Remember the part near the end of
Red Dead Redemption when former outlaw John Marston... found himself in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? Of course, you don't. Rockstar San Diego has seen fit to address that little omission with a whole new single-player campaign:
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. If you ignored the multiplayer-focused DLC and have instead been holding out for some quality single-player action, this is what you've been waiting for.
Undead Nightmare isn't as fascinating as
Red Dead Redemption, nor is it as much fun. However, Rockstar clearly had a good time making this lengthy add-on. It delivers a long-overdue send-up of the beaten-into-the-ground zombie motif, but it finds all the right ways to make itself at home in the
Red Dead universe. A word of warning, though: don't even think about playing
Undead Nightmare before finishing
Red Dead Redemption's story. If you haven't yet, I advise you to read no more of this review until you do. Once you do, go ahead and start up the download -- it's worth a good bit more than its asking price.
Undead Nightmare ostensibly begins near the end of Red Dead Redemption. John Marston, after doing the dirty work of government suits Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham, has finally returned to his wife Abigail and son Jack. (Oh, and that worthless lout Uncle, too.) Things appear to be going swimmingly for the dysfunctional family until Uncle comes down with a nasty case of undeath. John manages to put him out of his misery, but not before Uncle infects Abby, who in turn infects Jack. So, Marston does what anyone would do in his situation: he ties his family up, locks them in a room, and goes out looking for a way to help them. Unfortunately for him, about 99% of the population from West Elizabeth to Nuevo Paraiso has become infected as well. This means another trek through hostile lands for poor old John. Undead Nightmare doesn't tell a particularly engaging story, but it doesn't at all take itself seriously. It's a joy to see how most of the cast deals with the zombie apocalypse. Hint: They get their dumb asses killed -- violently.
