A Charming And Cerebral Shooter
Let's sit down and have a look at Age of Zombies, which you can find on the Playstation Store for $4.99. This game falls under the awkward category of dual-stick shooter, on a system with no second stick. However, it features zombies, one of my favourite monsters. It's also made by Halfbrick Studios, makers of other great minis titles like Blast Off and Echoes. Did Halfbrick pull off a hat trick with Age of Zombies? Keep reading, my brain-starved friends.
Age of Zombies plays similar to twin-stick shooters like Smash TV and Super Stardust Portable, where you move your character with the d-pad or analog nub and fire in eight directions using the face buttons. This might sound awkward at first, but it's remarkable how easily one can adapt to this control scheme. Since minis titles are developed first-and-foremost for the PSP, it's no surprise that the game plays on a PS3 with an identical control scheme. Despite having a second stick on a Dualshock controller, the game simply isn't built to recognize it. It would be nice if whatever emulation the PS3 is doing to run minis had an option of replicating the face buttons with the right stick... but I digress. As a twin-stick shooter, you might already know what to expect in terms of gameplay: you control a character who can move and shoot in different directions. You'll be placed on a set stage that fills with enemies from all directions. You'll have to collect powerups to upgrade your firepower. There will probably be a boss battle at some point. Age of Zombies definitely hit these points in a formulaic fashion, but its execution is anything but rote.
The premise of Age of Zombies is enough to whet a geek's appetite; you travel through time and shoot zombies. This means you get three distinct levels each in five different stages: Prehistoria, 1920's Chicago, Ancient Egypt, Feudal Japan, and The Far-Flung Future. Each sports a unique look for both the map and some of the zombies shambling towards you. The boss of each stage is also appropriately themed, pitting you against memorable monsters like Zombie T-Rex and the Mummy of Pharoh Shattinbrix. The game's overall look is exaggeratively cartoonish, which is perfect, since the game doesn't take itself seriously at all. The guns all fire orange-sized pellets into iris-less, large-headed zombies that explode into PG-friendly red goop. The graphics are by no means mind-blowing but they are charming to behold, something I never ever thought I would say about a zombie shooter.
Once again, Halfbrick hits it out of the park in the sound and music department. Aside from the basic pistol, the guns have excellent audio effects. The zombies almost sound cute, like someone was making growling sounds to entertain a child, but these just add to the game's charm. Each power-up is announced by name when you pick it up, and the clip used also changes by stage, adding variety to what would normally be repetitive sound bytes. The music department is where this game truly shines. Each stage's musical accompaniment is themed to that stage's time and place. I particularly love the Japan stage music, as it blends Eastern instruments with a rocking upbeat. I sincerely wish Halfbrick would release this soundtrack like they did for Blast Off; heck, I would even pay money for it.
The place where Age of Zombies truly shines is in its writing. The story features Barry Steakfries, a Nukem-esque hero who travels through time and space to vanquish the zombies sent there by an evil scientist. The game establishes itself right away as something that doesn't take itself too seriously. The dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny at times, especially when poking fun at the Stargate franchise or contemplating keeping a zombie caveman as a pet. I would have paid $5 easily for this game's script alone. The fact that it comes with a fun game on top of all this hilarious banter is just gravy.
Speaking of the game, it's a lot of fun. The action flows very smoothly, and there is almost always something to shoot. The game uses an interesting weapon mechanic that made the game more entertaining than it had any right to be: you always have your default pistol with unlimited ammo. When you pick up a weapon crate, such as a shotgun, submachinegun, chaingun, or rifle, you receive a finite amount of shots for it. Each zombie you hit with that weapon builds up a points multiplier that applies to your score once that weapon's ammo is gone or you pick up another crate. The game also rates each multiplier you earn, from "Poor" to "Awesome!" This adds an unexpected level of strategy to Age of Zombies; you find yourself trying to maximize your kills with each weapon to get the best multipliers possible, and be in a position to grab a new weapons crate once your current one runs out. It turns what could have been a charming but mindless shooter into a charming and cerebral shooter.
Beyond the campaign, the game features a Survival mode where you play one of five stages in each era and try to set a high score. Herein lies my only complaint with Age of Zombies: it's a little sparse for the price. The campaign can be beat in a couple of hours and the Survival levels last as long as your skill allows; once you've played them, you've seen all there is to this game. What's there is still worth the price as a total package, but I think the quality of the game left me very disappointed that there wasn't more of it to experience. It's a shame that minis titles cannot feature any online connectivity, because this game is begging for online leaderboards, a co-op mode, and additional DLC levels.
Overall, Age of Zombies is an excellent purchase for the price. Just be warned that its sheer awesomeness is leveraged against its severe shortness.
The reviewer received a complementary copy of this game for review purposes.
