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Review: Dread Nautical (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch & PC) – Defunct Games

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Defunct Games reviews Dread Nautical by Zen Studios, available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and Steam.

Just when you think things can’t possibly get worse for the cruise ship industry, here comes Dread Nautical. This is a strategy/survival game with a colorful cast of characters and twenty stages to fight through. Although the setup is fun and there’s a lot to upgrade, this new release from Zen Studios is occasionally hard to control and far too repetitive. It squanders a cool premise with levels that are hard to tell apart and a campaign that takes too long to get going. I like the humor and atmosphere, but Dread Nautical ultimately left me stranded at sea.

NOTE: Defunct Games received a digital code from the developer/publisher of this game for review purposes. For more information about the Defunct Games review policy visit www.defunctgames.com

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13 comments

@noneofyourbusiness4616 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
It's not just a zombie game! (Sorry, couldn't resist after your concluding comments.)
@nutbunny10 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
I guess my favourite setting would be a complicated large building like a strange mansion or castle, with a variety of internal environments.
@jamergamer0076 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
QOTD
I'm a baby and scare easy so...
@jamergamer0076 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
Once you said Zen studios, I knew this game was going to be either good or really bad. I like some of their stuff, but most is ho hum.
@PenguinDT September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
I find it weird that there are control issues - it's grid-based, isn't it? We've been using systems like that on consoles since the time immemorial. I guess its one of those 'you'll understand when you play it yourself' kind of deals. I'll have my eyes on this one, the setting seems interesting.
QOTD; Big chunk of my all time favourite games seem to be set in a space station covered in monsters and gore - DOOM, Dead Space, System Shock, Prey, Aliens vs Predator, etc. However, if we're talking about more narrative and character focused horror games - as opposed to mechanics driven - I seem to gravitate towards early-20th-century settings, possibly thanks to my love of Lovecraft.
@barry-allenthe-flash8396 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
When this was announced, I just couldn't warm up to it. I think the premise is pretty dumb but not in a fun way (if you have a character with an afro but it's NOT set in the 70's and loaded with disco music, what are you even doing that for?), and the visual design just looks rough to me. I don't like those character models. Still, I enjoy some occasional turn based strategy, so I was keeping an ear out about this one. Hearing that Dread Nautical's got some limited gameplay, and the random/simplistic/repetitive levels here, makes me feel better about passing on this one. I mean, Gears Tactics and XCOM Chimera Squad just came out, and I was honestly looking at stuff like Cthulhu Tactics and Super Dungeon Tactics lately as cheeapie downloads to add to my PS4 or Xbone. I think I'll just pull the trigger on one or both of them instead of taking a chance on this one.

QOTD: Any recently abandoned "business place" during happy times. That's a broad answer, so I'll specify a bit. Settings like Malls (P.A.M.E.L.A.) or theme parks (too many games to count) or any "unfulfilled dream" exposition-type place (y'know, like in Jurassic Park or the Bioshock games.... or Atomic Heart, I think) are all places that are supposed to be filled with lively people enjoying themselves. The subversion of taking that all away and showing how creepy they are when they're empty and quiet is just maximum levels of upsetting when done well, I think.
@JenMistress September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
Zombies Ate My Captain, now Let's Do The Time Warp Again. 😉 Two references back to back. That got to be a new one for me. Yeah, this does seem like one of those, had potential, but failed in delivery. As for the question, some of my fondest memories playing horror games when I was a little girl was playing the CastleVania games on dad's old NES and Super NES, and a game called Transylvania on his old Apple 2, so maybe the settling of Transylvania.
@destho4308 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
Some areas I enjoy exploring in survival horror games are subways and sewers. Condemned Criminal Origin, Silent Hill, and RE games hit that sickening and disturbing sense of atmospheric dread for me. Stuff of nightmares.
@cyberpunknut1099 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
Looks cool. Yeah procedurally generated for this type of game seems like it wouldn't work well even if it was more random.

QOTD, I like "abandoned" things like the large areas roaming with monsters in the souls games, or raccoon city. Last of us did it pretty well too.
@hemangchauhan2864 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
Nothing beats a good old Haunted House
@DrUmz2 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
"left me stranded at C"
Very clever :D

My favourite horror setting is strangely the child horror section, like the hotel in Luigi's Mansion 3 or the odd city and world of Monster Lab.
@clayton_games September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
Thanks, I know I can skip this one.
@DetroitAlan01 September 11, 2024 - 5:26 pm
My favorite horror game setting is the abandoned/cursed town. The danger hides behind and perverts the familiarity of the setting. Case in point, Silent Hill and the RE3 remake. Something highly unnerving about being stalked across a barren city scape.

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