GB Feature: Dead State: Reanimated Review

If you're looking for more zombies in your RPG, you'll be happy to hear that our full review of DoubleBear's more polished version of Dead State is now ready for your consumption. Here's an excerpt from the four-page article:

If a character loses all of his health during a battle, then one of two things happens. A zombie simply dies, but a living character is knocked unconscious and starts bleeding. If you manage to heal such a character before he dies, then he can get back up and start fighting again. However, if an unconscious (or otherwise severely damaged) character gets bitten by a zombie, then he becomes infected and turns into a zombie when he dies. That's the only way the infection spreads. A simple scratch or bite isn't enough. And even the infection isn't a death sentence. If an infected character takes antibiotics every day, then he stays normal.

An interesting thing about combat is that all fights cause noise, and so you have to pay attention to what you're doing because the easiest way for a zombie to detect you is to hear you. If you stick to melee weapons then you're mostly fine, but if you start shooting guns, or if you bash open a locked door, or if you set off a burglar alarm, then zombies might come hunting for you. Worse, if you make enough noise, then there's like a 50-50 chance that the game will create more zombies on the map and send them after you. This can cause later battles against humans to be sort of a kick. You might start out with about ten people shooting it out, only to have a dozen zombies sneak in behind you and try to spread the infection.