Game Info
GAME NAME: Rock Zombie
DEVELOPER(S): EnjoyUp Games
PUBLISHER(S): EnjoyUp Games
PLATFORM(S): Nintendo Wii U
GENRE(S): Arcade Beat’em Up
RELEASE DATE(S): October 30th, 2014
I went into Rock Zombie with some mixed emotions. On one hand, I had really liked some of EnjoyUp Games previous offerings and on the other I had been disappointed with some as well. I watched the trailer and knew the cheese I was getting into with this B-rated game but I still kept my mind open to it and came out with a somewhat enjoyable but flawed experience.
The story is simple: You are a chick rock band and zombies are attacking the concert you are playing. Gamers can choose to play as Zoe, Sasha or Crystal as they fight their way through hordes of Zombies to survive. The story is that of a cheesy B-movie, but is told through storyboards and comic screens. As you progress through the story you are taken to backdrops such as street areas, graveyards and more.
The gameplay is reminiscent of Golden Axe or Final Fight with a 90’s flare to it. You can use your guitar to whack zombies around with a vertical and horizontal swing. Powering up your combos will also unleash special attacks with names like Death Metal and Rock & Roll. The zombie types that will make there what towards you will be crawling or running aimlessly. There aren’t very smart but what do you expect from brainless creatures. You can destroy crates and other objects from around the environments to get coins which can be used at the collectible shop to purchase in game items.
To mix it up from the monotonous beat ’em up levels are driving levels where you take the wheel of a car or jump on a motorcycle. These levels feel really unpolished and would have been fine if they had left the out. i really would have preferred that they added co-op into the title rather then these levels. There are around 20 total levels in Rock Zombie, so that should keep even an experienced gamer busy for a few hours.
The graphics are pretty generic looking and they seem like they could have been used in the PlayStation 2 era. There are assets that you will see over and over again and just seems kind of lazy. The soundtrack has some good rock songs but as long as it takes you to finish some levels, they can start looping a few times and can get old. I would have liked to hear different songs and maybe some with lyrics to break up the same tracks repeating in the levels.
The Recommendation
I really wanted to like this game more then I did because I love cheesy humor and I also have liked EnjoyUp Games previous offerings. Unfortunately though, Rock Zombie has it’s shortcomings with underdeveloped vehicle levels, uninspiring art design and looping rock soundtrack that could have used some vocals to help drive it. If you really want to play a classic style beat ’em up, there is still an enjoyable game here but it will leave you disappointed in the end.
