The just lately launched Lifeless Area remake is a triumph amongst online game remakes, a lot of which haven’t been very nicely obtained by followers over the previous couple of years. And as an enormous Lifeless Area fan, I’m so rattling completely happy to see EA spending cash on the franchise once more—with nice outcomes. However, I can’t assist however take into consideration a Lifeless Area recreation that EA has buried and most have forgotten about. That recreation is Lifeless Area cell, a unbelievable pocket-sized horror recreation that desperately must be given a second probability.
Let’s journey again in time. It’s 2011, a number of years for the reason that authentic Lifeless Area’s 2008 launch. Lifeless Area 2 is popping out and alongside it one other entry within the franchise. However this recreation gained’t be launched on consoles or PC. As an alternative, the confusingly named Lifeless Area (usually referred to on-line as Lifeless Area cell) arrives on iOS and Android gadgets. On the time I questioned: How good might a Lifeless Area cell recreation really be? Then I performed it and found it wasn’t only a good cell recreation, it was an awesome standalone horror recreation!
Set earlier than the occasions of Lifeless Area 2, Lifeless Area cell tells the story of Vandal, a brand new recruit to the scary house cult seen all through the franchise. Vandal is shipped to Titan station, the setting of the sequel, and unwittingly unleashes the Necromorph invasion upon the house base that Issac has to cope with later within the console recreation. The remainder of Lifeless Area cell entails Vandal making an attempt to repair this large fuck up, get proof towards the cult, and assist folks aboard the station escape. I gained’t spoil its twists and turns, however it’s an enticing and tense horror journey that may take most gamers about two to 4 hours to finish.
What actually makes Lifeless Area cell so good is that the devs behind the sport designed it from the bottom as much as be a cell recreation. For instance, to seize or work together with the world you simply contact the factor or swap along with your finger. No digital buttons are wanted. When aiming the long-lasting Lifeless Area plasma cutter, you barely tilt your cellphone to flip the laser from horizontal to vertical. It sounds finicky, however in observe, it really works nicely even throughout a number of the later areas which toss a great deal of nasty monsters at you.
Not solely does it work nicely, however it feels so completely different from right now’s present large cell video games, which are sometimes lined in digital buttons and joysticks and really feel like they have been constructed with a controller or keyboard in thoughts after which ported to a cellphone. Lifeless Area cell as a substitute feels completely at residence in your tiny cellphone or pill.
In the event you play Lifeless Area cell with headphones on in a darkish room, you’ll be able to rapidly overlook that you simply’re enjoying a pint-sized cell tie-in and get sucked into the darkish corridors and creepy ambiance of the sport. Only a few cellphone video games have ever scared me and Lifeless Area cell is on that shortlist. Even with its barely chunky graphics and restricted lighting, this cell interpretation of Lifeless Area was nonetheless a tense lil’ masterpiece that labored with its limitations and didn’t combat towards them.
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Sadly, that is the a part of the story the place I’ve to clarify that Lifeless Area cell is at the moment not obtainable on both iOS or Android. In 2015, EA eliminated the sport from digital shops and it turned unplayable on newer gadgets over time.
Now, if you happen to personal an Android system and you realize what an APK file is and the place to look, you’ll be able to nonetheless technically take pleasure in Lifeless Area cell in 2023 due to artful and devoted followers. However if you happen to don’t, you’re shit out of luck, and it’s a disgrace that such a gem of a horror recreation has been left for useless by EA.
Nevertheless, maybe there may be nonetheless hope for Lifeless Area cell. I can affirm that the sport runs nicely on trendy telephones with a number of fan-crafted modifications . So it appears potential that EA might spend some cash and re-release Lifeless Area cell on newer telephones. However even higher than that: EA ought to take the time to launch Lifeless Area cell throughout consoles and PC, too. Certain, it’d want some adjustments and a few actually low-res property may must be swapped out, however it could be price it. It will carry the sport to extra folks and would guarantee Lifeless Area cell doesn’t get left behind once more, as a PC model can extra simply be modded and up to date by followers for years to return. And whereas I feel Lifeless Area cell feels excellent on a cellphone, I feel it could nonetheless be rattling good on a controller. And even the Nintendo Swap!
With Lifeless Area’s remake doing so nicely, it appears probably {that a} Lifeless Area 2 remake might observe and the cell recreation fills in some necessary holes within the sequence timeline, so a re-release appears even extra wanted now than ever earlier than.
Sadly, with the current information of EA killing cell video games, it appears unlikely the writer will fund even a small-scale remaster of Lifeless Area cell anytime quickly. But when it does occur, I’ll be proper there, able to spend the cash to purchase and replay this unbelievable horror recreation as soon as extra.