Zombie Smashers X2 Review

[page=Introduction]
What do you think of when you hear the word “zombie?” Do you think of the gore-laden Resident Evil zombies? Or perhaps the zombies that work everyday in a big corporate office building somewhere on the East Coast? Well, after this, you’ll realize that zombies not only hunger for flesh. They also hunger for a major asskicking.

[page=Attack of the Zombies! Part I]
It starts off innocuously enough, with a man named Diggs (who plays a key part in the story, cough cough) who needs you to save his sister from Club X. The music isn’t bad at all. It’s actually a remix of Zombie Nation, which is farking awesome. Speaking of the music and sound effects…

Music and Sound Effects

They aren’t bad at all! The base fighting sounds are kind of repetitive, but they do great justice in delivering the feel of a cheesy kung-fu movie, with the zombies and gore of Resident Evil. The music is inconsistent with my tastes, although Dinkus9, Cherry Bing, and Cappuccino Jellybeans stand out as favorites. While some of the music was kind of…annoying, it did great justice to the task at hand while you’re beating down enemies. Next we move on to enemies!

Enemies to beat down while listening to the music

The enemies are imaginative, plus there are some ModDB favorites…Zombies, Ninjas, Nazis, Vampires, and get this…NAZI VAMPIRES! :D and while not having 80 bazillion polygons, do great justice to the characters. There are also secret agents, metal heads, demons, and weird rock thingies. Think of “The Thing” from Fantastic Four on Demonic Eye for the Superhero Guy, complete with glowing red eyes and über health. There’s also robots! As you can see, this is relevant to ModDB interest. And there’s a variety of things you can beat them down with. Swords, katanas, Uzis, MP40s, pistols, etcetera.

Things to do while beating down enemies and listening to the music

To mention customizability, you can’t really change anything on your character, but you can upgrade his skillz from base to |33t. This in turn allows you to take on tougher enemies, which give you more money, which allows you to buy more über skills and tattoos. So it’s all a very nice cycle that does incredibly well in the long run.

The tattoo system is unique in its ability to upgrade your “specials.” These are awesome little tidbits of violence that put great fun into the game, as well as offing those little bastards and force them to give a little bit back to your health bar.

[page=Attack of the Zombies! Part II]
Okay, graphic hounds. Here you go, the centerpiece of your one track mind. The graphics are 2D, but there are nice blossom, bloom, and “soft decals” that make the ground all nice and sticky with blood. However, 2D games have done great on all current generation systems. Take a look at Alien Hominid, and numerous Guilty Gear and Metal Slug re-releases. Also, don't let the screenshots fool you. The game is vibrant and colorful and downright funny. JPEG screenshots don't do this game justice.

Warnings!

Now, this game isn’t for anyone with a weak stomach, as enemies and things bleed profusely when hit; especially if you get the skill combination where you can impale weakened enemies from behind. Blood gets everywhere on the floors and walls, and Martha Stewart would suffer an aneurism if she saw this game.

Problems? OH NOES!

Now there is a downside. Even on my Pentium 4, some of the effects were quite taxing. The ending sequence where you kill one of the bosses was kind of stuttery, but the total number of times this happened was negligible. Also, version 1.0 had a problem with the placement of enemies, and they would show up as unkillable shadows. Compounded with bullets from a nonexistent gun, and you have problems. There is a patch for this though, and it can be downloaded from here.

Also, there was what I call “gang rape” when multiple enemies get on you and proceed to beat the hell out of you, but if your defense, melee, and magic are high enough, it should be alright after you land the first few hits and get out of it.

[page=Conclusion, Summary, Links, Other Assorted Shiznit]
All in all, it was a fun ride, and for 20 bucks, it’s a steal. Play through it again with different stats and fighting styles! You’re bound to have fun a second time through as well. I’d wished I had spent more money on building stats than getting tats, but hey, that’s just me.

I give Zombie Smashers X2 a 8/10.

Sticky’s Rating: B
+Buckets of blood!
+Even more blood!
+Did I mention the blood?
+Fun!
+/- Soundtracks
-Gang rape
-Weird Glitch
+That has a fix!
+Awesome Combos

Links:
skasoftware.com
totallyscrewed.net
zsx2.totallyscrewed.net
zsx2.skasoftware.com

Enjoy! And support Indie Games today!