THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

National Zombie Park is a 3D, top-down, procedurally generated, permanent death roguelike set in a natural park filled with Zombies. This is not an easy game as bullets are scarce, Zombies can easily be camouflaged beneath woodland debris, shelter is in short supply and even a single bite from one of the infected can lead to an early grave. How long will you survive in this place of beauty, fouled by the hungry dead?

MY VERDICT:

Often I complain about things - movies, games, comics - not having enough for me to write about in the description but this game, takes the cake. There is absolutely no story whatsoever - no background information, no explanation of what is going on, no hint at why the undead rose from death, nothing, not even a clear objective! You are simply plopped into the world - a lush Unreal Engine 4 powered National Park - along with a club (which I like to call the "bonking stick" due to its comical 'attack' animation), a gun, without much ammo, and an oversized piece of body armour. There are other issues too: gun models are extremely out-of-scale with the playable character and most houses contain nothing but four walls, a roof, a wooden door that violently swings open whenever something walks into it, a floor and a single oversized bed. Highlights are scarce in this below average game but there are a couple. Gun sound effects when fired are brutal, packing an effective audio punch each time the trigger is pulled. It's a terrible shame that discharging weapons is pretty much off the menu as shooting seems to actually spawn a whole group of nasty Zeds around you, rather than summoning those nearby with the loud noise. Another quality idea is the fact that a single bite can kill you. Get bitten and the infection enters your body, spreading upwards over time. Let it get to your brain and it is game over. However, succumbing to infection in this way is unlikely to happen - far too many Zombies drop medkits when killed (bright red boxes, again oversized) which, when applied, cure all ailments.