WARNING: Contains spoilers!

I started this game back in 2014, when it first launched. I had high hopes for it. As any gamer knows, Square Enix (aka Square Soft in the good ol’ days) is known for amazing graphics, music, and legendary plots. I was not disappointed.

Plot– Deadman’s Cross has a pretty typical zombie plot. The main character has hidden from a mysterious strain of illness that has changed his world into a zombie apocalypse. He leaves his home (probably for food and supplies) and has no idea what he’s getting himself into. A young kid, Oliver, comes to his rescue, teaching him survival skills. This is your tutorial for the game, and afterwards, you are pretty much on your own.

Jobs picked up from a local bar act as quests, introducing you to a variety of characters and their stories. Note, this game is rated for mature audiences, so don’t be surprised by the flowery language and depressing ends to some character plots. This is, after all, a zombie apocalypse game.

Overall, the subplots are pretty entertaining (I mean, come on, who wouldn’t find searching for zombie circus creatures or stocking a baseball park full of zombies comical?) and the rewards for completing the jobs are more than satisfactory.

Gameplay-This game balances a first person shooter with a TCG in a pretty creative way. Personally, I find hunting zombies more enjoyable than the TCG aspect. The FPS portion includes raiding locations to capture zombies for your deck (“horde” is the in-game term) to use both on the streets and in tourneys. Hunts are very fun and are made easy on a touch screen. You swipe to locate and put a zombie silhouette in your sights, tap to shoot, and magazine reloads are automatic. Very simple, very fun.

As for TCG elements, each zombie you add to your horde has up to 3 attacks, starting with 1. Your zombies learn their other 2 attacks by leveling up. You level up your zombie cards by “feeding” them your unwanted cards. The best cards to feed to your zombies are most varieties of Chicks, except the common 1 star Chick. Chicks grant a lot of experience points to your zombies, so take full advantage of them!

Addiction Level– Multiplayer mode is fairly addictive when trying to scrounge up items. Teaming up with other players, you take on waves upon waves of zombies within a time limit. Nothing like that to show off (and master) your sharpshooter skills. However, you may be searching for a group for awhile, but it is well worth the wait.

Deadman Duels, which take place in the aptly named Boneyard, are quite competitive, too. Take your horde off the streets and try your hand against another gamer’s. And the rewards are cause for more celebration. Each week, a new 5 star card is unveiled as a much sought after reward. In the early weeks, most new 5 stars were modeled after historical figures (like Abraham Lincoln, for example). Now seasonal themes are tied into the new cards. Either way, winning one of these cards and adding it to your horde is quite the trophy.

Now, we do need to discuss the downside of this game. While a fairly well-rounded game, you may find yourself running out of jobs/quests to take on. Your reputation in Lara’s Bar is to blame. If you need some Boneyard Passes or Standard Hunt Passes, you might need to replay old jobs. This becomes redundant until your reputation goes up giving you those new jobs you are longing for.

Other than that little kink, Deadman’s Cross is yet another game Square Enix can truly be proud of. Go download it! Like me, you won’t be disappointed.

For more information, check out Square Enix’s link below!

Deadman’s Cross: Square-Enix