The Zombie Shotgun Massacre

Year: 2010
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Dual Haze
Genre: Action
Review Date: 12/18/10
Rating: **

Curse my weakness for "girls with guns" games! The premise definitely speaks to my twisted tastes: A bikini clad girl armed with a shotgun must make her way through a town full of zombies who are intent on doing her harm. The presentation definitely takes a tip from "Streets Of Rage" (1991), as Alice progresses through the side scrolling town. Apart from the pin-up appeal of the main character, the game also includes collectibles in the form of swimsuit idol trading cards. For whatever reasons, slain zombies leave these lying around, and they act as currency in the world. While the game is moderately entertaining, the controls and collision detection are frustrating, and the game is too difficult and restrictive for its own good. There are only a few different zombie variations, including the ever-popular puking zombie which vomits toxic goo at you. These are a huge pain in the ass, because they require three shots at a distance to drop them, and you can get easily overwhelmed when dealing with multiple enemies. No one ever said the zombie apocalypse was going to be easy, but when it comes to video games, I expect them to at least be fun. The game does inject some B-movie humor, including a pervert who makes awkward advances at Alice, and a mission that involves rescuing kittens from the zombie menace. Unfortunately, the game's difficulty outweighs these moments of mirth, and I eventually gave up after about thirty minutes. Still, for its mere $1 price tag, I think I got my money's worth, and it's certainly one of the better looking Indie games I've seen.