Developer Nihilistic Software takes the nostalgia of 1970’s and 1980’s Italian zombie horror flicks and gives gamers one of the best old-school Arcade shooters since Smash TV.

Since the crew over at Nihilistic Software took the time to implement pretty much everything I love about classic zombie flicks from the 70’s and 80’s so I feel I need to take the time and not give you guys some half-ass review for Zombie Apocalypse. I have read a few of the early reviews and it always leaves me shaking my head in wonder as to what game these guys are playing when they sit down and bang out that review deadline. Are most gamers so blinded these days by shiny big games and 50-60 million dollar gaming budgets that they overlook gems that smaller developers make?

Enough of my anger over mainstream, if you are a constant viewer of GCN you would know that I love the horror genre. You don’t need to look any further then my other website GNN (Gore News Network) to see that. I am a 34 year old Italian male that grew up on high doses of George A. Romero, Lucio Fulci (my favorite director), Dario Argento (from Tenebre back, his later movies are not up to par), Umberto Lenzi, Ruggero Deodato, Aristide Massaccesi (AKA Joe D’Amato), Old Peter Jackson, Old Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, etc… You get my point. I love 70’s and 80’s cheese. I guess you could say Italian splatter is in my DNA. I would rather watch a cheesy like Bruno Mattei’s “Hell of the Living Dead” then to watch the garbage Hollywood brings out these days. Who needs crap like “Jennifer’s Body” when I can have “Let Sleeping Corpses Lie”.

I read an article with Mark Cooke (Community Manager and Designer, Nihilistic Software) stating that the developers sat down to discuss a new game and they wanted to go old-school in terms of gameplay as well as the horror genre. That really warmed my gore-loving heart because it shows what kind of passion some developers have. The developers took ideas from movies like Lucio Fulci’s masterpiece Zombi 2 as well as movies like Umberto Lenzi’s Nightmare City. As a matter of fact, Cooke even stated that the Airport level in Zombie Apocalypse is based on Lenzi’s fast-moving, weapons-wielding zombie classic!

The game…

Zombie Apocalypse is now ready for download on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network for $10. From what I understand this is not the typical Xbox 360 port to the Playstation 3. PS3 fans should know that the game was developed on the Playstation 3.

Zombie Apocalypse is a top-down 3D shooter. You basically use the left analog stock to move the character and use the right analog stick to shoot. Your main weapon never runs out of ammo, but the weapons you collect will eventually run out. There are 11 weapons total scattered throughout the various stages of the game. These weapons range from sniper rifles and shotguns to flamethrowers and Molotov cocktails. Each character has a trust old chainsaw, in case you want to go all Bruce Campbell on the undead. Your character also has a little pink teddy bear (reminiscent of the monkey bomb in Call of Duty:World at War) that is filled with good ol’ C4. You can toss it and the zombies will run for it, resulting in a nice shower of body parts and blood. The controls are very much like Smash TV or Robotron; or for today’s standards it controls much like Super Stardust HD for the PSN.

The object of Zombie Apocalypse is that you and three other survivors have to survive 55 days. As each day approaches the zombie hordes become more intense and and the days become longer. You will trek across a various amount of levels during the 55 days. These levels range from Airports to small towns and service stations. One of the unique things about the various levels are the interactive aspects. You can shoot a zombie into a car cruncher or toss them into a large jet engine, resulting in zombie ground beef. Each level is also scattered with various exploding objects such as fireworks and fuel tanks. Shoot these items will result in very large explosions which will take out a few zombies.

A survivor will pop up every once in a while, and you will need to protect her until a helicopter comes to her rescue. If you ignore the survivor the zombies will kill her and she will eventually will become a zombie herself. This is another great attention to detail. If she comes back she will chase after your character and she will even come at you headless. The George A. Romero “shoot it in the head” rule does not apply for this chick.

As you play through the various days you will also unlock various game modes. Some of these modes will have you playing in total darkness, with a small amount of light around each character or other modes like being able to using only chainsaws against the undead.

Zombie Apocalypse also uses the Havok engine, which results in a very beautiful game. The developers paid attention to pretty much every little detail you can thing of. There are a wide assortment of the undead that you will be fighting. From large airport workers to little old ladies with knives.

The four main characters are also likable.You have a choice of four which breaks down as followed:

• Harlan Woods – This character might remind you of Louis from Left 4 Dead. But even that character has a strong resemblance to Duane Jones character “Ben” from George A. Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead. Harlan is a medical student.
• Natalie Floree – The female character of Zombie Apocalypse. She is an athlete that wanted to be a stunt woman. I guess it never paid off because now she is fighting the undead.
• Jimmy 86 – This is the gaming geek of the bunch. He looks at fighting the undead as a gaming experience. He also does a cool robot dance.
• Ed Fragsen – Ed is the “Paul Blart” of the bunch. A security officer who’s military dreams fell short when he got a bum knee. He is the bad-ass of the bunch and has a lot of built-up anger since his wife left him for the pool boy.

The characters and zombies details and animations are top-notch. I also love the little details on each level. I am wondering if that old cabin in the snow level is a tribute to the Evil Dead? The only thing that is missing is the wooden swing on the front porch.

Other little details like the glowing eyes in the dog house, the funny name on the movie theater marque, “Cooke” Realty (after Community Manager Mark Cooke?) and the dead body/zombie on the tractor. Details are what I love to see when I am playing a game, especially of this kind of nature. You can tell the developers have a love for the zombie genre (especially the Italian zombie genre).

The playability of Zombie Apocalypse is good. I believe I have put in over 8-10 hours for Zombie Apocalypse and I still feel the need to go back and kick some zombie ass. I played a good amount of the game in single player mode. Today I put a few hours in playing various matches online. The game itself is fun playing on your own, but having other people by your side is a great online experience. After a while you might find yourself thinking up a strategy with your fellow co-players. Sometimes just running and gunning will leave you as zombie chow. My friend and I found that the teddy bear can come in handy when you really need it.

The whole look and feel of Zombie Apocalypse is great fun. From the off-line TV image at the title screen right down to shooting fireworks to

The Bottom Line:

Zombie Apocalypse is a game that I have been looking forward to playing since day on of it’s announcement. Growing up in the 80’s I was a major fan of Smash TV and I have always been a fan of games that have the balls to go back and give gamers that style and form of old-school gameplay.These days we have the kick-ass first-person shooters and top-notch graphics, but it is always good to go back and visit your roots.

Nostalgia is one of the main keys to me when it comes to playing a videogame these days. Being a 34 year old gamer like myself games like Zombie Apocalypse takes me back to my days when my brother and I would visit the local Arcade. Today with the vast technology of the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 that nostalgia can be blended with online play.

Zombie Apocalypse is well worth the $10. Maybe I am a little more bias because #1 I love the zombie genre (especially Italian zombies), #2 I love old-school gameplay and at $10 Zombie Apocalypse is a steal!, #3 I believe in supporting smaller development companies and #4 the game is just fun-as-hell to play.

I must not be the only one that enjoys the game… According to the Xbox Live rating over 2600 gamers have rated Zombie Apocalypse 4 1/2 stars out of 5. I guess the people have spoken! You know, the people that really count (not some 15 year old trying to make his review deadline for a major gaming website)!

The game mixes hordes of the undead with great graphics, good music and sound and some excellent gameplay that will take you back to the days of Smash TV. The game is also a blast to play online with friends. Up to four people can play the various game modes and try to survive 55 days.

Check Zombie Apocalypse out today for the XBLA and PSN.

Zombie Apocalypse Score: 9/10

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