Stubbs the Zombie in "Rebel Without a Pulse" Review

Since we're discussing challenges, I have to point out that the AI reacts quickly and brightly to each move you make. Although some opponents fall easily into your hands, others will do their best to avoid being bitten. Wait did I say, bitten? It's not just that you know. Stubbs bites people, he eats their brains, pulls out their arms, runs them over with tractor or tank (or any other vehicle), he farts in their general direction, and so on. The cool part is that in some cases, the enemy AI is really hard to beat, especially if Stubbs faces a multitude of foes and is forced to think of an appropriate move. At any rate, you can be sure that the game is a decent challenge for any gamer. During your zombie frenzy, other fellow zombies will sometimes help you corner victims. If you want, you can whistle over to a group of zombies and make them go in a certain direction. I'm sorry to say, that it didn't always work. In fact I often experienced a lot of trouble organizing a bunch of dumb zombies because most of the time they just go after the first obvious casualty, instead of following you.

Reload, you senile old goat!

I'll eat you later.

There's also the inescapable Halo reminiscence present throughout certain levels. As you may or may not know, the game was built with the Halo engine. Also, Alex Seropian, founder of Wideload Games and former member of Bungie, clearly used many familiar traits from Halo. For instance, when players drive certain vehicles, friendly units will tag along, jumping into the passenger seat or simply by sitting on the vehicle's hull - obviously a tribute to the marine camaraderie we've all seen in Halo. Using diverse weapons, such as rocket launchers and laser-guns, also felt a lot like re-playing Halo. It's a weird translation of the engine, but it works very well nonetheless.

I couldn't help but notice that the developers didn't make much of an effort to tweak the in-game audio. There are many areas that lack music and proper sound effects in the backdrop. It's really lame when you walk through an entire level with almost no sound effects or music whatsoever (and that happened on several occasions). This kind of thing greatly diminishes the game's overall quality. I would've also been happier with a wider variety of wacky tunes, which could greatly improve the game's atmosphere.

If you had your heart set on playing this game, I have to warn you that it took me less then one day to finish it. The lowest point of the game is the omitted Xbox co-op multiplayer, which came as a huge disappointment, given the game's length and apparent lack of replayability.

If you have a better way of spending 40 bucks, then maybe you shouldn't consider spending them on this game. Although Stubbs the Zombie stands as a pleasing deviation from today's genre standards, it still doesn't have enough to engulf players in the long run. It's decent entertainment no doubt, but short of any lasting qualities. A fun and engaging co-op mode would have been enough to increase the game's replay value as well as its overall score.