Zombies have been an important part of video games for a long time. Mostly we kill them en masse. But in 2005, Stubbs The Zombie it shook things up and allowed you to take on the role of a zombie devouring people in a futuristic city. This game has returned to modern consoles through a remaster that may be too bare for some.
Stubbs The Zombie was developed by Wideload Games, a company formed by former Bungie developers who left the Hello a few years after Microsoft bought it in 2000. This connection to Bungie is how the studio was able to license the Hello engine for the game, making it one of the only non-Halo games to use this engine. Using this technology, he created the small Wideload team Stubbs The Zombie In Rebel Sense Pols, a strange action game about a zombie, Stubbs, who eats brains, creates more zombies, urinating things and participating in dance battles.
Stubbs wakes up like a zombie in the middle of Punchbowl, a newly built 1950s town that has big robots, laser guns, and flat cars. Being a newly animated zombie in this metropolis, you spend most of your time doing zombie things, like eating brains and attacking humans. But Stubbs is no ordinary zombie; has special abilities that you can use after eating enough brains. He throws his head like a bowling ball and blows up enemies, turning them into zombies. The arm can be ripped off and players can control it like a remote control car. Jump on a human like a hand and take command of them, letting him use whatever weapons they may have or allowing himself to sneak through areas like a human. It’s rarely useful, but it’s curious.
Most of the game is spent doing the same basics. Stubbs enters a new area, kills some humans, builds an army of undead, helps them spread, kills more humans, and finally fights a boss or finishes some bigger goal like destroying a prey. While there are a few different things sprinkled throughout the game, such as some sections that include vehicles and a part where you pee in the city’s water supply, most of the time is spent using the same attacks to kill humans in various areas or empty rooms. What makes this nice is the environment and the zombies you make along the way. Leading an army of zombies into battle against scientists with plasma guns while barber quartet singers with jetpacks attack from above is a unique experience that only Stubbs The Zombie can offer.
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For the remaster, publisher Aspyr Media decided not to change too much. This is not a big, sleek remake; major enhancements and changes include a good 60 fps frame rate, successes, and modern control options, such as changing inverted sticks. This is basically the original game, it can only be played on new consoles and it works better. While I appreciate the 2021 players being able to play easily Stubbs The Zombie, I also found the lack of improvements disappointing. For example, while I understand not replacing all textures, it’s weird and distracting to see some HUD elements of the game that use the original art from the 2005 version, which look blurry and pixelated when exploded on a big screen.
Players may have difficulty returning Stubbs. Video game design has come a long way since 2005, and many may be frustrated Stubbs‘ infrequent checkpoints, empty rooms, fluffy heads, lack of clear targets and repetitive play. From Stubbs It took me about six hours to finish, these inconveniences didn’t mean the game was more enjoyable, which is nice. Shorter games are a feature I’ve been missing since the mid-2000s. Remember when games were short? What a moment.
Part of my desires Stubbs The Zombie got a full remake, a more elegant and modern adventure to the recent Resident Evil remakes. One of the successes of the game refers to a sequel, asking fans to request one, so perhaps Aspr’s final plan is to increase the excitement. Stubbs. For now, if you don’t mind a joke in the mid-2000s, there’s plenty of pleasure in the short but charming Stubbs The Zombie.
Stubbs The Zombie comes out March 16 on Xbox One, PS4, Switch and PC. The game can be played on next generation consoles through compatibility with previous versions.