XBLIG Review: Zombie Football Carnage

Now, this is a half-time show I can get behind!

By: Jess Castro

Football fans are certainly lacking variety when it comes to shopping for a new pigskin title. They usually have to wait until the new season starts before the annual release of a certain popular franchise that rhymes with “sadden.” When gamers pick up their reserved copy of said game, they’re usually greeted with the same old thing: regular pro football. Where’s the excitement and originality in that? Luckily, the good people at Milkstone Studios are here to breathe some life into one of America’s favorite sports, and by “life,” I mean “robot dinosaurs and bearded fish monsters.” Their latest Xbox Live Indie Game release, Zombie Football Carnage, takes gridiron action to a brand new demon-slaying level.

Maybe I shouldn’t get football fanatics’ hopes up and start off by saying this is not a hyped-up monster mash version of the game, say like the 16-bit Genesis classic, Mutant League Football. Zombie Football Carnage is actually more of a single player 2D horizontal action shooter where the player advances through waves of beastly creatures, armed primarily with, if you haven’t guessed already, a football. Taking control of a devious and dark warrior laced up in a golden football uniform, the goal is to drop as many vicious monsters as possible for high score glory before the health bar is fully depleted.

Plenty of action-packed gameplay can be found here, with the left stick used to move the character and a four button layout used to chuck the ball at enemies, charge up a flame attack, stiff-arm dash, and activate attack and assist items. Movement and controls are tight with every function executed with ease, making it fun game that’s easy to pick up and play.

The football works as a chain attack by throwing the ball at an enemy and timing button presses to link multiple hits. The charge attack is a proximity blast that delivers massive damage, while the dash is used to quickly evade enemies. Primary items consist of assist attacks such as bombs, landmines, and deadly traps while secondary items fire up temporary shields and health recovery.  There’s a great variety of items to compliment the fun methods of attacking, all of which moves with a quick pace that never overwhelms.

Zombie Football Carnage has 10 different waves of enemy patterns packed with a wide variety of blood-thirsty killer creatures that are randomized on each play. You will have to play through a series of matches, which consist of four stages, or quarters, before reaching a Sudden Death stage, featuring the toughest and biggest enemies the game has to offer. Each quarter gets progressively harder as you advance through the match, with each match also increasing in difficulty.

On the first play through, the challenge is aggressive with fierce enemy melee and projectile attacks that can drain your health bar in no time. Luckily, the baddies drop plenty of assist items and cash after being defeated. The cash can be accumulated after multiple plays to be used in a shop menu to power up your player’s strength and defensive attributes, as well as the effectiveness of items and attacks. Each of these get more expensive as you upgrade, giving more incentive to get back on the field with your new skills, grab more cash and ultimately, post a high score on the leaderboard.

The overall presentation of Zombie Football Carnage is top notch. Colorful hand-drawn art and wacky monster design are displayed with crisp detail, accompanied by rocking tunes. The sound design is as action-packed as the gameplay, with blood spatters, grunts, groans and flares with an arena audience cheering along at the mayhem. Some gamers will be pleased to know that there are even in-game achievements to track your progress on score, power-ups, and specific challenges the developers have in store for you.

The only real drawback to any point-hording game like this is repetition. After several plays, gamers will have heard the same music, seen the same two stage’s backgrounds and battled the same enemies over and over. After maxing out all attributes from the shop, there isn’t much left to do other than fight for the highest score on the leaderboard. Arcade fans should simply love this while the majority of players will get their fill after an hour or two.

OVERALL (4.25/5)

Zombie Football Carnage scores a touchdown with great arcade-style gameplay and wonderful graphics and sound design. This action/shooter XBLIG release from Milkstone Studios should not be passed up. Even if gamers get weary of the repetition after a few hours of play, they’ll find that their $1 couldn’t be spent any better.