Red Colony

I am a big fan of the 2.5 horror format. Having played and reviewed both Coma games as well as thoroughly enjoying games like Detention, the thought of a zombie-based game was intriguing to me. There is a lot that could be done with this genre. Having read the premise to this game, I was definitely more than ready to give Red Colony a go.

Frankly, I'm not sure how anybody could look at this game and think it was ready for prime time. If the bugs weren't there, it might get by on its "so bad it's good" appeal, but in its current state, it's a disaster. Homie Rollerz, you finally have some competition.

Overall, Red Colony is a fun game, but not a great game. I think if the dialogue was polished up, if the weapon system was rebalanced some, and if the puzzles were just a little more challenging, this game could have been something special. Like a house in need of work, it’s got solid bones. It just needs to be spruced up a bit. As it stands, you can beat the game in under 3 hours. I was entertained during my hours with the game, and I got several enjoyable jolts of adrenaline for my troubles. If you can look past the flaws, I think you’ll find an enjoyable experience.

I really don't know what the developer was trying to achieve with Red Colony, and I suspect the lack of cohesion is a result of him making it up on the fly after deciding to "do a Resident Evil homage". The Resident Evil homage, which is by far the most solid and cohesive part of the game, works. It's not perfect, but it's conceptually sound and executed with an understanding of the material it draws inspiration from. The rest of the game, however, is a confused mess. Whatever point Red Colony is trying to make about communism, guns, sex, violence and horror the creator was just unable to translate what was in his head into something that we mere mortals can comprehend.

If you're ever wondered what kind of game you'd get if you put a zombie survival adventure in a blender with a healthy serving of soap opera-ish tropes and perhaps a sexy cheesecake calendar and hit puree you'd likely end up with something resembling Red Colony...

I’m not going to pretend that Red Colony is a good game, because between the flawed gameplay and the bugs, it really isn’t. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s not entertaining, with the absurdly intriguing story and character interactions (as well as a pretty short length) doing more than enough to keep me entertained during my playthrough. It’s weird, it’s kinda crappy, and it’s buggy, but it’s charming too. Red Colony DEFINITELY won’t be for everyone, but if you do decide to give it a try, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised…

Unpolished, unbalanced, feeling half-made, and being way too easy for an action-adventure dealing with a zombie apocalypse, Red Colony is hard to recommend to fans of survival horror. This is strictly only for those who can enjoy its - intentional or not - b-movie-esque campiness and fanservice… reviewer included, of course.

Even the most devout survival horror fan will have trouble enjoying Red Colony. The overly basic puzzles, broken combat, and cliché plot all come together to make this a low point of the genre.