Reviewed by Brandy Shaul
Zombie Apocalypse is Konami’s newest arcade shooter, challenging players to survive in a world overrun by the undead, with the game offering little in the way of story or even in single-player entertainment. But it does provide a lot of online fun.
The game is split into levels, or days, which can be tackled by up to four players either locally or online. When playing solo, you’re given a choice of four rather colorful characters (three male and one female) but your choice is solely aesthetic.
The controls are intuitive and accessible to any skill level of player. Moving the right stick controls weapons fire, with your default gun being equipped with unlimited ammo, while both triggers control the chainsaw. RT is the basic chainsaw attack, capable of slicing through a large grouping of enemies at once, while LT allows you to go at each zombie individually, execution style, and gives your score multiplication counter a boost with each kill.
Stronger, but temporary weapon upgrades also appear in each level. Molotov cocktails allow you to push back a large onslaught of zombies with one hit, while the rifle is best used when zombies are approaching in a straight line, as a single bullet can cut through the whole lot. You’ll also eventually come upon a shotgun and duel machine guns, among other options.
In addition, surviving civilians will appear at random on each of the seven repeating maps, and provide a sort of side-quest in levels. If you choose to help them, you must ensure their survival for a short period of time until a rescue helicopter sends a ladder down to retrieve them. Or, if you take the “every man for himself” approach and let the civilians die, they will become stronger, faster zombies than any currently on the map.
Aside from not having to face these uber-zombies, by saving a civilian you are given a teddy bear packed with C-4 – a one-use item that can be thrown like a grenade to distract zombies until it eventually explodes, taking the surrounding undead with it.
As you would expect, each level becomes progressively more difficult, with a larger quantity of zombies being thrown into your path before you “survive the day.” The variety of zombies also increases as you progress, adding more challenge as you are met with dead sheriffs packing shotguns, knife throwing grannies, and pukers that spew a green liquid that slows down your movements when walked through, just to name a few.
The game’s single-player campaign can be customized to chainsaw only, hardcore difficulty, and so on, but these changes only help to make an already difficult game even more so. Zombie Apocalypse is definitely not a game to play by your lonesome, which places all of the pressure onto the multiplayer component.
Luckily, the online co-op portions are solid, allowing up to four players to test their survival abilities. While working as a group will of course make it easier to survive for a longer period of time, there is also the subtle hint of competition thrown in throughout, as participants are graded after each day based on their kills, number of dismemberments or deaths.
While the game’s basic structure doesn’t undergo any changes between the single and multiplayer components, playing with others creates an infinitely more entertaining experience than the single-player career can offer on its own. The title’s repetitious nature takes a bit of a back seat in favor of the ever-changing experience created by four minds working a level in tandem, and the game gains almost infinite replayability because of it.
Being that the game is viewed from above and from a considerable distance, the character models lack in fine details, with a color-coded circle at the foot of each player helping you better distinguish the living from the dead (especially in later, more crowded levels).
Each of the game’s seven maps, however, is uniquely themed – the stereotypical setting of a cemetery being joined by locations such as a gas station, junk yard or carnival, each complete with exploding barrels or other environmental hazards that allow you to easily eliminate large groups of zombies.
With each level being a fairly chaotic affair, the sound effects do a nice job of enhancing the action, with the screams of the living being just audible enough over the sounds of chainsaws and gunfire to grab your attention. The soundtrack is also nicely done, and helps carry out the classic, but perhaps a bit cheesy horror-movie feel the game seems to be looking for.
Make no mistake – Zombie Apocalypse is best as a multiplayer experience. The single-player game can be fun for the first dozen or so days, but afterwards the increasing difficulty becomes a real issue, and may ultimately become a deal-breaker for those without the ability to play online or with others in the real world. As such, the game is unfortunately only recommendable to those who can take advantage of its multiplayer capabilities.
Special thanks to Steve Willis, Robert Santini and Konami for providing a copy of this title.