The Dead Rising series is cool....especially the sequel and it's DLC off-shoots where you get to make weapons out of just about anything and everything. Bucket-Drill Helmet of Doom? Check. Double-Oar-Chainsaws? Check. Moltav-Cocktail-Dispensing-Gumball-Machine? Um....not sure on that one, but I think it's probably do-able. I Left for Dead 1 & 2, you actually feel as though you are living through a zombie apocalypse and play through some great and intense 30 - 45 minute campaigns. Again, it's really satisfying to destroy some Gut-Muncher's grey matter with an electric guitar.
"Gee, that's fantastic, Wiz...but those aren't 8-Bit!" you say?
Well, as great as these two games are, I have been spending far more time with a game called Mutant Warzone. You play the part of the last survivor in a city overrun with mutants/zombies. I know....bummer. They're all hungry and you are looking mighty tasty. So armed with your trusty machine gun and some bombs, you set out to find more supplies, rack up a gnarly high score and (if you truly master your zombie/mutant slaying skills) clear the city of the thousands of infected !
Mutant Warzone was designed and created by my buddy Robot over at 8-Bit City. If you've never been to his blog, I highly recommend heading directly over. If you are a gamer, then you need to check it out! You can find the link to 8-Bit City over in my Links section. The current versioin available is Beta 4.0....but I'm sure there will be more on the way. Not only that, but there is a great 8-Bit soundtrack being composed by mrjordak. You can also check out his blog mrjodak Video Game Composer in the links section.
"Okay, so what's so great about this game?" you ask
Well, I'll tell ya. There are those of us out there who still have cherished memories of booting up our 286's and feel a nostalgic wave when we hear the bloopy blips of PC speaker sound. Yep, that's right kids, back in the day, your PC didn't COME with full sound. You actually had to buy a soundcard to hear full multi-track music. Otherwise it was that glorious blippy bloop that so many of us love. Not only that, but this game was created using Megazeus, which means it was rendered in 8-bit and glorious ASCII. Now THIS is what gaming is all about. No cell shaded, particle overlayed backgrounds here. It's just you, your trigger finger and thousands of hungry little pixilated mutant zombies comin' for your brains. Think that a game can't raise your heart rate without a full orchestral score and the latest in shadow effects? Put Mutant Warzone on fast mode and see if your not shitting your pants within 30 seconds as you become surrounded by the mutated living dead. I have yet to clear the city of this plague, but I'll be damned if I'm not having the time of my life trying.
You are armed with a machine gun and limited ammo. You must also collect bombs (of a lesser and more powerful variety) plus hearts (for life points, natch), gems....which I dunno what those do yet....and keys to access buildings and even some dungeons....including one entitled HELL. Oh yeah. You know what they say about Hell, don't ya? When there is no more room*......but I digress. Gameplay is fast and furious as you are almost instantaneously assaulted by zombies upon starting the game. Staying alive is easier said than done as well. You will need to use quite a bit of strategy as well as have an itchy trigger finger when dealing with the living dead. Bombs are a great way to keep the zombies at bay, using them to make an effective fire barracade on streets surrounding you.....but alas I don't want to give away too many tips. Half the fun is trying to figure out how to survive and developing your own strategies. Just like we did back in the day....there was no GameFaqs or IGN to give us walkthroughs. If you were lucky enough to have a friend that beat a game, then they might help ya out....but for the most part you were on your own!
*Some of you got the Dawn of the Dead reference, and I am proud, but actually the premise of this game reminds me more of Nightmare City....perhaps because they are mutant/zombies......not just your regular run of the mill living dead. This, to me, has given the game a decidedly Italian Zombie flair to it. OR maybe like The Astro Zombies......hhhhmmm.....ya know what....go ahead and enjoy clips from Mark of the Astro Zombies and City of the Living Dead! No need to thank me!
You need this game. You need it now. I'll make it ULTRA easy on you. Click
HERE. There, see? That wasn't that hard! Now go and wipe out them no good dirty zombie bastards!
Great review! Play this game!
ReplyDelete