Zombies have been a big part of video games for a long time now. We mostly kill them in masses. But back in 2005, Stubbs The Zombie shake things up and let yourself take on the role of a zombie devouring people in a futuristic city. The game is back on modern consoles via a remaster that may be too bare for some.
Stubbs The Zombie was developed by Wideload Games, a company made up of former Bungie developers who developed the Halo studio a few years after Microsoft bought it in 2000. The connection with Bungie is how the studio was able to grant the license Halo engine for the game, making it one of the only non-Halo games the engine uses. Using the technology, the small team at Wideload created Blunt the zombie in rebel without pulse, a bizarre action game about a zombie, Stubbs, who walks around and eats brains, creates more zombies, fluffs things up and participates in dance fights.
Stubbs wakes up like a zombie in the middle of Punchbowl, a newly built city in the 50’s that has big, robust robots, laser guns and gliders. Being a newly animated zombie in this metropolis, most of your time is spent on zombie things, like eating brains and attacking people. But Stubbs is no ordinary zombie; he has special abilities that he can use after eating enough brain. He throws his head like a bowling ball and blows up enemies and makes them zombies. He can pull down his arm, and players can control the arm like a car for remote control. Jump on a man as a hand and take command of them, leave all weapons you may use, or let you as a man sneak around in areas. It’s rarely helpful, but it’s funny.
Most of the game is spent on the same basic thing. Stubbs enters a new territory, kills people, builds a dead army, helps them disperse, kills more people and eventually fights a boss or makes a bigger goal, such as destroying a dam. Although there are a few different things scattered throughout the game, such as some sections involving vehicles and a section where you look at the city’s water supply, you spend most of your time using the same attacks to kill people in different to kill empty areas or rooms. What makes it enjoyable is the environment and the zombies you make along the way. Leading an army of zombies in the fight against scientists with plasma guns while the barbershop quartet singers attack in jetpacks from above is a unique experience that only Stubbs The Zombie can offer.
G / O Media can get a commission
For the remaster, publisher Aspyr Media decides not to change too much. This is not a big, fine remake; the major improvements and changes include a nice 60 fps framework, performance and modern control options such as changing inverted sticks. This is basically the original game, which can only be played on new consoles and works a little better. Although I appreciate that players in 2021 can now easily play Stubbs The Zombie, I also found the lack of improvements disappointing. While I understand that not every texture is replaced, it’s weird and distracting to see some HUD elements in the game using the original art from the 2005 version, which looks hazy and in pixels as it blown up on a big screen.
Players may find it difficult to return Stompies. Video game design has come a long way since 2005, and many may be frustrated by Stompies‘ infrequent checkpoints, empty rooms, spongy bosses, lack of clear objectives and repetitive play. Since Stompies It took me about six hours to finish. These disadvantages did not mean that the game disappeared its welcome, which is nice. Shorter games are a feature I missed from the mid 2000’s. Do you remember when games were short? What a time.
Part of my wish Stubbs The Zombie got a complete remake, a more polished and modern adventure a la the recent Resident Evil remakes. One of the achievements in the game refers to a sequel and asks fans to claim one, so Asypr’s ultimate plan may be to build excitement for more Stompies. If you do not pretend to cry in the mid-2000s, there is a lot of fun in the short but charming Stubbs The Zombie.
Stubbs The Zombie appears on March 16 on Xbox One, PS4, Switch and PC. The game can be played on next-generation consoles through backward compatibility.