With hundreds of tower defense games available for free on your browser, developers have to deliver something special in order to make you part with your cash. Dead Block looks set to be one of those games that stands out from the crowd, combining gamers’ love of killing zombies with the popular sub-genre of tower defense, a genre that boasts immensely popular titles like Savage Moon and PixelJunk Monsters.
The launch trailer, shown below, suggests that Dead Block offers a humorous and fresh take on the age-old art of zombie-killing, with an appealing art-style reminiscent of Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress. This style compliments the humorous gameplay and 1950’s U.S. and rock ’n’ roll soundtrack that blasts out some top tunes in the background.
Dead Block gameplay revolves around the plight of three survivors of a zombie invasion as they move around various places of shelter around the town to gain refuge from the masses. The confirmation that Dead Block is anything like your standard hack ‘n slash zombie game shows in the trailer as you’re introduced to the three main characters: Jack Foster, a construction worker, Foxy Jones, a traffic warden, and the aptly-named Mike Bacon, a burger-loving boy scout.
The aim of Dead Block is to defend against a zombie onslaught in a variety of unique ways, using anything from smart bombs to a variety of unique traps, cunning tactics and powerful melee weapons. Judging by the trailer there should be plenty of laughs along the way too—one section, for example, shows greedy Mike Bacon setting a trap by disturbing a bee’s nest by cracking a pipe with an axe. Players will also have to gather resources and can switch between the three main characters to take advantage of their unique skills. The split-screen co-op mode offers an additional eight action-packed multiplayer levels, allowing you to use team-work to see off the hordes of groaning corpses.
With the power of Unreal Engine 3 behind it, unique ways of killing zombies and an appealing aesthetic, Dead Block could be the perfect blend of action and strategy this summer when it releases on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and PC. With a toe-tapping rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack backing it all up, zombie killing hasn’t looked this much fun since The Return of the Living Dead.