I see what you are trying to do, ZweiBier Indie, developers of a new 4 player co-op, extraction, campy horror ‘Dreadway’, and its genius. Jumping on the trend of popular co-op games such as the likes of ‘R.E.P.O’, ‘Lethal Company’ or even ‘PEAK’, this will be another one of those games that will be popular for content creators and has incredible potential to ‘pop off’ on Twitch too.

Explained by your train guardian narrator, you are a wasteland survivor and, with your little buddies, are living in the throes of a post-apocalyptic world. Plunged into a deep freeze and dealing with nuclear fallout, surviving in the Alps means scavenging for supplies to keep your train home running and warm.

The story isn’t very in-depth as it isn’t the main focus, but I do appreciate that there is some sort of lore at the beginning. I would have loved to have seen this fleshed out, perhaps a bit more, even if it was added with collectible tapes to tie in with the looting aspect that is so heavy in the gameplay.

The gameplay is split into two main aspects. You begin in your hub, which is a fuel-powered train, where you prepare for each day of scavenging in a bunker. Once prepared, you must traverse the nearby forest looking for a password to get into the bunker while navigating the creatures that lurk after dark. Once you find the bunker, you will find doors are voice-activated, a unique and very neat little mechanic.

The bunker is full of items you must bring back to the train to build tools to take in for the next day. The train must be fueled to move on to the next day, whether it be junk or even your dead teammates’ bodies. The train is the place to carry your items, which are stored in a limited slot holder on your HUD.

Here you can use your resources to build tools, upgrade your character or store items to be used later. The upgrades are not only impactful but funny as hell when implemented. I only upgraded my speed once, and I was zooming around the map compared to my friends, who were getting mowed down by stampeding monsters. The game is quirky in all the right places, and the loops of each day are interesting enough with objectives to achieve that we played for ages each session.

This game hits all the cliques to make it popular in the visuals department. Speaking of quirky, the characters are so gumby looking, that is totally endearing as you watch their googly eyes spin inside their head.

They have also worked hard to make the animations humorous, too, with different comical running styles and emotes such as twerking. Nothing screams hilarious like you twerking in a monster’s face and running for your life while squealing.

The environmental graphics are your average basic multiplayer affair at the moment, simple and bold.  Not very detailed, with everything having a soft and curvy look, its an environment based on comical awareness more than a need to be pretty and realistic.

Sound does play a pretty important role. Firstly, your own voices are the stars of the show as communication is key in the teamwork aspect. You open doors but also use them to scream at each other to run, attack or hide. This can be seen as a frustration because it is very particular about pronounciation but it is quite hilarious listening to everyone trying to activate the password by saying the same word with multiple tones and emphases.

The sound effects are nerve-racking, too, though. Creatures will growl as they stalk you in the dark, ticks, clicks, and clatter of creatures echo around the walls and beeps of proximity mines warn you, but you are always too late. There is a very exciting atmosphere created by it all, culminating together.

Dreadway is a sleep agent. It really was such a fun time with a full squad of four, with events set up to make you giggle and run in fear for the safety of the train.

Written by: Stacey