|
 |
|
| | Title:
Stubbs the Zombie
..............................................
System:
Xbox
..............................................
Genre:
Action
..............................................
Publisher:
Aspyr
..............................................
Developer:
Wideload Games
..............................................
Release:
10/17/2005
..............................................
Online:
No
..............................................
ESRB:
Mature (M)
..............................................
 |
Almost all horror games have one thing in common... zombies. Zombies are a staple in horror games, and horror movies. They are slow moving, but extremely creepy and can scare the living daylights out of you. Now, Stubbs the Zombie is giving gamers the chance to be the zombie and wreak havoc on the perfect little town. You will travel from the city streets, to military installations, to city hall eating brains and doing all sorts of disgusting acts. After all, you are the zombie--and you can have has much fun as you want.
Gameplay
For most of the game, you will be on foot slowly making your way through the various levels. You can attack enemies directly, or have other zombies do the dirty work. However, you almost never start a new level or area with zombies already in the level; you have to create them by eating the brains of the enemies. To get rid of an enemy, you can either hit them enough times until they die, or eat their brain while they are still living. If you just walk up to a normal enemy, they are not going to allow you to just start biting them in the head; they will put up a fight and use a weapon if they have one. For a large portion of the game, you will be up against armed police men, and then later in the game soldiers who have automatic rifles. But you’re a zombie, and you can handle almost anything.
There are two main tactics when it comes to eating an enemy's brain. The first one is to hit them enough times without killing them, and the second is to attack them from behind. Attacking them from behind adds a stealth aspect to the game, and it can be used often. For example: if you notice a group of enemies are attacking a group of zombies, then the best thing to do is to ambush the group of enemies from behind and just start feeding. If worst comes to worst, all you will have to do is swat at a few of them and then eat their brains. Or, if things get really against you, flee and then try and regroup some of your zombies.
Speaking of regrouping, there is also a lot of skill involved in controlling your zombie minions. Naturally, they will advance and start killing more enemies if they are fired upon, but they aren't smart enough to know the best way to attack a group of enemies on their own. You can control one zombie at a time by simply pushing him in the right direction, or you can whistle and the zombies you are looking at will regroup next to you and follow wherever you are going. From the very first level, you will notice that the whistling is very hard to actually perform, and is quite useless for this reason: you have to be standing still and looking at a group of zombies in order to execute the command (a message will pop up telling you to press Y to whistle). Even if you are standing still--and looking in the direction of a few zombies--the message will almost never pop up on the screen allowing you to perform this. At first it will be a little annoying, but then you will just be used to not using it.
Another disappointment in this game is the plot. There is definitely a storyline that will be shown through several cut-scenes, but it is not very detailed or exciting. Basically, you are a zombie terrorizing a retro futuristic town, and you move from place to place. There are several boss stages, and several different environments, which do add some variety to the gameplay, but no dramatic storyline of any kind that makes you want to continue to find out what will happen next.
Luckily, the gameplay is fun enough to keep most people playing for quite a while. One of the key parts of the game is being a creepy, gross zombie. This involves ripping off your arm, slinging exploding guts, rolling your head around, and, of course, farting. One of the first techniques that you will acquire is called Gut Grenade. By holding and pressing L, Stubbs will pull some sort of bodily organ out and throw it wherever you are looking. At any time you can remotely detonate the guts, which will cause some major damage to anyone standing near the exploding entrails.
Another technique that you will learn near the beginning of the game is the Unholy Flatulence. You guessed it; this is the farting. By holding B, Stubbs will raise his hands into the air, concentrate, and then release it all. A huge cloud of green stench will be dispersed, and anyone (except zombies) in it will be left gasping for air (the perfect state to eat their brains).
A little later in the game, you will have the ability to completely pull your arm off and control it independently. Now, a little arm is not going to do much good in killing enemies, but with this one arm, you can possess any enemy you can reach (this thing can climb anywhere it needs to, including walls and ceilings) and control that enemy just like you can Stubbs. If you are able to control the right person with your hand, this will add a whole new gameplay element to the game: third person shooter.
