

Zombie apocalypse is pretty easy to sum up.

The high score feature and online high score lists add little in the way of replay value to a game that can be a fair old slog if played from start to finish but I might just be saying that because I ranked so poorly. In addition, for all my complaints about its simplicity I was miles away from the high scores so there must actually be some skill to it beyond constant destruction. It is strangely soothing and a brief play might end up swallowing a whole evening if you aren’t careful. I might be sounding a bit negative again so I will add that there is an oddly therapeutic element to the massacre that could be awkward or embarrassing to have to explain to a psychiatrist. As the game progresses a variety of maps and times of day become unlocked but it still doesn’t change the experience enough that you’d notice. To vary things up a little bit there are challenges to complete (as with any modern game), survivors to rescue and power-ups to collect but these differences mainly change where on the map you run to and then how much firepower you are offering when pressing shoot. If you have played any game like this at any point throughout gaming history you will be on familiar ground here. One stick rotates and moves you, one button to shoot and you run and shoot and run and shoot until all the undead enemies are dead undead.

As I mentioned above this is as simple and derivative as it gets. So what makes Zombie Apocalypse unique? Well not a lot really. Vast swathes of enemies to mow your way through all from a birds eye perspective is about as simple as it gets but enjoyable in its own special way. Speaking of brain dead for this task I have chosen Zombie Apocalypse a top-down, throwback shooter released digitally on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.

Obviously this was by reviewing the most mind-numbingly, brain dead, violent videogame game possible. Fully refreshed, this week I decided there was only one way possible to maintain the momentum from this intellectual plateau. After the cerebral highs and mental energy expounded in my previous review of the Encarta Mindmaze I had to take a breather.
