Deadlight

Deadlight is a 2012 cinematic survival-platformer developed by the Spanish studio Tequila Works and published by Microsoft Studios, released first on Xbox Live Arcade and later on Windows and other platforms. Set in a 1986 zombie apocalypse in Seattle, it follows Randall Wayne, a former park ranger searching for his wife and daughter amid the collapse of society and roaming hordes of the infected, here called 'Shadows'. Presented in a moody, side-scrolling 2.5D style with silhouetted foregrounds and atmospheric lighting reminiscent of Limbo and the Prince of Persia and Flashback lineage, the game prioritises tense traversal, environmental puzzles and careful avoidance over direct combat. Randall is fragile and lightly armed, so survival hinges on running, climbing, using the environment to lure or trap the undead, and conserving scarce resources rather than fighting head-on. A bleak narrative, told partly through collectible diary pages and interludes, gradually reveals the cost of the outbreak and Randall's own past. Critics praised the striking art direction, atmosphere and presentation, while criticising occasionally clumsy controls, instant-death trial-and-error sections and a short running time. Deadlight stands as a stylish, mood-driven entry in the wave of atmospheric indie platformers of the early 2010s, and received a remastered 'Director's Cut' in 2016.