In the weird twisty world of indie games, Full Motion Video (FMV) stuff has somehow snuck back in, which is wild considering it felt like a relic of the ’90s. Picture those choose-your-own-adventure books, but now on a screen and with actors. The Shapeshifting Detective gave us a sorta “whodunit” with actors boxed in by the plot, while Not for Broadcast just threw in a bunch of chaotic fun. So now we’ve got Dead Reset, thanks to Dark Rift Horror—these folks threw me a bone to try it out early. It’s looking like a horror mystery with a lot of promise.
Alright, so the game plops Cole Mason—a surgeon—right into this space station setting. Flashback to the Aliens series vibes. Bam, he’s yanked up by a guard like in the movies and straight to an operating table. There’s a patient there with a mega weird growth. You’re stuck with making choices. They tell him to cut her open. At gunpoint. Nice. I went with the flow—made Cole comply—and WHOA, alien burst out, goes nuts on everyone. End scene. But then boom, Cole’s on the floor again, same guard, déjà vu kicks in—time loop much? Played through the first of eight chapters, juggling choices like ducking from getting his arm blown off by a smart gun. Got to a point where things kinda moved forward, capturing the alien and setting up the next big question.
Now, the actors, man, they’re into it. They do slip here and there, especially when things get tense. One minute Cole’s like “Hey, I just met you,” and next they’re BFFs. I guess it’s just a game-time thing—they squeeze all this bonding in fast. Fits the horror vibe, though. You know, crisis tightens bonds. Now, chapter 1’s gore was all entrails and gunfire, with an alien that’s almost laughable if not for smart trickery with camera angles keeping it eerie. Bits of action shot like Area 51-arcade flashbacks—budget constrains or creative genius? Who knows, but it works.
Honestly, Dead Reset kept me hooked in this teaser. Enough intrigue to pique my interest about Cole’s time-loop crisis and the freaky creature under the skin plot twist. Good work by the cast in chapter one, making me curious about what’s next. Keep an eye out for it on the Nintendo Switch eShop come September 11th.
