Title: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1
Format: XBLIG
Release Date: August 16, 2009
Publisher: Ska Studios
Developer: Ska Studios
Price: 80 MS Points
ESRB Rating: Rated by Community - Violence = 2/3, Sex = 0/3, Mature Content = 1/3
It's been almost three years since this game first graced the Indie Marketplace, and chances are you may have already picked it up, so why choose to review a product that's been circulating the digital domain for some time?
If you already own this game, you'll know exactly how exciting, tense, and fun it serves to be, however, this review is to encourage those that are still without. If you've visited the Indie Marketplace recently, you'll see that it sits snugly in first place when ranked by 'User Rating', and rightly so. So what is it that makes this game so engaging despite its brevity in length?
Well for a start, it has zombies in it amongst a range of other nasties, so what the title doesn't tell you, the game surely will. Additionaly, anyone who is aware of current trends within the gaming industry will probably ascertain that zombies, at least for this moment in time, are in. Therefore, for those that have exhausted every dialog option in The Walking Dead: The Game, explored every inch of Banoi's jungle paradise in Dead Island, and decapitated every shambling corpse in Dead Rising, it may be time to satiate your zombie needs elsewhere.
The game serves as a dual analog shooter offering players an aerial perspective of the action. It serves up to four players, allowing you to bring a sibling or friend in an the action if you so wish, but only if you're on the same couch. Live support is not included here, which is unfortunate, as blasting shambling corpses with other strangers would have offered an unique experience, accompanied by violent language as you curse each partner for not covering your back.Whether played with friends or alone, both experiences are a delight, as you are beset upon by more droves of zombies than seen in any other game of this genre. You'll be constantly on the move, weaving your way through crowds of the undead which would put most quarterbacks to shame, whilst spraying bullets all around in a manic plea, hoping that each round will allow you extra breathing space in your bid for survival. If this sounds frantic, that's because it is, therefore you can expect to die quite frequently. In fact, the game itself is similar to survival mode seen in games such as Left 4 Dead 2, with your goal to survive as long as possible whilst maximing kills. There's no level progression or objective based gameplay, it's simply kill or be killed.
To add a little more depth, there's also the option of collecting power ups, which add boosts to your health and speed, as well as the opportunity to change weapons on the fly. You'll quickly develop favourites, with ours including the machine gun and rocket launcher, whilst avoiding others that you feel aren't as effective.
By far the most signifianct featre of the game however is the soundtrack. There's only one song, but it's arguably the greatest song ever written for a game, whether indie, arcade, or retail. Don't believe us? After five minutes of playtime, we guarantee not only will you be in hysterics from the lyrics, but you'll be struggling to continue play after allowing one hand to wander from the controller in order to download the track from iTunes. It's that good.
Final Thoughts:
An amazing soundtrack, solid core old-school gameplay, with laughs abound, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1 is as unique and creative as it's title suggests, and it's not hard to get swept up into the frantic gun-play and tense encounters the game throws at you. Whilst the presentation and gameplay are simple, they're executed so perfectly that it only helps to serve as a reminder of how video games started, and why they became so successful in the first place.
S&S Rating: 9/10 @DanMightyNuke
