Zombie Apocalypse

Overview

Zombie Apocalypse is a twin stick shooter developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Konami for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

A demo for the game was put out alongside it's release on XBLA on September 21st, 2009, and on September 24th on the PSN. It costs 800 MS/$9.99.

Gameplay

Zombie Apocalypse is a 2D top down shooter, in which the player uses a variety of weapons and power ups to fight hordes of zombies.

Since this game is overhead it gives the illusion that the game is 2D, this can get very confusing when dodging projectiles and even using a sniper rifle can be hard due to the twin stick shooter controls.

Weapons

There are a multitude of weapons to use to rip these zombies apart, here is a list of the weapons:

AK-47

This is your basic, fully-automatic, high powered assault rifle and it comes with an infinite supply of bullets!

It has medium to long range and is quite powerful, but not good for large hordes of zombies, unless they're Shamblers.

Chainsaw

This deadly petrol guzzler can rip through hordes in seconds, it kills almost anything instantly and has two attacks, normal and execution.

Execution is risky but good for the multiplier, try and take out the toughest enemies with the execution.

Pump-action Shotgun

This shotgun is fast firing, like an AA-12, but it is pump action.

Its got a medium to long range and has a wide five bullet spread.

It is weak but can grind through hordes.

Akimbo Mini-Uzi

These deadly sub-machine guns, tilted on there sides to be gangster like, have an odd cone shape of fire, this is good for taking out large groups in seconds and inflicts high damage mixed with fast fire rate.

Milkor Grenade Launcher

This multi-barreled, revolving grenade launcher is awesome for taking down hordes, and even better when the grenades are in clusters.

Molotov Cocktail

This spirit bottle, probably Vodka, has a burning rag in its neck, when thrown it causes a large fiery explosion and has a push back effect.

Best for a defensive ring around player, flames do not hurt or kill the player and the Molotov Cocktail can be good for taking out large hordes that are close together.

Flame Thrower

This incendiary weapon is very powerful, but has a short to medium range.

Its good to use this whilst running in the middle of a horde as the flames have quite a large spread.

Sniper Rifle

This single firing, scoped, laser dot sighted sniper rifle is hard to use and master, but it can cut through many zombies at a time, turning mobs into piles of rotting flesh. The main difficulty is the fact the aiming feels 3D compared to the games 2D like gameplay.

Rocket Launcher

This rocket launcher has high splash damage and is very effective for taking out the largest hordes ever seen.

It has a laser dot sight and locks on to the zombie's heat (maybe below zero) signatures.

Gatling gun

This large, multi-barreled, fast firing, high damaging Gatling gun can be used to reduce hordes to nothing, it has a lot of ammo, but its only down side is the fact it slows the player's walking speed when fired.

Zombie Types

There are many zombies in Zombie Apocalypse for you to blow up, shoot and even shred to pieces. The following is a list of different zombies you may face, the characteristics of each zombie, and strategies that should be used to kill them without them killing you.

Shambler

A Shambler is a simple zombie, it groans and walks slowly as any stereotypical zombie would.

They are very weak and can't take many shots, and so rely on creating a sense of panic by vastly outnumbering the player.

Numbers of Shamblers can vary wildly, spawning up to a hundred on (and off) screen, making them a daunting prospect for the beginner player.

An ideal strategy is to run through the Shambler horde with the normal chainsaw attack, this may result in being grappled but they are easy to shake off.

Dodger

The dodger is weak like the Shambler, but nowhere near as slow. They look as if they were a super market worker in their human life, and have a very unique walking pattern.

They strafe from side to side with large strides, making it incredibly difficult for the player to target them accurately with most weapons.

Strategies to take down the Dodger include: standing next to an environmental hazard (this may cause them to inadvertently strike it); or running through them with a chainsaw, don't forget to shake them off!

Sheriff

These zombies are slow and stupid, seemingly originating from the wild west. What makes these zombies unique is the fact they wield shotguns.

These shotguns fire slowly but must be avoided as they instantly kill the player! The Sheriff is like a sponge, they take a lot of damage and then shoot back with a deadly shotgun spread. They take around three to six bullets to kill (AK47).

An ideal strategy is to herd a group of Sheriffs in close proximity of each other and then simply let them accidentally shoot each other. The player must be careful if attacking with a chainsaw, or at close range; Sheriffs can form multiple rows of gunners (firing and reloading whilst the next row fires), easily killing an unsuspecting player.

Big Boy

These zombies were hard-working construction workers in their human lives, now all they want to do is eat your brains.

They are all fat and grey skinned, wearing hi-vis jackets and helmets. Their strength lies not in their speed - as they move slowly - but in the fact that when a Big Boy grabs you, it is an instant, and unavoidable, death.

They take roughly ten shots to kill, each shot will cause visual damage and they die when their spinal cord is shot by the player.

An easy way to neutralize their threat is to use teddy bear bombs on a group of them. Failing that, it is possible to back into a corner of the map and whip out your chainsaw, mowing down each Big Boy as they approach.

