Undead Line

"Overlooked shooter that will shred your nerves . . ."

As a young Sega owner in the UK, there were many import games which I could never hope to afford, teasing myself with screenshots and reviews. 'Twinkle Tale', 'Arcus Oddyssey', 'Aero Blasters' . . . and 'Undeadline'('Undead Line'?). Like many, I am a hardcore shooter junkie, and like many, the joys of online auctions are allowing me to finally experience many older examples, first-hand, at reasonable prices. I always fancied the idea of a vertical forced scrolling shooter with something of a gothic,'Castlevania' flavour, as opposed to the usual sci-fi conventions, but I never expected such a solid game to back up the style on show.

If you're used to infinite continues, regular restart points, and the help-me-I-can't-breathe smart-bomb escape allowance, then you might not be too enamoured with 'Undeadline'. However, if you appreciate being forced to get under a game's skin, and don't like to be patronised by the aforementioned recompenses for lacklustre design, then you will find plenty to grapple with here.

Initially, the pleasant presentation and artwork will pique your curiosity and build your hopes for a fun game - the lack of a demo even adds a little mystique to the ('Thunderforce'-style) selectable levels. 'Cemetery', 'Ruin', 'Cave' . . . the levels represent cliches being portrayed admirably straight, being something fresh in a vertical shooter. Once you get past the atmospheric front-end, the game may appear dated, but don't be fooled; the challenge presented could never be replicated on today's consoles. Constant swarms of monsters - fixed, flying and walking - leave little room for breath, and most enemies will fire at least one shot by the time you dispatch them. You really should attempt the levels in the order that they are selectable, being both an increasing challenge and a flowing movement from outdoor locations to indoor and underground.

Thought has gone into usually arbitrary design aspects; attaining power-ups requires strategic play, with the pick-ups cycling through weapons when shot, the player powering up only through repeatedly picking up the same symbol. The weapons are horribly variable, like 'Ghouls'n'Ghosts'; attaining the best often involves avoiding the worst, the excellent crossed-swords for example coming last in the cycle, therefore forcing the player to control his selecting shots or risk picking up the basic weapon again.

The same principle goes for secondary pick-ups, with life-ups next to poison in the cycle, and the most-useful shield requiring careful shooting selection to avoid the detrimental items. All this while fending off undead armies and dodging their bullets. Thankfully, a limited supply of satellites can be deployed to absorb attacks and damage enemies, as well as a bullet-shield available at the sacrifice of being able to fire. If the character's programming wasn't so precise, such imaginative design would be wasted, but thankfully control is fluid and satisfyingly responsive. The shield can be especially fun during boss encounters, when the static areas remove the threat of what lies beyond the screen, so the player can stop shooting and use the shield without being left open to oncoming enemies.

The bosses themselves are impressively original and unforgiving, with varied firing patterns and definite tactics needing to be applied. They are accompanied by nicely dramatic effects, too, like Death's cloud passing over the player's head, and the wall of fire from which the Flame boss emerges. The levels also employ regular effects to stimulate and involve the player, such as variable weather, play-affecting ground conditions and structures, as well as nicely-observed interactive atmospherics - ghosts rising from shot gravestones, amphibious enemies firing only if allowed to get to land.

Regular set-pieces also increase the tension and build anticipation, such as the crumbling bridge in the 'Ruins' and the 'Gradius'-style fire arcs which jump out of the screen to obscure the action. There really is alot to see for the determined player, and while the graphics themselves can be plain, the creativity evident in their application more than overcomes your first impressions. The sound effects are functional - samples would have helped - but the music enhances the game's moody atmosphere while backing up its arcade aesthetic.
We're not talking 'Castlevania', but 'Undeadline'
is definitely comparable in terms of well-executed ideas and distinctive approaches in style, visually and aurally.

I really should go back to stress that, without restart points and smart-bombs, and with only three continues, this is a difficult game, uncompromisingly ignoring shooter conventions. If you like shooters though, this only enforces the addictive appeal - challenges such as this are especially refreshing today, perhaps even more so than in 'Undeadline''s own time. Passwords would perhaps have helped, and the RPG-style experience distribution seems ineffectual, but this game delivers where it counts.
I strongly urge anyone still involved in 16-bit gaming to track down a copy, and as for today's programmers, maybe they could even take a few examples from such a masterfully convention-defying game. Hopefully it won't go overlooked by people deceived by its Gothic leanings -'Undeadline' deserves to be remembered as a classic hardcore blaster.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/02, Updated 05/19/02