Deadstone Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Deadstone
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
Deadstone review on PC

Ever since Plants vs. Zombies, tower defense games have been getting more and more popular and this means that all sorts of independent studios have tried to get in on the action, to more or less success.

However, some have tried to innovate in the genre by adding various action elements, such as the Orcs Must Die franchise from Robot Entertainment.

Now, developer Timeslip has brought forward Deadstone, an action tower defense title in which players need to protect a human colony on Mars from rampaging mutants by shooting them but also by planting mines and using turrets to eliminate the onslaught.

With a pretty good premise, the promise of intriguing gameplay that's filled with RPG mechanics and more, Deadstone is looking quite impressive. Does the game manage to deliver a good time or should it be lost in space? Let's find out.

Story

Deadstone focuses on mercenary Blake, who is stationed on a corporate-owned space ship to oversee scientists working on new mutagens. As you can imagine, things quickly go haywire and Blake crash lands on the surface of Mars right in a sort of backwoods area, near the mining colony of Deadstone.

Alongside Blake, many mutants also reach the surface of the red planet and quickly start hunting down the colonists, many of which have no ways to defend themselves. Luckily for the Deadstone natives, Blake sees a win-win situation and promises to protect the settlement in exchange for shelter.

While the story doesn't necessarily break the mold, it's pretty nicely written and the dialog, while not voiced, is fleshed out through text bits that remark on the moods and behaviors of the main characters. What's more, through a pretty novel idea, you can also explore the game using a farcical take on the story filled with black humor and some genuinely amusing moments. Alternatively, you can also choose to turn off the story and just jump from mission to mission.

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Play as Blake ...
... and defend Mars

Gameplay

In terms of actual gameplay, Deadstone is a pretty basic top-down experience. You control Blake, who can use his weapons against the waves of enemies. You can only engage them on your patrol route, which basically includes a vertical piece of terrain. Enemies spawn from the top and make their way, using different routes, to the bottom. If you let one get past, one of your colonists dies.

To spice things up, the enemy behavior changes over time and so do the actual opponents. From your regular mutants, new varieties appear, including bigger ones, phase shamblers that can teleport, and even monster dogs that move much more swiftly through the environment. They can also burrow through the patrol area and pop up towards the middle of the zone, instead of at the top.

This random enemy behavior shines a spotlight on one of the sore spots of Deadstone's gameplay: Blake moves way too slowly. Even when sprinting and using the limited amount of stamina, you still can't keep up with some foes, making your struggle a losing one.

Things get really frustrating during the nighttime and sandstorm missions. Your visibility is impaired severely during these moments, and while you can use things like flares, it becomes really hard to keep track of your enemies and actually protect your colonists.

The story is split up in days, and each one brings a new adventure, ranging from the regular Patrol missions to rarer Arena or Colonist Rescue adventures that include other objectives, such as surviving waves of enemies on your own.

At the end of each mission, you're awarded credits that can be spent on buying ammo, new weapons, or gear, as well as experience points that can be used to upgrade your abilities through the game's SCAM (Speed, Constitution, Accuracy, and Mechanics) system. Every two levels you also get to unlock various perks that provide certain bonuses.

Between missions, you can also set up your defenses by using mines or turrets, not to mention stock up on gear like explosives or medkits that can be used to get out of tricky situations. The mutants also have a chance to drop ammo, speed bonuses, and other such things, but getting to them can be quite hard when lots of monsters are closing in on your location. Weapons feel relatively good, but due to the scarce ammunition, you'll more often than not go back to your trusty pistol with infinite ammo but rather long reload time.

Actual shooting is slightly erratic and it's not enough for you to shoot in the enemy's general direction. If you want to actually hit it and even score a critical hit, you need to keep your crosshair on it, which proves easier said than done.

There are five different difficulty settings, ranging from the easiest "Does it involve kittens?" to "I am Death, destroyer of worlds." You can also enable extra options, like the Ironman mode, which doesn't allow you to restart after dying or failing an objective.

Multiplayer

You can grab a friend locally and go through the game using the cooperative mode and the whole experience becomes a bit more fun like this, even during the more challenging nighttime or sandstorm missions.

Visuals and Sound

In terms of visuals, Deadstone isn't the prettiest game out there, feeling quite rudimentary in terms of textures, effects, and many other things. Explosions are unimpressive and the whole visual style weighs the game down severely.

The soundtrack is also not that great, featuring even some house songs that belong more to dance clubs than to a survival game set on Mars in the far future. There's also no voice acting, and some of the repetitive audio cues, such as the one played at the start of each day, get annoying really fast.

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Develop your stats ...
... and pick perks

The Good

  • Novel premise
  • Different story versions
  • Flesh out skills and perks
  • Varied enemies

The Bad

  • Outdated visuals
  • Awkward soundtrack
  • Poor sprinting
  • Clunky weapons with very low ammo

Conclusion

Deadstone is a decent title that manages to deliver a survival-oriented action tower defense experience that's pretty intense and can be supported by a serious or amusing story (or even no plot whatsoever). Unfortunately, while its gameplay may be decent and feature plenty of RPG mechanics, the outdated visuals, the awkward soundtrack, and the many design issues weigh it down.
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story 8
gameplay 7
concept 7
graphics 4
audio 5
multiplayer 8
final rating 7
Editor's review
good