Â
Zombies. They’re a little like Lemmings, right? I mean, they follow their baser instincts, move in a pack mentality, and love eating brains. Of course, the developers at Psygnosis played down the whole cannibal thing in their game- something Did You Know Gaming neglected to mention in their video as well. Of course, Lemmings never show their dark secret in their games, but the team at NoClip has decided to take the same basic gameplay, but modernize it by adding blood, guts and gore- the trifecta of any successful horror property.
As I mentioned before, Zombie Night Terror is a side-scrolling strategy game where you harness a collective of zombies as they attempt to overtake the world. Unlike Lemmings, where you start out large and try to retain as many troopers as you can, ZNT maps usually start out with either a few or possibly no zombies, and you must use the tools of your trade as a zombie overlord to ensure maximum carnage. Certain levels have you choosing strategic humans to infect with a virus, in order to maximize exposure, while others have you taking a whole hoard and running furlong into a military convoy.
Using a newscaster to provide insight into how certain mechanics work is a clever and immersive idea.
Once someone’s been turned, they can be enhanced with a variety of different types of zombie types and upgrades. In a very clever and convenient way, tutorials are provided by a newscaster on television revealing new insight into the infestation of monsters and their abilities. With the flick of your mouse, you can turn one of your minions into a Licker-like zombie, one that crawls on the ground and up walls, taking out your human targets with ease. You can also mutate zombies into an unrecognizable mass, that’ll direct the never ending flow of undead to your desired locations. There’s also a tank zombie, one that can take a ton of bullets and damage and keep on coming. Come across a crumbling wall you want to take down? Turn one of your walkers into a human bomb, that blows that obstruction to smithereens. There’re even additional advancements such as making the zombies run faster, scream violently or spit acid at a hard to reach pests.
They honestly get into a gun fight, leaving you to decide on how to proceed with your outbreak.
Levels are designed around a late 1970’s noir backdrop, and the maps I got to play had a nice diversity of style and substance. One was around a town square, a crowded concave of bar patrons and moviegoers. Then I went through a tough neighborhood, where cops we’re having shootouts in the street as people shacked up to partake in some backroom hijinx. The game jumped from a hospital to sewers back to main street. While what I saw wasn’t a lot, it was pretty diverse and offered a lot of interesting locals that all felt cohesive to the experience.
Humans in these environments have a lot of personality. They all have quite a lot of humanity going for them, and humorous text boxes add some charm to what could’ve been an overly gloomy experience. For me, the fact that the city seems alive is important whenever you play a destructive character. They’re making a living and going about their business when suddenly you send zombies slamming through their apartment door- and it’s gloriously satisfying when you catch them off guard. Keep in mind, many citizens stand around holding clubs, pistols and shotguns- so be careful before you go popping up through a storm grate that you’re doing it when they’re not looking. One thing I noticed was that the character model for the zombie stays the same, regardless of how the original models looked- something I hope they might consider putting some time into.
The period that the game is set in is a nice touch, adding some real personality to the experience.
When it comes to previews, I try to be as honest but open minded as possible. I can ultimately only play a small portion of the unfinished game, so I have to bite my tongue on some aspects. Sadly, I feel my biggest complaint would be a lack of clear direction to the experience. Sometimes, it seems obvious that their mission is to convert everyone into your legion, only for you to find out in the end that you failed the supposed mission they never informed you about. I tried several levels, trying to figure out my objective, and never got close to figuring it out. I sure hope they change that up for the full release.
The developers promise 40 levels, so I can’t wait to play all the additional locations that look like they might have their own chapters as well- maybe even putting the game in different locals. I’m also very excited about the prospect of a creation system, as the menu has a grayed out option for an ‘Editor’ mode. Building private maps is something that was awesome about Lemmings, and with the recent popularity of such games as Mario Maker, this could be a new addiction for those who like to build perplexing and overly tough experiments in frustration.
If you’re a fan of these types of games, you’ll definitely have no problem jumping in and picking up the subtle nuances of the game. While I enjoyed my time, there’s still some rough edges to this game that could be a real gem. I hope to give the game a full review when the game releases sometime this spring. If you want to be one of the lucky people to hear our full thoughts on the game, make sure you keep reading Mouse N Joypad for all your frightful gaming news.