Dead Meets Lead



Dead Meets Lead is a Top Down Hack and Slash game by Swedish indie developer Keldyn Interactive, released on May 3rd, 2011 for PC via digital download.

It is 1716. The British Empire has uncovered evidence of a deadly plague ravaging the tropical islands of El Mirando and Rugged Nest. The Church, suspecting witchcraft and foul sorcery, assembles a strike team of good, god-fearing English soldiers to go in and clean house. However, a storm strikes their ship en-route, and it sinks with all hands save one. You are The Captain, a ruthless Blood Knight. As a fanatically devout Christian, you have sworn to cleanse the island of infection- in spite of being infected yourself.

Players control The Captain with the WASD keys to move and the mouse to aim and shoot/slash, and proceed to hack their way through hordes (and we do mean hordes) of zombies. Each level is divided into stages, and the objective is to reach a chest on the far end that contains an antidote vial to stave off the infection. At the player's disposal are three different melee weapons and four different guns. Players earn silver and gold coins for slaying zombies and completing levels, and they are used to purchase new weapons and unlock new levels, respectively.

Reviews were mixed. But digital pirates certainly thought it was good, so good in fact, that the game was complete financial failure for the developer. As of January 1st, 2012, the game is available as freeware. Get it here.

Dead Meets Lead provides examples of:

 * BFG: All the guns are fairly large, but first place goes to the portable cannon.
 * BFS: The Captain's Spada de lato is easily as long as he is tall, and he's a pretty tall guy.
 * Blade On a Stick: You can buy a spear. It of course has a longer reach then the sword, but deals less damage.
 * Border Patrol: Wondering off the beaten path will cause a "Malaria!" message to flash on screen and The Captain to get nipped by large tropical bugs and slowed down until you get back on the road.
 * Bring My Red Jacket: The Captain certainly brought his.
 * The Captain
 * Cosmetic Award: Achievements ahoy, Captain.
 * Charge Meter: You have a "rage meter" that builds as The Captain deals and takes damage. It goes up by levels, each level making him more powerful. A portion of it can be used to execute the "Slam" or "Ghost Bullet" Special Attack.
 * Drop the Hammer: A large, two-handed war hammer is available. It's slower and has less reach then the sword, but inflicts more damage.
 * Elite Mooks: Voodoo priests are encountered in later levels. They can summon zombies, call down a pillar of fire on The Captain's position, and if he gets too close, the priests can spray a jet of Deadly Gas at him.
 * Elite Zombie: And they're Color Coded for Your Convenience. Dark green zombies can immobilize The Captain with a fishing net, while purple ones can cast a defensive buff on other zombies nearby.
 * Gatling Good: yup. A Steampunk-styled, hand-held Gatling rifle, no less.
 * MacGuffin: The antidote vials.
 * Multi Mook Melee: The number of zombies on screen can reach staggering amounts.
 * Night of the Living Mooks
 * One-Hit Polykill: The Cannon hits multiple enemies in a line. The "Ghost Bullet" Special Attack doesn't actually harm the zombies it passes through, but it explodes when it reaches what you aimed at.
 * Piranha Problem: Any body of water deeper then ankle-depth is filled with ill-tempered piranha that will chew off The Captain's health- but they'll also do this to zombies. Getting ten zombies killed in this way gets you the "Fish Food" achievement.
 * Raising the Steaks: Literally- zombie cows! Dogs, also. The dogs are Goddamned Bats and are best fought using a gun.
 * Shockwave Stomp: The "Slam" attack, usable while any melee weapon is out. The Captain pulls out a Hyperspace Mallet and slams the ground, stunning any nearby zombies and usually outright killing any caught in the direct impact.
 * Short-Range Shotgun: The starting blunderbuss behaves like this, inflicting massive damage over a short cone.
 * Super Mode: Of sorts. Though the power increase he gets is only incremental, if the Captain's rage level builds high enough he sprouts phantasmal red angel wings and his eyes start glowing red.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Hurting The Captain just makes him mad. And the madder he gets, the more powerful he is in combat.
 * Vague Age: His actual age is anyone's guess, but the years have clearly not been kind to The Captain.
 * Vampire Refugee: Dispite being infected with a zombie plague, The Captain's situation is played more like this.