What would you do if you were stuck in the woods and found a cabin? Would you see if anyone was home? Maybe you would try to keep searching until you knew where you were. But what would you do if there were zombies? Would you try and barricade yourself in the cabin and try to survive as long as possible? From everything we know, we think we might be prepared like nothing other. That is until we were actually faced with the situation. But does developer Soul Assembly bring the fun of survival while trying to survive the dead? Let’s find out with Drop Dead: The Cabin for the Quest 2/Pro.
Drop Dead: The Cabin is a zombie game where you will need to gather supplies, get some weapons, and fight off waves of the walking dead that have escaped from an evil lab experiment. So before going in and trying to remember every rule of zombie survival, there are some things that you should know about. First, find your favorite place to sit. You want to be comfortable when battling the undead. Second, make sure your headset, controllers, and if you have an extended battery pack are all charged. You don’t want to become part of the undead because you didn’t check. Third, if you have a friend, get them to join. If not, you will be making some new ones in the game (more on this to come). And finally, have fun. You deserve it. With all that said…let’s continue…
When you first start the game, you are given the option to adjust your height and arm length. I found that because I was sitting, everything was adjusted properly which is nice not to have to worry about. Then you seeing the leaderboards is something I really like to see as it gives you something to aim for. There are additional settings for movement and turning, so adjust those accordingly. Then you just really have a few options since the joining, hosting, and solo modes are all locked and that is the tutorial. Here you get to learn the basics such as storing items on your belt, placing bigger weapons on your back, and the Power System.
See, this is not really your typical just stand in one spot and fight wave after wave of the undead, this is so much more. Yes, you get to fight the undead, but you are initially in a cabin, which I am sure has seen better days. But in order to escape so said cabin, there are certain things that you will need to do. There is a generator and what does a generator need for power? Fuel. So in order to power this generator, you will have to refill it three times. But that means you will need to find the batteries that are scattered around. I mean, you want to escape and have power and not have the lights go off right?
For whatever reason, no sound was recorded in the above footage. I think it was because the undead bit into something, but I didn’t want to check as there were other objectives to cover. We can now continue with our regularly scheduled review…
Inside the cabin also has things that you will want to look out for. For one, the computer as it displays some important information such as how much charge the beacon has, battery status, and the creatures that are coming for you, that information will be displayed on the computer as well. However, you may or may not be paying attention to that with everything that will go on.
Once you have completed the tutorial, it’s time to either host or join a session or try your luck in Solo Hell. Keep in mind, Drop Dead: The Cabin is a co-op experience. Remember earlier when I said if you have a friend get them to join and if not, you will make a new one? This is all very true. When I tried to join a session, it really only took a few seconds for someone to join. And this is where the fun truly begins over and over. I say that because you will die and expect to fail a lot, much like my hopes and dreams, I can’t tell you the number of times I died and it was a blast doing so.
When you have someone with you, especially someone that has played before that is open to giving you tips and tricks, it makes the experience that much more fun. Once both of you are ready and the game starts, you always start off in the cabin. No matter how many times you die, again you will…a lot, you will start off in the cabin. Ahh…the cabin life…On your wrist, you have a watch. This watch provides your health, the number of research points you earned, the power percentage of the beacon, and your trusty compass. Keep a close look at not only your health but the research points you have. Doors to other parts of the cabin require points. Containers that hold health and ammo, require a certain number of points to open. Doors in the forest that you need to get into require a number of points to enter. How do you get points you might ask? By killing the undead. So make sure those shots count and make sure other weapons like the shovel or baseball bat will last as you don’t have unlimited ammo and the weapons do not last.
With the chaos going on, you will find yourself out of ammo. Some of the undead will drop ammo, but again, it’s not unlimited, and depending on the gun you have, you may actually have more ammo for another weapon that you haven’t gained access to because you don’t have enough resource points to open the door upstairs in the attic that you keep forgetting about until it is too late. But if you find yourself with not enough ammo, don’t just stand, run. Run in big circles around whatever until you can get some. And while you are running, feel free to pistol whip the undead so that on your way to complete that circle of life, you may actually collect some.
If you see your last dying seconds, you will see the screen turn gray and your watch will display your final seconds. You still have a chance, if your co-op partner and crime can make it to you, you can both do a high five and get some health back or if you mind a milk carton stashed somewhere, drink it. Milk does do the body good.
The game is over when one of you happens to fail and die. You then get to see how you did and see how many experience points you earned and you can unlock new skills. There was one point where we charged the beacon and we knew help was going to rescue us, but having to make it to the extraction point is another issue as there is no guarantee that you can make it there with all that is going on.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. Playing this game on the Quest 2 looks great. From the colors to the lighting, especially when you are about to die, all really come through clearly. The various undead monsters are always fun to look at when you are running by them and looking behind you because their expressions look like will kill you once they get a hold of you. Plus, you get to be your own Oculus/Meta avatar, so depending on how others have customized theirs, it is never a dull moment. The sound equally matches the atmosphere with hearing spooky sounds from the forest before the action really begins to have the music kick in as you are shooting at the enemies. I mean you have to love it when you are using the bat or a cooking pot or even throwing breakable items, they all sound like they should. And when you can communicate and have fun while playing, that just adds to the immersion of everything.
There are a few things that I would love to see. For one, a faster progression system. After each game, it just seemed like the progression should be further along. I am in no way mad, but more entertained by the taunting of it. Second, more players in a session. Since it’s only two players you will die quickly. It would be nice to at least add a 3rd, maybe a 4th player to the mix. Yes, I get it, it may be too much at one time, but it would come in handy when you are looking for the high five of life. Third, more platforms. Right now, the game is only for the Quest 2/Pro. I would love to see this on other platforms such as the upcoming PlayStation VR2. It might be a little difficult to do that, but having more people play is always a good thing. And finally, expansions. I would love to see Drop Dead: The Cabin adding more areas in the future. I mean, you can’t go wrong with everyone having fun.
Drop Dead: The Cabin brings a fun twist to the undead genre. It not only brings fun but the longevity to playing it. So much so, my fully charged Quest 2 and the Elite Strap with battery all drained because I wanted to keep playing. But not only that, it brings the ability for communication between players who may never have met, but have a common interest into new friendships. In life, we have a handful of people that we can count on, but sometimes, it’s having that one friend to help take out the undead in Virtual Reality that could mean more at the moment. And couldn’t we all use more people that we could count on at the moment?
Drop Dead: The Cabin is out now for the Quest2/Pro on the Oculus Store. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Soul Assembly, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, follow them on Instagram, join the Discord, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I have to see who else is playing and climb some leaderboards.