Granny

When you see your grandma again, you'd better hope an infection doesn't spread turning humans into blood thirsty zombies.

These Grannies are one of the biggest threats you'll encounter; wearing an orange dress and looking as if they have being stabbed multiple times in the back and shoulder.

They attack by pulling a knife out (probably a kitchen knife) and then throwing it at the player; these knives are intimidating as they kill the player instantly.

They will also target survivors, so don't stand next to one when they come! The flight paths of the knives are also unpredictable, and can often seem as if they curve straight into the player. The only saving grace is that when Grannies are in a crowd of other zombies, their fatal knives have a chance of hitting, and killing, a fellow zombie.

A good strategy to take them out would be to constantly keep moving around the map and aiming to force them into an environmental hazards. Flame throwers also work well as their medium range can get you relatively far enough away from a Granny without getting killed.

Kamikaze

These zombies look like airport workers, wearing an orange/red overall with a red lunch/toolbox. Unlike airport workers, they also carry lit Molotov cocktails.

Their main strength lies in their speed, but die quickly in a fiery explosion when shot. They are able to kill the player instantly with the explosion from the Molotov cocktail and will kill them if the player is carelessly close.

A good strategy to use against these guys is to stay away from spawn points. It helps to shoot them from a distance or when they're in large crowds of other zombies: effortlessly killing multiple, otherwise hard-to-kill, targets.

Queen

The zombie queen wears a small tiara and sash over their soldier, akin to a human beauty pageant winner.

She is grey skinned, like every other zombie, and seems to be heavily pregnant.

They take quite a few shots, roughly six to ten shots - depending on where fired upon.

They don't do anything to attack and are vulnerable to being chainsaw executed. Their main strength lies in the fact that they give birth to small red flying spores.

The most effective way to kill them is to execute them with the chainsaw; adding three to the kill multiplier, and killing them easily.

Flying Spores

These small red bugs seem harmless, maybe a caterpillar was caught in Chernobyl and turned into a glowing red Butterfly?

But really they are dangerous infected spawn, emanating from the Queen (multiple Queen's can give birth to ten spores in seconds) and their one purpose is to rip your head out with the spinal cord still attached.

They will fly, effortlessly, towards the player and then hit the player twice, causing them to spin round and fall over.

When you fall over, it's death. Another player must shoot the spore before it knocks you over, if not its a Predator style death.

The best strategy to confront these spores is to kill the source, the Queen, as quickly as possible.

Flesh Pile

Who knows what it is? Nobody, because they never lived to tell the tale.

This monstrosity is a boss fight fought on days thirty, fifty and fifty five.

It is moderately tough and requires the players to work together to kill it by either: shooting at the main body; shooting its arms, or just distracting it whilst other players do the work.

It is always set in the center of the map and has large limbs that have heads on them. These heads produce Flying spores - a real problem mid fight!

It has multiple attacks. Its first attack is a sneaky claw trap set underground, walk over this and you get turned into a pile of giblets; its second attack is an annoying laser beam fired out of its many eyes, it sometimes spins the lasers round so the players have to keep moving!

Its final attack is that it can spurt out Shamblers, not much you may think but mid battle it can get annoying when you're grappled by a zombie.

On day fifty it spurts out radioactive zombies (see below) and on day fifty five it is a blackout stage, it also spurts out radioactive zombies.

Strategy, just keep moving, never stop and don't use the mini-gun as claw traps will kill you easily!

Radioactive Zombies

Hey, look kids! Radiation really doesn't give you horrible diseases, it gives you super powers and doubles your life expectancy!

Radioactive zombies are zombies that have had direct contact with radiation on way or another.

Their health is roughly doubled and often their spawn rate is doubled, making a mob of Big Boys all the more annoying.

The only zombies that cannot be radioactive are the Flying Spores and Kamikaze, its pretty obvious why as they both die in one shot.

Flesh Pile can never be radioactive either as it probably already has been mutated by radiation.

Game Types

There are a multitude of game types that Zombie Apocalypse offers, but you have to unlock them, here's a list and how you unlock the game mode:

Turbo

This mode makes everything very fast and is quite challenging to play for a long time.

Unlocked after getting the multiplier over a hundred.

Black out

All the lights are switched off, hard to see, especially when you're being eaten by zombies.

Unlocked randomly, usually after an actual black out level.

Chainsaws only

You, your friends, hundreds of zombies and just chainsaws.

Only weapon you can use is the chainsaw, unlocked randomly.

Extreme

You only have one life, be careful....

Unlocked after surviving a week without dying.

Any weapons

You are given every weapon and each weapon's ammo is infinite, change the weapon with left and right on the D-pad.

Unlocked by completing all fifty five days.

Hell mode

A strange greenish, grainy, horror film filter is put onto the screen as players face thousands of zombies... in a single day!

There are about twelve thousand zombies in the seven days, whereas the story has ten thousand over the spacing of fifty five days.

Unlocked randomly.