Steam NextFest First Impressions: Dread Dawn

This Steam NextFest, I downloaded six demos that piqued my interest.

The first was Creature Keeper, which you can read about behind these blue words. I was very unimpressed with it and I'm hoping that I got the most disappointing game out of the way whilst these next ones will be worthy of greatness.

Next on my list is Dread Dawn and you can read what the devs have to say about it on the Steam Store.

Basically, though: it's an open world zombie survival game. There's a million like it. Project Zomboid is probably the best of the genre at the moment, but I hate the UI... so here's hoping Dread Dawn is better!

Starting the game up, I am asked for my language preference, I need to verify that I'm using a proper graphics card and not onboard graphics, and there is absolutely no music. It's a silent menu.

The game begins. We are a young man named Jack in a high school... or university... or something. A school dormitory. We get the controls out of the way which, thankfully, are keyboard-and-mouse.

Controls are standard and intuitive. E to interact, F to sprint, click to shove. I assume if I had a weapon, it would be click to use said weapon. Standard.

Jack is accosted by bullies so we race out of the school and out into the school grounds.

Outside there are a few boxes to rummage through and some bottles and food just lying on the ground that I pick up like the hoarder I am.

My quest at the moment is to simply roam around the school grounds... so that's what I do. Walk around aimlessly and hope that something happens.

It starts raining and Jack says something about how now that it's raining, we should go play basketball. Makes perfect sense.

An arrow leads me to the basketball courts where I proceed to kick some balls around because I'm unable to pick them up and shoot some hoops. After a few ball kicks, a scream rings out from the outside world and we race to see what was happening.

A zombie attack.

Suddenly we teleport a month into the future. Supposedly. Jack is still at school, all his fellow students are suddenly transformed into zombies, and we race outside to an extraction point that surely should've been set up a month earlier?

The military are at the extraction point and Jack swiftly tells them about how there are zombies in the dormitory.

And the military man gets Jack to take him back into the school to show him where.

With no weapon, or anything, the trained soldier gets the scared kid to lead him into the enemy infested building he just escaped from.

MAKES ALL THE SENSE.

With nothing to defend myself, like fifty zombies, and a useless military man by my side... I die instantly, and I close the game before bothering to complete the demo.

So, my thoughts?

There is no music. Few atmospherics. Nonsensical introduction that's very "engrish". No beginner weapons. I don't want to be Jack, I'd rather make my own character. The entire beginning situation annoys me. It's not what I hoped it would be and is very bland and unengaging.

I will not be adding this to my wishlist.

 

See you next time for another Steam NextFest first impressions! 😊

 

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_{All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, @kaelci and are from the game demo: Dread Dawn.}