9 / 10
15 Mar 2007 at 21:50
Review by: Ted209884
Well! What can I say without giving away much of the story? This game has everything going for it. A solid game from a well known developer. Capcom, my hats off to you!
From the moment I caught a passing glimpse over the shoulder of a random person whilst walking amongst the crowded magazine section of a well known high street book shop, I could barely contain myself. I now believe in fate! This was a sign that finally a game that was worth spending upwards of £300 of my hard earned cash (Obviously including the console). And why you might ask?
ZOMBIES!
I love them. This game does for the XBOX360 what George A. Romero did for the unsuspecting Horror genre fans of 1978! He smelt them, turned towards them, groaned, came forwards out of the shadows and proceeded to tear them limb from limb.
For this game is in many respects a modernized version of this brilliant film. You are Frank, a Freelance Photographer. His role in this game is to uncover the truth behind a recent, seemingly violent outbreak of mass histeria and rioting in Willamette, a quite town in the middle of the good ol' US of A. Upon landing on....wait for it....yes you guessed it, a Mall! Genius. The story immediately begins to unfold.
Digressing a little back to Romero's Dawn of the Dead, you as the viewer could watch the story unfold and breath a sigh of relief as you pull back your curtains. And find nothing but a group of magpies taking off with various newly purchased, chrome accessories from your car. However as this is a Next Generation computer game, you can actually play out this storyline and instead of a few mischievous magpies behind those curtains. A few hundred gruseomely detailed, rendered Zombies are scratching at the window, as you recoil in sheer terror and try to convince yourself that this is somehow a figment of your over active imagination.
Thanks to the power of the XBOX360 and the developers using the 'Havok' graphics engine, the mall can be populated by hundreds of these blood soaked, flesh craving creatures on screen at in any direction you choose to face. It makes for some extremely tense gaming I can assure you. To fight of this horde of Zombies, Frank can pretty much enter any retail establishment within the mall and pick up something to use as a weapon. This can be anything from Plates, that are sitting on the counter of various Eateries to a Lawnmower (Fantastic fun) found in Hardware stores. I really cannot list them all as there are too many, and not all are what you would normally consider when clobbering someone round the back of the head with it!
I cannot stress enough, just how amazing this game really is. I was hooked right from the start. At first the tactic is to avoid confrontation as much as possible as Frank is fairly weak, this changes as the game progresses however and Frank turns into a Superhuman strengthed Hero, able to shrug off attacks from huge groups of Zombies whilst simultaneously tossing a lighter to their freshly petrol soaked clothes. Along with some very cool special moves you aquire as you gain more experience. Frank is not completely invincible however, as he does require food when his life points are low, again these are found throughout the mall in various locations. Some more sparsely populated than others. You have been warned! As more time and effort is expired within this mall, more and more Zombies crawl out of the woodwork to create more challenges and when you have the right combination of weapons, this doesn't turn into an impossible situation, rather a mind bendingly enjoyable experience as you slice through countless Zombies with a Chainsaw. (Ah, Bliss!)
As if challenged by The Almighty himself, or possessed by a slightly derranged Demon. I wanted to purposely find something wrong with this title. Even going to extremes as to looking at numerous clock faces to check wether or not the hands actually move. Not only do the move, but they all tell the exact time as your watch. Amazing! Alas I did eventually find something wrong.
*Warning Spoiler*
Once completing the game, by no means an easy feat as there are an array of Boss characters to contend with as well, you will finally unlock 'Infinity mode'. Although this sounds like a dream come true for all Zombie fans, it is slightly marred by the fact that Frank's life energy will drain at a constant, fairly rapid pace. I know its not much and it is designed to provide a challenge after those curtains are pulled back, exposing that horrid natural sunlight and those pesky magpies! But Franks life drains a little to quick for my liking, they have called this 'Starvation'. Unfortunately I fail to see how someone can starve in a matter of hours. And it is for this reason alone I cannot give it the full 10/10. Petty you may say but hey! Thats just my opinion, Bite Me! (Clever I thought?)
That about wraps it up for this review. An addictive mix of time managememt, survival horror and rotting flesh. If your a fan, like myself, then this is a must have title that no self respecting Zombie lover should be without. Enjoy!
I'm now off to the shops, to see what's taking my wife so long to do the shopping with the kids!
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