Daymare: 1998

Daymare: 1998 is a survival horror set in a zombie-infested town, Your characters are here to stop the plague, but it’s harder than it seems. It’s a 1990-styled game that combines modern approach with old elements. You can download Daymare: 1998 for PC, 

Graphics 5/5

It’s a third-person 3D survival game, with greatly made rich environment, dark colors, and highly drawn details, from blood and gore to underground tunnels and bunkers where you search for a clue. Despite a mystical setting, the lines are brisk, and the light is sharp, with almost no blur. Even dark scenes don’t make havoc, remaining readable. It will cost you 23 GB storage and require at least 8GB RAM, with rather modern CPU and GPU recommended (though nothing extraordinary).

Gameplay 4/5

The game follows the classics of the 1990s, like Resident Evil and other similar games. No wonder the setting takes you to the 1990s as well. So, you can play one of the three characters who are here on the mission to investigate what happened. The little town is flooded by a zombie disease. The ex-citizens come back now as the brain-hungry living dead. You need to solve the mystery of what has happened before they get you.

As you proceed, you’ll need to switch between a helicopter pilot, a forest ranger, and a super soldier, who needs to form a team to survive and complete the mission. The plot is quite linear, but it requires a lot. Track your health, track the ammo left, aim before you shoot, and do anything to survive.

The dialogues and the plot, though, seem to come right from direct-on-video movies of the 1980s and early 1990s. It takes a Tarantino to craft masterpieces of it. Alas, the developers of Daymare: 1998 don’t have this sort of vision, so we have rough dialogs, basic storylines, predictable plot and subplots.

Controls 3/5

Though there is nothing new in the idea, the controls feel rather slow to respond. The game utilizes traditional key combinations and mouse gestures for moving the character, interacting with objects, and applying weapons. The response, though, is so slow that it would be unforgivable in action games like Call of Duty or APEX Legends. Luckily, your enemies are just zombies, slow and dumb, so this isn’t always fatal.

Replay Value 3/5

It’s a good game if you want to revisit those good old days when zombie survival actions were something new. But hardly will you replay it as you did with Resident Evil series. And it’s not about the game quality. It’s just a nostalgic bit, and, despite its references to the origins, you may rather turn just to those origins for nostalgic kicks,

The Bottom Line

The developers intendedly quote lots of classical moments, yet they never forget it’s 2019. It shows in the irony the game is filled with. An experienced player will enjoy both the game and its intertextual features, recognizing quotes and references as well as enjoying another zombie drop re-dead.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 4
• Controls 3
• Replay Value 3

Pros

Good visuals;
Immersion of the 1990s with lots of references and quotes;
Reasonable system requirements;
Steam trading cards integrated.

Cons

Poor (or poorly stylized) writing;
Controls with a slow response;
No new ideas.