OMG HD Zombies! Review |
Jon Evans
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Have you had enough of Zombies yet? You have? Perhaps you shouldn’t read this review, as it contains a lot of Zombies. Lots.
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Nevertheless, if you are going to play one last Zombie game, you should make it this the one. OMG HD Zombies! is the updated version of the Playstation Mini game (OMGZ) from Laughing Jackal Studios. This is an HD update and remake, now with full use of the touchscreen and extra shiny visuals. At first glance this is a simple chained puzzle game, but stick with it and you will find a satisfying depth to the gameplay. The story, illustrated with quirky comic panels, describes a world of spore-infected Zombies who are the result of an experiment gone wrong. You start the game playing the part of a riot policeman whose APC crashes in Redfield City (a nod to one of the main protagonists from the Resident Evil series, Chris Redfield) and strands you with your vehicle, surrounded by the infected. Various levels in the game set you in different stereotypical zombie apocalypse settings, but also act as a way to distribute the zombies in a variety of ways to alter the challenge.
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The aim of the game is to wipe out all the zombies around you with limited ammunition. Shooting civilian zombies makes them explode, causing any zombies near to them to explode too, creating a ‘Zombie chain effect’. As you progress through the game, a variety of zombie types are revealed, with different attributes to their demises. The ‘cop’ zombies shoot a bullet as they go down, which if timed right can shoot another zombie. Other bloated zombies explode with more force when shot, causing a larger radius of destruction, while others zap out a long branch of electricity which zombies can walk through and burn away their ‘health’.
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The variety of after effects from the zombie ‘deaths’ allow you to plan ahead to perform higher and higher chains of zombie destruction. The mechanic resembles ten pin bowling. Initially in a crowded level, your chains have great effect, but as you clear the street of zombies, chains become harder as the Zombies are more disparate. Also as the levels get harder, it takes more than one shot to ‘kill’ a zombie. Nevertheless, when you time it right, when the zombies have walked and bunched together into groups at just the right time, it is very satisfying to hit the high chains and watch the blood and gore flow.
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After you have used up your bullets (a painfully low number at the beginning of the game), you are presented with a stat of what percentage of zombies have been cleared. The higher the percentage, the more dollars you receive and you get a medal rating as you approach 100%. Dollars allow you to upgrade your rifle, add flaming barrels to the level (very useful) and upgrade the destructive effect of the zombies. The stats also feature on the online leaderboards so you can compare them with your friends or the world.
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There are plenty of parameters here to create a complex blend of challenge to the game. The upscaling of your and the zombie’s abilities is well balanced with the difficulty curve of the game as a whole. Do you try and plough through all levels regardless of the medal achievments on each one? Or do you carefully achieve and invest your dollars on an ad hoc basis to improve your effectiveness and get the platinums? Play it enough and you start to discern the levels that provide more success and earn you cash to complete the harder levels. Speaking of cash, there is one minor in-game purchase you can make. You can buy grenades with real money from the PSN store. Grenades clear the screen of zombies and allow you to get an instant 100% success for that level. You do not have to use grenades to complete the game, it just depends on how patient you are.
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The touchscreen works well, although you can revert to the PSP controls of the original if you prefer. I did find, sometimes, when using the touch screen, choosing which zombie to shoot in a large group of zombies, was challenging, as you can fit four or five zombies under your finger. I adapted to this and was more careful about the choices I made. Bowling straight in and aimlessly choosing zombies to destroy won’t work. Much like chess you have to think ahead. The game is presented in monochrome, with minimalist use of bright colours to highlight gore and ammunition effects. The colour scheme is a good choice, making the game look unique and easy to identify amongst other Vita games. Laughing Jackal know their art, developing games with personalities of their own, with simple addictive gameplay and a compelling sense humour. The soundtrack is appropriately ominous and fits in well with the Zombie canon, with a retro grungy feel.
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For the price (£2.99) on the UK PSN store, this is very good value for money. If you already have the Mini version of this game, this is a worthy upgrade; you get more levels, more gore and more endings. Although the game can be initially daunting, it opens up to a deeply involving experience which hits the spot when it comes to the ‘Just one more level’ factor. With 100 levels to work on, this games works both for those people who like to lose track of time, or just for picking up and putting down for short periods of time. This game was definitely worth 're-animating' for the Vita.
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Wrap Up
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The Good - Plenty of depth and challenge, stimulating, addictive gameplay, unique design, excellent value for money.
The Bad - Touch controls can sometimes be inaccurate for larger (or fatter!) fingers. |
4.5/5 |
Images Courtesy of Laughing Jackal
Game - Preview copy provided by Publisher
Game - Preview copy provided by Publisher
