They're undead, they puke poisonous projectile attacks, and they tear your life out and transform you into undead killing machines. They attack en masse in waves of screaming, hideous death. They're zombies, the great videogame fodder. And they're everywhere, whether it's Resident Evil, Metal Slug, Cold Fear, TimeSplitters or even True Crime: Streets of LA.
Yes, there are many things about zombies and videogames that are remarkably satisfying. We could list about 100 of them, but in Stubbs The Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse, former Bungie veteran and Wideload President Alex Seropian has latched onto the subtleties of zombie cheese -- their absolutely undeniably B-movie loveliness, the skunky breath, ugly complexions, rotting bodies, and the pure sense of absurdity that rests in their very undead souls.
In Stubbs you take on the role of Stubbs, an agent of the undead who's pissed off because his grave his been built upon; and everyone knows how mad that makes the undead. In 1933, Edward "Stubbs" Stubblefield, once a rather poor traveling salesman, was brutally murdered and buried in a Pennsylvania field. Twenty-six years later, billionaire industrialist Andrew Monday builds Punchbowl, Pennsylvania, a city of the future. It's filled with neat-o 1950s ideas of what is futuristic and cool -- hovering cars, Jetson-style architecture, and perfectly clean streets -- and of course it's also right on top of Stubbs' grave.
This new city awakens Stubbs, who unburies himself on Punchbowl's opening day celebration. He realizes he doesn't know who killed him, why he was murdered, or why he's been brought back to life. He doesn't know jack. What he does know is that he's quite hungry for human flesh, and these bastards and their gleaming city have something to do with it. Thus starts the all-out flesh-eating rage that transforms a peaceful, idyllic metropolis into a chaotic suburb of death and flatulence.
In a nice twist from the norm, you play as the zombie, not against him. And happily, you're armed to the teeth. You play Stubbs, a slow-moving, rotting zombie with an undying thirst for human craniums. You plan on eating every living human you smell. Not a bad set-up for a game. Not a great one, mind you, but within five minutes you'll realize just how innovative and fun Stubbs actually is.
Unlike the boring zombies of yesterday, Stubbs is resourceful. While he cannot wield a weapon, as per the unwritten lore of zombies, he can perform superbly unique zombie attacks that are sure to cast a spell on the most ardent anti-zombie fans. First, Stubbs can rip off his limbs and direct them. Oh yes, indeed! For example, he can tear off his hand, which can then skitter across the floor, jump into vents, and travel on its own five feet erm, fingers.Continues