Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone Review
Game: Zombie Apocalypse 2: Never Die Alone
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Konami
Available on: Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network (Reviewed via Xbox LIVE Arcade)
The shuffling, brain munching undead are somewhat ubiquitous in gaming these days. It seems that every five minutes a new zombified title rises from the grave, or an existing franchise is given a Romero-style makeover. The kids might be down with vampires and werewolves that like taking their tops off, yet the good old reanimated corpse is still horror cliché numero uno where gamers are concerned. As with anything, quality varies wildly and for every Dead Rising there is a Dead Block looming menacingly around the corner. In 2009, Konami had a crack at marrying necromancy to the equally ubiquitous twin stick shooting mechanic with Zombie Apocalypse. What we got was a top down, four player shooter stretched over 55 levels, that was decent enough mindless fun yet it didn’t bring anything new to the genre or indeed the canon of zombie gaming media. With a new developer on board in the form of Backbone Entertainment, previously responsible for the fun yet limited Capcom titles Wolf Of The Battlefield: Commando 3 and 1942: Joint Strike, Konami have promised a bunch of improvements for their sophomore Zombie Apocalypse title. Does it have enough pep to grab hold of us and take a bite out of our cranium, or should it remain confined to the crypt from whence it came?
Like its predecessor, Zombie Apocalypse 2: Never Die Alone is a top down shooter which allows up to four players, on and offline, to enter into Smash TV-style zombie carnage over a multitude of levels. The game has four distinctly varied characters, each with their own nuances and abilities. In single player mode you can switch between the four characters in real-time, which works well as each of them has a different style of weapon, melee attack or special ability to offer.
Like Gauntlet, each of the four characters has a specific style, with different standard weapons. There is a decent all-rounder with increased attack power, a priest with healing abilities, a brawler who gets by on brute force and a gun-savvy weapons and technology expert, all of whom can be upgraded to improve things like speed, weaponry and even add new attacks. Whether playing as a foursome or on your own, the way you utilise the different abilities of the four characters is an excellent tactical addition to the somewhat mundane gameplay of the first game in the series, which left you to go alone without a trio of AI controlled team mates to cover your ass.
There are five main levels split up into sections, each of them being reasonably large and full of the marauding undead. There are end of level bosses to contend with as well as vehicles, destructible scenery and some nice surprises, such as a giant Lard Lad-esque doughnut attached to a crane which can be used to dispatch enemies in a manner Homer Simpson would be proud of. The environments are your standard post-zombie holocaust fare, and whilst detailed and well animated, this isn’t exactly a graphical tour de force. Unfortunately the lengthy levels have no checkpoints, meaning that when you die, you have to go right back to the start and begin the task of decimating the many, many zombies over again. Is this really a criticism? I mean, back in my day all arcade games were like this. But then I am sure the stages were not as huge and tiresome as those on show here, so it is a bit of a disappointment.
Kudos to Backbone for trying to add a bit of personality to proceedings, with a semblance of a plot and voice acting for the characters. Sadly, the characterisation is hit and miss, with two horrible comedy misfires embodied by two of the party members in Jeremy and Def Money. The aforementioned is a profoundly irritating take on, presumably, a meme-savvy fan of videogames. What this means is that he spews forth a succession of “leetspeak” garbage, throwing around terms like “pwnage” which for my money should be confined to the written word and never uttered by a human voicebox, but if you’re a fan of Jeremy from ‘Pure Pwnage’, who this character is, then you might have a little bit of fun. Def Money is an English Afro-Caribbean rapper who strangely speaks with a terrible Dick Van Dyke-esque accent and is an insult to British gamers. The characters keep up their inane banter throughout the entire game, and had me reaching for the volume button on my remote some five minutes in.
VERDICT: Terrible vocal acting thankfully are not a deal-breaker. Zombie Apocalypse 2 is still a fun shooter, which provides a superb multiplayer spin on the dual analogue stick shooter genre. It is far more rewarding and entertaining as a whole than the previous instalment in the series, and indeed the developers’ own last stab at this type of game, Commando 3. Length wise it is pretty much perfectly pitched, meaning you will be able to run through it in around six hours. There are achievements and additional modes to unlock which add to the longevity. Whilst it isn’t in the upper echelon of zombie horror blasters like Left 4 Dead, it will provide you with decent enough entertainment this Halloween season.
