Dead Reset Review: A Groundhog Day of Horror | The Gamerheads Podcast

Platform reviewed: Steam

Also on: Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PS5, Epic Games Store

Price: $14.99

Let me know if this sounds familiar, you’re watching a horror movie like Alien and start screaming at the TV because the characters refuse to make the right decisions, you say to yourself “If that was me I could survive.” Dead Reset asks me to do just that, make the choices and see if it’s that easy. As the name implies it was not, turns out waking up in a mysterious facility with no memory of who or where you are just in time for a hostile creature to escape containment is a lot harder to survive than you’d think.

Dead Reset is a Full Motion Video (FMV) game using pre-recorded live action clips based on my choices to reveal the story. The game puts me in the shoes of Cole, someone who has no recollection of anything that’s occurred before waking up on the floor of this mysterious facility. Without spoiling much, early into the game Cole and I both discover we’re in a bit of a time loop, going back to waking up on the floor. Being a FMV, the gameplay is limited to selecting two options before the timer runs out. So the story is the focal point, and while it isn’t a ground breaking science fiction story, it uses a lot of material I love from the likes of Alien or Edge of Tomorrow. 

When it came down to how my choices influenced the direction of the story I never felt forced to pick the lesser of two evils. There was always an option that I felt I would do in the given scenarios. Were these the right choices? Most of the time, not really, but having the ability to make a choice and see it played out in live action does have a different feeling to it than when watching animated characters even if they have realistic graphics. Cole’s story is just as malleable in terms of choosing what kind of person they are going to be at the end of the game. Will he have empathy and try to save everyone or will he look out for himself only? Being able to personally choose the path someone will go down and see relationships evolve because of it gives me a sense of agency not many games have these days.

The acting and special effects reminded me of classic B horror movies that I would rent from the local movie store. The special effects are always toeing that line between realistic and cheesy. If you've ever watched Doctor Who you know what I’m talking about. The same could be said about the acting, with the exception of Daniel Thrace who plays Cole, who completely sold waking up in a weird facility and properly reacting to all the crazy things happening around him. The supporting cast however had their moments that felt off. However, none of that takes away from the game but almost makes it better. I could tell everyone in this project was having fun on set and working hard to put a good, fun project out.

Final grade: B+

Between the many mysteries and creepy environments this is a fun game to play, especially with the spooky season upon us. If you want to watch a scary B movie with some control than Dead Reset is a fun game to play for the night and see what ending you get with Cole.

Review code provided by Wales Interactive