DEADHAUL: Last Transmission

What is DEADHAUL: Last Transmission?

DEADHAUL: Last Transmission is a free HTML5 game from Glitch & Giggle Studios. It is a singleplayer, top-down, pixel-art zombie survival looter shooter. The release date is 28 October 2026.

The central tension is a supply run that can end two ways. A player can leave early with a reduced haul, or stay long enough to defeat a final boss and bring home the full rewards. Infected control the roads, while the camp remains a lit refuge, so every trip out weighs caution against greed.

Runs take place in the wasteland outskirts or an abandoned hospital. Crates and mission supplies are the targets, and infected arrive in escalating waves. The game also has a camp layer for survivors, food, crafting, and facilities, plus a twelve-mission campaign tied to a camp radio, evacuation coordinates, fuel, and a final defense.

How to play

A run begins at camp. Weapons and supplies are prepared there before the player enters the wasteland outskirts or the abandoned hospital. Once outside, the work is searching crates, recovering mission supplies, and fighting through rising waves of infected. Loot bursts out of opened containers onto the ground, so collection is physical rather than automatic.

The backpack is slot-based. Grab what fits, watch ammunition, and keep a route to extraction. Ammunition drops are matched to the guns carried, which ties loot decisions to the current loadout. Gunfire attracts attention, while timed waves and quest interactions add pressure. Rare mini-bosses can interrupt a run.

Extraction is the key decision. Leaving early salvages a reduced haul. Staying allows a final boss attempt and the best extraction rewards, but death costs the expedition haul. Stored equipment, camp improvements, and unlocked recipes survive death, and a recovery bag gives one chance to reclaim what was lost. Camp work covers survivors, food, crafting, and facilities such as the workbench, medical station, storage, generator, barricades, and radio. Three skill branches shape the survivor: Combat, Scavenging, and Survival.

Controls

Control in DEADHAUL: Last Transmission is built around attention and commitment. Gunfire attracts attention, so each shot changes the pressure around a run rather than acting as a silent damage button. Ammunition is limited enough to matter, and ammunition drops follow the guns carried. The player searches crates, recovers mission supplies, and fights escalating waves while a route to extraction stays in mind.

Loot bursts from containers onto the ground. A slot-based backpack means the player grabs what fits instead of clearing a menu. Timed waves and quest interactions keep pressure rising, and rare mini-bosses can interrupt the run. The camp side sets the terms before departure: weapons and supplies are prepared, facilities are improved, and the survivor develops through Combat, Scavenging, and Survival branches. Death costs the expedition haul, while a recovery bag offers one chance to reclaim it.

Tips for your first run

The first run is best treated as a scouting trip, not a full clearance. The game includes a guided tutorial and a searchable field guide, so those are the first places to look for orientation. Before leaving camp, prepare weapons and supplies and decide which facility or skill branch matters most.

• Keep ammunition in view. Gunfire attracts attention, and ammunition drops are matched to the guns carried, so a loud loadout changes the pressure.
• Leave backpack room for loot that bursts onto the ground. Slot-based space is a hard limit, not a suggestion.
• Plan extraction before the pack is full. Leaving early yields a reduced haul, but it preserves progress that a death can erase.
• Treat the final boss as a deliberate gamble. Staying can bring full rewards and the best extraction result, but the expedition haul is at risk.
• Use the recovery bag as a single second chance after death, not as a routine safety net.
• Invest in camp facilities and a skill branch between runs. Stored equipment, camp improvements, and unlocked recipes remain after death.

Content and replayability

The main structure is a twelve-mission campaign. Its goals involve repairing the camp radio, recovering evacuation coordinates, gathering fuel, and surviving a final defense. Finishing the campaign unlocks endless scavenging contracts with escalating danger.

Scavenging spans two environments, the wasteland outskirts and an abandoned hospital, plus camp defense missions. Locations are handcrafted, but loot, encounters, and objectives are randomized. Enemy variety includes shamblers, runners, tougher decaying infected, poison-spreading enemies, and armed bandits. Rare mini-bosses can interrupt runs, and final bosses guard the best extraction rewards.

Progression includes crafting, farming, trading, and visible camp upgrades. The arsenal has eight weapons with rarity tiers and equipment upgrades. The survivor has three appearances and three skill branches. Three save slots and adjustable difficulty support different approaches, while the guided tutorial and searchable field guide help with the systems. After the campaign, endless contracts keep the loot-and-extract loop going.

Presentation and performance

DEADHAUL: Last Transmission uses pixel art in a top-down, singleplayer presentation. The playable frame is HTML5, and the game is released. Glitch & Giggle Studios credits much of the in-game pixel art to Pixel Rogue Knight, working with the Zombie Apocalypse Asset Pack.

The visual identity fits the post-apocalyptic setting: infected shamblers, runners, decaying tougher enemies, poison spreaders, and armed bandits share space with a camp that can be visibly improved. The camp facilities such as the workbench, medical station, storage, generator, barricades, and radio are part of that upgrade picture. The two scavenging environments are the wasteland outskirts and an abandoned hospital, while camp defense missions add a different setting for combat.

The practical baseline is the HTML5 playable frame. The game is singleplayer. The art direction is pixel-based, with enemy silhouettes and camp upgrades carrying the post-apocalyptic look.

Who should play it

This game suits players who want a singleplayer looter shooter with survival pressure and a visible home base. The risk-reward loop is direct: leave early with less or stay for a final boss and full rewards. The slot-based backpack, ammunition matching, and gunfire attention make looting more than a vacuuming exercise.

It also fits players who like camp building with concrete facilities, three survivor skill branches, crafting, farming, trading, and visible upgrades. The twelve-mission campaign and post-campaign endless contracts give structure and a reason to keep returning. Pixel-art fans and browser players have an HTML5 frame to use. The game is free.

Players who prefer a pure action shooter may find the camp, crafting, and extraction decisions just as central as combat. The game asks for planning around ammunition, backpack space, and escape routes. It is best for someone who enjoys deciding when a run is profitable enough to end.