There have been a wide number of games over the years that feature the rotting flesh of zombies. In most cases the living dead are usually the brain dead enemies of a leading hero or heroine and something that is to be avoided or destroyed at all costs. Resident Evil Outbreak allowed gamers the chance to become a zombie for a brief moment as their character’s life was sucked away from them; but this was rather a short lived experience. Well Stubbs the Zombie addresses this issue and allows gamers the chance to live out all of their zombie fantasies.

Gameplay

The story is pretty straight forward and features the lead protagonist Stubbs, a suited salesman looking for his sweetheart. However story aside and what you have here is a game that puts the player into the role of the un-dead with plenty of excuse for killing. The game is set in some strange early 1950’s setting which also features some futuristic element as well. I have no idea why the developers chose this combination except maybe the fascination with the future during that time period. Either way players start the game as Stubbs with the first action being to start eating brains!

Stubbs the Zombie isn’t going to win any praise for overly complex game play because essentially you control Stubbs in 3rd person and simply amble towards your victims. Once you are in range you can throw a few punches or if you’re lucky enough to sneak up on a human, execute a brain chomping stealthy kill. The end result is always the same and that is you killing them and then them turning into a zombie to help you out. What ends up happening are these pitched battles against humans. You have the zombie masses on one side and then the humans on the other. It’s all good fun and extremely gory looking; so definitely not for the feint hearted amongst us especially when ripping off victims limbs and then using the limb as a makeshift baseball bat!

Unlike some of the other zombies you will perhaps have encountered in other games, Stubbs is fairly intelligent and can use vehicles from time to time. This is great for getting around fast, especially as some of the areas are quite big and Stubbs seems to shuffle along at a slow pace, even when sprinting. Stubbs also has some special moves at his disposal which mostly involve his own body parts! That’s right, Stubbs can pull out his own organs and use them as explosive weapons, His stomach, his head and then some sort of Zombie fart which renders surrounding enemies in a stunned state! The most ingenious body part is his hand which acts like the hand in the Adams Family movies. The hand can be controlled as its own unit and more importantly can attach itself to a human to take control of them. This is great and makes a change from bring Stubbs but has a downside in that controlled humans move with the speed of a snail especially if you are trying to sneak around.

In a nutshell and bar some rather strange mini games such as a dancing contest with the police head honcho that is really all there is to Stubbs the Zombie. You kill, you get shot you gather more zombies and you kill some more. The only things that separate each level are the locations which are different every time. I think there is definitely a lot of novelty and fun here but after prolonged play does become a little on the repetitive side.

Graphics

Much has been touted about the game engine which uses the Halo engine to create the masses of on screen characters. This is all well and good except some grainy effect is used which although might be fitting with the 1950’s theme actually looks kind of dull. The environments also suffer from looking extremely basic and lacking in any definition and detail. The character models are a lot more defined which is a good thing and the depiction of gore is handled quite well. I did not notice any slow down and generally only at certain times do the graphics genuinely shine (from a certain angle) such as when using the hand. The in game menus reek of the Halo influence and in my opinion seem irrelevant as the two games couldn’t be further apart from each other.

Sound

The in game music will either annoy or tickle you pink. The game features an authentic soundtrack from the time period and whilst I cannot name the artists featured (or want to) in some sort of unnerving way it all fits with that 50’s B- movie flavour the game has got going on. The sound effects are pretty standard but the voice acting is humorous and very tongue in cheek. You will hear a lot of repeated phrases but again this returns to the fact that the game is of a repetitive nature.

Longevity

Definitely not the longest of games at all and with a campaign that can be tackled using three levels of difficulty means that should you wish to re-live the experience then at least you can up the ante a little. Stubbs the Zombie also features a 2 player split screen co-op mode which is a nice inclusion and one that prolongs the experience. Sadly there is no multiplayer or Live aspect to the game, which is a shame.

Overall

Stubbs the Zombie is a different game to the normal shooters, racing and adventure games that you might be used to and in this respect it is great that it offers something different. However the sheer novelty factor of the game wears quite thin very quickly as the game is basically the same throughout bar some minor deviances here and there. For those interested in mashing up humans in short doses then Stubbs will most definitely appeal to you; but for prolonged gaming sessions I really think the game is a one trick horse and loses its appeal. I would suggest renting this game first to see if it’s really up your alley before making a purchase. There are Some good ideas here but overall lacking variety.