Developer: doublesix

Publisher: doublesix

Release Date: March 26, 2009

System: PS3

ESRB Rating: M

Official Web site

0:00 I watched a demo of this game for about five minutes at the latest Game Developers Conference. Looked fun enough, but it's hard to gauge until I get my hands on that controller.

0:01 Eerie zither music gives way to a driving guitar beat on the simple title screen. In the background, sepia-toned zombies wander about a yard aimlessly.

0:02 I got a decently broad idea of the game at GDC, but I have no idea of the particulars, so let's jump into the tutorial. "Welcome to Zombie Academy! Day 1 - Basics."

0:04 A Bruce Campbell lookalike in a flaming bowling shirt appears in a virtual environment right out of "The Matrix." He teases his ridiculous pompadour and pulls out a pistol. From a mostly overhead view I get some nice responsive running by tilting the left stick. Tapping the fire button gives faster shots than just holding it down -- that's gonna get annoying. Clicking the left stick brings up pointers to nearby weapons -- nice touch.

0:06 I pick up a chainsaw and tear through 25 zombies in record time. A few of them manage to grab at me when I get close. The characters are so tiny it's hard to discern whether I'm hitting them with the chainsaw or with ME.

0:07 Holding down R2 takes out a torch that can set nearby zombies on fire. Burning zombies are faster and more powerful, but keeping burning zombies around increases your score multiplier. Burning zombies also drop better power-ups. Seems like a good risk/reward structure there.

0:08 Quote of the moment: "I came here today to kill zombies and chew bubble gum. And I'm all out of gum." Duke Nukem is rolling around in his grave.

0:10 Using a single weapon to kill a bunch of zombies in a row builds up a combo meter. I decide to try out the rapid-fire Uzi, along with a lock-on feature that trains on the nearest zombie automatically. Combining these two lets me take out every zombie on screen without even moving. They can't even get close.

0:11 Once I've built up enough combo energy, I can set off a Big Red Button that sends all the zombies into the "Thriller" dance. You HAVE to love a game that has a Big Red Button that sets off the "Thriller" dance. You just HAVE to.

0:16 I'm liking the little time-delayed sticks of TNT in this latest tutorial. I try chaining them together to maximize my score, as the game suggests, but end up blowing myself up in the process. The remote-detonation upgrade helps me avoid this fate. It all reminds me of Bomberman, right down to the kicking.

0:19 Taking a Shotgun to a horde of 50 or so clumped, burning zombies is INCREDIBLY satisfying.

0:21 Defense Mode tutorial. I have to protect a girl named Daisy, who's sitting in a shiny hot rod in the center of the screen. Using the shotgun with auto-aiming makes this incredibly easy.

0:22 I'm loving the new baseball bat weapon. Tapping the attack button makes nearby zombies dizzy, freezing them in place for a second. Then holding it down does a HUGE swing that sends them packing.

0:26 The last tutorial level (finally!) features zombies with trash-can lid shields. Fortunately, it also features an insanely effective lawnmower weapon -- my guy actually picks up the lawnmower by the side and uses the blades to chop everything up. There are also exploding zombies that tend to kill you if they get sucked into the blades.

0:27 The tutorial finishes off with some general advice: "And remember: Stay alive." Was I liable to forget?

0:28 OK, now I know how to play, on to Arcade mode. Level 1 is "The Woods."

0:30 Wave after wave of zombies come at me at a pretty quick pace. I get my burning zombie multiplier up to a nice, round 60 or so before I start picking off the exploders. A huge chain-reaction combo destroys practically every zombie on the screen, getting me over 10,000 points in one fell swoop. It's pretty easy to stay away from zombies so far, but it is the first level.

0:32 I accidentally double back on the burning zombie horde chasing me and get trapped for a quick first death. After that, I get a horde of 75 burners following me as I chop down some regular zombies with a chainsaw. WHEE!

0:35 Good: Burning zombies run into other zombies, setting them on fire in turn and increasing my multiplier. Bad: Burning zombies seem to burn out eventually, getting me no points and reducing my multiplier.

0:37 For a while there I was doing just fine circling around the perimeter, avoiding dozens of burning ballerina zombies (they pirouette at me rather quickly) while emptying tons of shotgun shells into the horde. Then I get two quick deaths in a row when I try to chainsaw a bunch of the zombies. The close-range weapons don't seem too effective -- they let the zombies hurt me too easily. Staying away seems the better idea. 288,887 is my final score ... well short of the 1,000,000 needed for a silver medal.

0:40 On to Level 2: The Graveyard. As we start, my guy repeats that kill zombies/bubble gum line for the third time. Ugh.

0:48 Wow ... that was intense. I got incredibly caught up in the last eight minutes of zombie evasion and mutilation. This time I focus on not letting my multiplier-zombies burn out, instead taking my shotgun to them periodically as I frantically run between the gravestones and mausoleums. This great strategy gets me over 600,000 points before I finally succumb in Wave 39 or so. Other notable bits from this level: A dance gun that sets off the "Thriller" dance at will and "Rusher" zombies in football helmets that run fast in a straight line but don't turn very well.

0:49 Arcade mode is great, but let's see what "Challenges" the game has in store. Challenge 1: "Thank you for buying Exploding Zombie Head. To use: Simply kick it around the map and shoot to detonate. Your Exploding Zombie Head will always be there for you." It's the gift that keeps on giving!

0:53 My first try at the Challenge goes something like this: 1) I kick the zombie head into the middle of a large group of zombies. 2) I realize I can't hit the zombie head with a bullet to make it explode, so I just kill the zombies normally. 3) Repeat until dead.

0:54 The "Zombie Zapper" Challenge is all about luring the Rushing and Exploding Zombies into a central electrical grid. I run into the grid myself at first, frying almost instantly. D'oh.

0:56 Attempt No. 3 at the Zombie Zapper goes marginally better. I try to avoid shooting the zombies as long as possible, since only the zapper seems to give points. Soon I'm cornered and die in an exploding zombie blast. D'oh times two.

0:58 I finally manage to get a good strategy going on my fourth attempt, creeping close enough to the zombies to get them to charge at me.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Simple to learn but there's a depth to the scoring and weapons systems that's going to take a while to really dig into. Plus there's a multiplayer mode I haven't touched. Seems like it could be fun for a good while.

This column is based on a retail version of the game provided by the publisher.



Want to know more about Games for Lunch? Check out the FAQ here.



For more Games for Lunch, visit the official GfL blog.