Dead Reset, an upcoming FMV horror game, is rapidly approaching its release date. Is the game worth your time, or should you pass this one up?
Read on to find out
In a year packed with horror titles vying for attention, Dead Reset emerges as a standout from Wales Interactive and Dark Rift Horror, blending FMV interactivity with a relentless death-loop mechanic that keeps you dying—and retrying—well into the night. Released amid the eerie vibes of early fall, this blood-drenched sci-fi horror thrusts you into an underwater nightmare that’s as psychologically twisted as it is viscerally explosive. After sinking hours into its branching paths and multiple endings, I’m left impressed by its bold fusion of Alien-esque isolation and Groundhog Day repetition, though it’s not without a few murky depths.
Gameplay: Choices That Cut Deep
You step into the scrubs of Cole Mason, a fallen surgeon abducted and coerced into performing nightmarish procedures on grotesque, parasitic entities in a submerged lab. The core hook is the death-loop: Every botched decision leads to a gruesome demise, but each reset arms you with fragments of knowledge to alter future runs. It’s not just about survival; your choices ripple across alliances with fellow captives, tracked via an in-game relationship meter that evolves based on whether you prioritize self-preservation or camaraderie.
The interactivity feels weighty—opt to sabotage a surgery for a quick escape, and you might forge a bond with a skeptical ally, unlocking new dialogue branches. Or go rogue with experimental tools, triggering chain reactions of tentacles and torrents of blood. With four distinct endings, replayability is baked in, encouraging moral experimentation: Will you redeem Cole’s tarnished past or descend into monstrous pragmatism? The Streamer Mode is a clever addition, ditching timed choices for crowd-sourced decisions, making it perfect for Twitch sessions where viewers vote on your next fatal mistake. Pacing is brisk, with loops rarely exceeding a few minutes, but the full game’s expanded acts introduce welcome variety, like puzzle-like dissections and stealthy facility crawls. That said, some later loops can feel iterative if you’re not meticulously noting clues, leaning a bit too hard on memory over intuition.
Story and Atmosphere: Submerged in Schlock and Suspense
The narrative plunges you straight into chaos—no hand-holding intros here. Cole’s captors, shadowy figures with ulterior motives, force him to extract horrors from writhing hosts, revealing a conspiracy tied to his own backstory. It’s a clever mix of body horror and cosmic dread, with FMV sequences delivering practical effects that ooze authenticity: Squirming parasites, arterial sprays, and dim, claustrophobic sets that evoke the isolation of deep-sea dread.
What sets it apart is the tonal tightrope—gruesome deaths are often laced with dark humor, like a failed operation spiraling into absurd, slapstick gore. The acting punches above its weight, with performers selling the desperation and wit amid the carnage. Audio seals the deal: Pulsing synths underscore tension, while the wet thuds of surgical tools and echoing facility groans amp up immersion. Visually, it’s gritty FMV at its finest, though occasional compression artifacts in transitions remind you of the format’s limitations.
The Downsides: Not Every Loop Lands Perfectly
For all its strengths, Dead Reset isn’t flawless. The reliance on trial-and-error can border on frustrating in denser sections, where obscure clues demand pixel-perfect attention. While the four endings provide closure, some paths feel underdeveloped, with alliances fizzling out prematurely. And if you’re not a fan of heavy gore, the constant splatter might overwhelm rather than thrill. On technical notes, it runs smoothly on mid-range hardware, but console ports could use finer control tweaks for choice selection.
Final Verdict: A Bloody Triumph Worth Resetting For
Dead Reset masterfully weaponizes death as a narrative tool, delivering an interactive horror experience that’s addictive, atmospheric, and unapologetically gory. It’s a fresh evolution for FMV games, proving the genre can handle complex branching without losing its cinematic soul. If you crave moral dilemmas wrapped in tentacles and time loops, this is essential playing. I’d score it an 9/10—docked slightly for occasional repetition, but elevated by its sheer replay value and bold vision. Dive in, but prepare to die repeatedly.
9
Dead Reset review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a launch PS5. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.
