "Sticky (excretes slime that slows your movement)", "Exploding (explodes when you are close)", and the "Screamer (which chases you down like a madman while screaming)". The more ominous zombie type you'll encounter called the "Exiled" will also cause you trouble, but only if you dare to impose on his space. This zombie type which is equivalent to Silent Hill's 'Pyramid Head" will only attack when provoked, and will take a hell of a lot of shots to destroy. Having a full supply of ammo, health, and the strongest available weapons will be your best bet in destroying this monstrosity.
As you play through each wave you will need to pay attention to your health, and ammo supply consistently. While you are able to refill your health, and ammo during, and after each wave it is best to do so when the threat has subsided though. You'll find that the higher up you get in waves the more difficult it will be to survive, so having the proper weapons on hand as well as full health, and ammo will do you good in the long run. You'll also find that it's usually best to move around the map a lot instead of staying stationary in one area. Areas on the maps are somewhat claustrophobic in certain spots, so getting to the areas with more movement spaces will be your best bet for long term survival.
Now on to the graphics ...
Dawn of the Fred is by no means a major feat of graphic prowess, but it does well enough with the graphic design that was applied. The maps which are the most simple of features found within the game still have nice touch of detail to them. Being the top-down shmup that it is you'll find that all building interiors are open for viewing since the gameplay is shown from that retro type of perspective. In a way it's comparable to old 'Final Fantasy' RPGs, but on a more simplistic, and less pixelated scale. As far as the character design goes I think the developer did a noteworthy job creating the characters in a similar fashion as their hand drawn designs. They are articulated in a unique way that I've only seen used by 'StickyDPad Games'. It's details like these that give a simple indie an edge above the rest.
Now on to the verdict ...
Dawn of the Fred is a simple game. It's simple, but it's unique in an in an important way. The developer's artistic touch, and creative genius really sets this game apart from other more graphically simple XBLIG zombie shmups. The fact that the developer, 'StickyDPad Games' did an excellent job in their tributes to games, and horror movies of yesteryear was a cool nod to the entertainment industry. I almost forgot to mention the combo system (Shame on me) which is also part of the tributes I'm speaking of. Like any shmup out there you'll find that 'StickyDPad Games' has incorporated a combo system that comes with various quotes dealing with the onscreen carnage that is taking place. The most memorable phrase I recall was a throwback to the George A. Romero "Dawn of the Dead" series. It basically pops the combo multiplier, and a phrase up onscreen displaying the quote "There's no more room left in Hell". This happens once you reach a certain combo multiplier. It's details like these that make me want to praise the hell out of this game.
At the same time though the execution was anything but flawless. When I first began my playthrough I noticed that there wasn't much in the way of modes, or survival mode options. Being limited to a single mode, and only being able to play on two different maps did little in the way of impressing me. I've seen other similar shmups with more content, and as such found the overall offerings to be a bit disappointing. Not only was it disappointing when it came to the offered features, but I found some bugs that really weakened the fun factor of "Dawn of the Fred". These bugs/issues included a stat ("Overall") recording feature that did not do it's job, some button functions that didn't work when they should, and even some weapons that did not shoot the way that the description had detailed. It's these types of in your face problems that make me want to scream "WHY!?".
It's obvious that the developer has talent, and is capable of creating an indie, but I'm honestly not sure how this game passed the peer inspection in the state that it's in. I'm hoping that by some chance 'StickyDPad Games' can at least fix the bugs/issues if not add some more maps along the way. The game has potential, but as it stands I don't even see it being worth the 80msp ($1) asking price. If the bugs get fixed then perhaps it might be worthy of 80msp, but until then I'm gonna have to say pass on it.
OtakuDante's Gaming Inferno: Fred's Fridays
- http://otakugaminginferno.blogspot.com/2012/03/otakudantes-gaming-inferno-exclusive.html
- http://otakugaminginferno.blogspot.com/2012/03/freds-fridays-ep2-characters-revealed.html
- http://otakugaminginferno.blogspot.com/2012/03/freds-fridays-ep3-interview-with.html
- http://otakugaminginferno.blogspot.com/2012/03/freds-fridays-ep4-encounters-of-worst.html
- http://otakugaminginferno.blogspot.com/2012/03/freds-fridays-ep5-beware-convicted.html
- http://otakugaminginferno.blogspot.com/2012/04/freds-fridays-ep6-q-sessions-with.html
- http://otakugaminginferno.blogspot.com/2012/04/freds-fridays-ep7-desolation-despair.html
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