If you’ve never heard of Dead Frontier, I wouldn’t be too shocked. The game is positively venerable by this point, being that it’s a decade old Flash game that has fairly dated visuals and gameplay. But this zombie shooter action game is actually quite charming once you get past its flaws. The challenge is steep, the community is cool and the rewards are many, but the experience has some issues. With obtuse and ill-explained gameplay mechanics, lack of a substantive and non-repetitive end-game, and a lot of grinding, there’s plenty to criticize.
The developers, Creaky Corpse, know all about these issues, and they finally admitted that the best way to fix them is to rebuild the game from the ground up. And that’s just what they’re doing with the release of Dead Frontier 2.
Let’s dive into the changes shall we?
- An all in one game client, nothing runs in the browser
- No more P2W. Cosmetic and utility upgrades only (and still free to play)
- A brand new 4-player multiplayer system that focuses on player experience above all else. No more glitched zombies!
- A lobby system, making it easy to to find and create game instances
- A totally new skill system, giving the player a meaningful way to improve their character with every level up
- Complex stats system giving almost endless build variety
- A more immersive over-the-shoulder camera angle
- Modern current gen graphics
- Procedural game world that re-generates daily, giving a far more replayable experience
- Realistic post-apocalyptic trading system with multiple markets, currencies and taxes
- Notice board for missions
- Upgradeable vehicles
- Upgradeable weapons
- Crafting system
- True survival horror (not just mindless action!)
For any DF1 player, these are some great ideas. The elimination of the game-altering microtransactions is certainly a welcome change, and updates visuals will definitely make the game more interesting to look at. The sequel will be a massive change from the original, with a new 3rd person camera and a much tighter focus on survival horror over shooter action.
Sadly, a new version means that the time, and money, invested into Dead Frontier 1 can’t be directly ported over. The original game will remain online indefinitely though, so you don’t have to worry about losing those characters you’ve put years into. Also, there are certain milestones that will allow players to unlock special items in the new release. These rewards will be cosmetic in nature and will be unique to the launch of the new game.
If you spent money on the game in the last year, you’ll get the equivalent value in cosmetic items or other rewards when the new game launches, so don’t worry about that either.
Check out the gameplay trailer for Dead Frontier 2 down below. The game launches on Steam on August 31, 2018.
