XBLA/PSN Review: Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone
Why is it always four survivors? It's like we're in a game or something! ROFL WTF ZOMG!
Yes, Halloween! With perfectly chilled weather, a boob tube flooded with horror movie marathons and a cupboard full of popcorn and fun-sized candy, the weekend is made! (What, no costume parties, loser?) And just in time for the season, Konami follows up their 2009 arcade-style shooter Zombie Apocalypse with even more undead action! Available for Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade is Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone, a four-player zombie romp set to curb your appetite for laying ghouls to waste. But how does this title stack up against the army of undead-killing titles that already occupy your game library?
CONTROLS (3.5/5)
While there are some modifications from Never Die Alone‘s predecessor, the core controls are pretty much the same in this top-down twin-stick shooter. Maneuver with the left stick, directional fire with the right, and triggers are used for melee and bombs. New to the scheme is the “pwnage” button, which activates your character’s unique special move. Also new is the ability to revive fallen teammates — when their life is depleted, you can rush over and quickly tap X to resuscitate them.
This game was made with a focus on multiplayer; four survivors, each armed with their own unqiue weapon, melee attack, explosive and pwnage mode. Even in single-player mode, gamers won’t be tackling the undead alone. Much like Left 4 Dead, there will always be a team of four with the AI controlling unoccupied slots. The difference is that you’ll be able to swap between each character by pressing the bumpers. This also works in multiplayer if you don’t have a full team of four.
Controls are responsive and tight with a familiar feel that’s easy to catch on to. The one function that’s missing from the original Zombie Apocalypse is the default chainsaw melee. Every character was equipped with one which not only was fun to control, but was also used to open point multiplier opportunities. Here, the chainsaw is a power-up weapon that you can have temporarily, but the default melee attacks are watered down and not near as useful as before.
GRAPHICS/SOUND (3.25/5)
Never Die Alone gets a small graphical hike, but it’s nothing monumental. It contains all the fundamental bread and butter elements of a zombie shooter; savaged locales with burning rubble and blood-stained streets crawling with a great amount of on-screen ghoul carnage. There’s nothing genuinely creepy or scary as the overall vibe swings more toward action than survival horror. Weapon and explosion effects are solid and music cues are genre appropriate.
The new cast of characters gets a personality upgrade, but that really isn’t saying much. While the interaction between teammates eclipses the previous entry and the voice acting is decent, the characters are borderline generic and/or annoying. Opening scenarios that describe the overall stage objective are slowly paced and most cannot be bypassed. If you get stuck replaying levels, prepare to hear the same diatribes over and over.
GAMEPLAY (3.25/5)
Ditching the single-screen arcade approach, Never Die Alone delivers a story mode campaign that is designed specifically for four-player local or online co-op. Players level up their character in between stages by collecting cash, power-ups and maximizing kills. Pick your choice from Jeremy (trash-talking pro-gamer with a machine gun), Alma (weapons developer with a rifle), Father Bill (holy old-man with a shotgun) and Def Money (British rapper packing twin pistols). Each character is stuck with these weapons as well as their own melee weapon, bomb type and pwnage ability, equipping them with certain advantages and disadvantages.
For example, Def Money’s pistols are pretty weak, but his jukebox bomb puts all zombies in a dancing frenzy, which is a perfect time for Father Bill to activate his pwnage mode which quickly heals the team within a certain radius. Jeremy packs the teddy bear bait bomb from the original, so when he deploys it, Alma can line up power shots with her slow yet hefty rifle. This calls for some great teamwork tactics if you want to make it through the two-to-three-hour grueling campaign.
Solid gameplay, tuned character balance and decent fun factor work in Never Die Alone’s favor — until you attempt to do single player. The AI operated teammates have decent firing accuracy but beyond that, they’re as dumb as the zombies they’re shooting. Horrible evasion skills, low attempts at reviving teammates, and zero usage of bombs or pwnage mode? You’d have a better chance of survival if you gave the controller to a zombie buddy of yours. To make matters worse, characters don’t level up unless you take control of them making the single-player experience a manic and frustrating juggling act.
Adding insult to injury is the stereotypical flatness of the characters and story flow. Never Die Alone‘s overall vibe lacks the intensity or subtle laughs found in other zombie titles, but if you dig an abundance of forced internet-speak humor and uninspired profanity, perhaps this is the game for you. The “Holy Shit! ROFL, I pwned that noob!” flows aplenty in this one. It probably would have been forgivable if your had the option to bypass the pre-stage banter, but it seems you’re forced to endure the “laughs.”
Still, if you grab three other friends or go online for the intended multiplayer experience, this is a pretty decent zombie-killing experience. The pwnage abilities are somewhat fresh and the teamwork tactics are pretty engaging. With an unlockable survival mode similar to the original, there’s also some extended play beyond the story mode. Among a huge inventory of available zombie titles, this isn’t the strongest of the pack, but if you’re starving for more flesh-eating mayhem, here’s another one for the fire.
OVERALL (3.25/5)
Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone stumbles from the grave onto Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. Craving your $10, it pounds on your doors promising more multiplayer (albeit clichéd and “ZOMG” annoying) zombie-killing action than before. Just be sure to have friends; the single-player mode stinks like an undead carcass so if you’re all alone, board your doors and keep it out by all means.
