In the RP-series we briefly touched the subject of SL combat systems. Many RP sims have a specific combat system they use, such as the Revolt Combat that’s made for fantasy, used in Isle of Dee among others and the District X Meter, only used in the futuristic District X.
There are also sims that’s mainly combat oriented, where the aim is to just fight. Sure, you can RP there too, and many does that, but combat is ever-present in these sims and they use NPC (Non-player characters) to throw danger in your path, so you need to watch out.
One of these sims is the Dead Zone, created by Pepper Mortensen and Hutch Reverie. Dead Zone throws you straight into a horror filled atmosphere, with the growling zombies right outside the door of the run-down police station of Defiance. Right as you enter, you’ll see two big signs, one with the group joiner and one giving you a free gun to defend yourself if you join the group. On the opposite wall is a sign that makes this sim stick out from other combat sims: A quest!
That’s right, there is a ongoing quest in Dead Zone that not only gives you the excitement of running around, defending yourself from the onslaught of undead, but also gives you loads of free stuff every time you find a new clue.
Inspired by other zombie shooting combat sims, Hutch and Pepper wanted to try building their own, but stretched for cash they had to rely on cheap or free items. Dead Zone looks amazing, yet it’s mostly built from scratch or with freebies, showing that you don’t need a fat wallet to make a great hangout.
There is something called a damage script that is in most weapons in SL, the zombies in this sim is sensitive to this script making the game compatible with almost any weapon in SL. That, combined with the detailed descriptions and several other combabilities, such as the Zombie Radar point system, makes this a great experience, that doesn’t need to cost a single linden.
The Zombie Radar costs 75L$, but isn’t necessary to play the game. If you have it thou, you’ll be a part of the point system and have a chance to win amazing prizes.
All in all, this is probably the best Zombie sim I’ve been to so far!
Lag: Not too bad, I had some problems with lag when there were a lot of zombies spawning, but the others didn’t seem to have that problem and I didn’t get it that often.
Ambiance: Ruined, post-apocalyptic city, what more do I need to say?
Facilities: Besides the mini-store at the landing pad, there’s also a gun store in the city with guns from several creators.
Enhancing qualities: Even thou the sim doesn’t change that much, Hutch and Pepper keeps it up with the seasons. It’s winter themed right now, complete with santa making snow-angels, crows wearing christmas hats and snow constantly falling.
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