The majority of enemies have some sort of weapon, and if you happen to possess anyone with a weapon, you can use it exactly as they would. Some of the weapons include normal pistols and assault rifles, but some are crazy weapons such as rocket launchers and high tech laser beams, which can really do some damage. Once your possessed person dies, you will then be in control of Stubbs again, and continue through the rest of the level. It should be noted that Stubbs can die at any time while you are controlling one of the enemies, so it is best to hide and then go out scouting with your arm.
The last ability that you will learn is the Sputum Head. This ability allows you to pop off your head, and roll it around for a while. Just as if you were bowling, if you line things up right, you can get a strike on a large group of enemies. This is hard to accomplish, though, because the head tends to move pretty fast, and it’s hard to control because of that.
Once it starts rolling, you can see what is going on (because your eyes are in your head, believe it or not) and can somewhat control it. All of these special abilities are not readily available for whenever you need them--they are fueled by the brains that you eat, and if you eat enough you will gain the ability to perform it. There is a meter for each ability located on the right side of the screen that will indicate how close you are to using it, or if you can already use any of the abilities.
As it states right on the box cover, Stubbs the Zombie is built with the Halo engine. For the most part, it is actually not noticeable due to how different the two games are. However, there are a number of similarities. You will notice the Halo engine at work most when you are in a vehicle. The physics for the vehicles are very in-depth and realistic. You will get to drive around in a number of different vehicles throughout the game, and they are all extremely fun to use. The types of vehicles range from hover crafts to tractors, and even a full blown army tank equipped with a cannon and turret (very similar to Scorpion in Halo) ends up being used later on.
A few other similarities are that Stubbs can jump really high, his health refills after a short period, and the level difficulties work exactly like Halo 2. Because Stubbs the Zombie features a lot of hand to hand combat and third person shooting, it won't be too noticeable that you are playing on the Halo engine. But when you step foot into a vehicle, you can feel every inch of its power.
Graphics
The graphics in Stubbs the Zombie are just above average, but fit the theme of the game well, which is mostly dark, grungy, and zombie-like. There is an overlay constantly on the screen that makes it look like you are watching an old movie, and does decrease the quality of the image, but it is simply an overlay, and most things still have a lot of detail. The character models--especially Stubbs--are very well done. He is wearing some old, nasty clothes, always has a cigarette in his mouth, and best of all, has a huge hole in his side with all sorts of organs and bones being exposed. There are a lot of special effects, particularly with the laser guns, explosions, rockets, and tanks that give the game some more action. The environments are diverse for the most part, and you will get to see many different parts of the town. The environments are the most detailed, but they do flow with the overall theme of the game.
Audio
The background music, sound effects, and voices in the game all fit well with the funny, and somewhat cartoon-like, feel of the game. The background music is from previous eras, and works well with the game since it is set in a retro futuristic city. Voice acting in cut-scenes is pretty bad, but a few one liners that Stubbs (or an enemy) will pull out are enough to make you chuckle. Sound effects such as exploding guts, fart noises, vehicle sounds, and enemy communication are all done very well, and drive up the quality of the audio throughout the game.
Overall
Stubbs the Zombie is an excellent grab and go game that doesn't require much skill, but is still fun to play. You are a zombie, and you get to have as much fun as you want destroying the city and its people. Downsides are the shortness and boringness of the storyline, no online play, and repetitive gameplay. Occasionally, you will have to stop playing for a while and then grab and go again, because the gameplay varies little throughout, and you’ll find yourself needing a break.
When it’s all said and done, Stubbs the Zombie is an excellent and funny game that will give you some good times--especially if you decided to play co-op. Because the story is short, if you aren't too excited about the game it would be best to rent it, play through the story, and return it. On the other hand, the game is definitely worth the money it costs, and can easily be saved as a keeper.
| The Core Score |
Overall
8.2 |
| Fun |
|
9 |
| Gameplay |
|
8 |
| Graphics |
|
7.5 |
| Audio |
|
8.5 |
| Replay |
|
6 |
|
| | | |
