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Zombie Smashers X

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Developer: Ska Software
Publisher: Ska Software
Genre: Action > Fighting
Released: Dec 28, 2001
Players: 2

They won�"t stay dead. Zombies that is. Hideous and repulsive, they roam the earth in their unwavering hunger for human flesh. They mangle, mutilate and otherwise decapitate freaked-out, screaming bystanders. They also stink to high heavens since they do not bathe (I think). Yet we have been hopelessly obsessed with these undead stragglers ever since George Romero�"s 1968 cult classic Night of the Living Dead. I guess people just love smashing them up, which is the premise of this RPG-beat �"em up, inspired by the 1989 NES videogame River City Ransom.

The storyline is the usual cliché, so don�"t expect Pulitzer quality: Zombies have mysteriously sprung up around town, and you need to get to the root of this evil. Apart from mindlessly beating crap up and pocketing the money that drops, you also get a chance to indulge in the RPG elements of improving character stats and increasing the damage you deal. Originally released in 2001 as a shareware that cost $10 to unlock, it was recently released as a freeware. The sequels ZSX 2 and 3 (shareware) are already out, with another fourth installment in the works.

ZSX can be played in both single-player and co-op mode, and you get to choose from 10 different characters, each with a signature special ability. Playing as Greg K Neck Snap allows you to finish off opponents by breaking their necks, complete with a weirdly satisfying �"crunch�" sound, while picking Fritz Heartbreaker lets you wrench out the hearts of the creeps and eat them for health, again with all the crunchy goodness!

Additional special moves can be learnt by getting tattoos from the many parlors scattered around the game world, and these can have a massive impact on the fighting prowess of your character. Indeed, their potency is reflected by their relatively high costs of $50 apiece. Do not scrimp on these though, as it is easily the most interesting aspect of this first game in the series, and it is certainly satisfying to take your character from a punch/kick simpleton to belting out head butts, fire punches and spinning kicks Yuen Wo Ping-style.

Each character is defined by 7 stats, and all of these can be improved by chucking down burgers and sodas from such places as McDollers and Taco Hell. With dozens of choices that offer boosts to different stat combinations, RPG min/maxers should rejoice in customizing their characters. You will only be able to know what each food item does by getting the Eye Glyph tattoo which costs $10, although given the wide variety of items available, this ability should probably have been intrinsic with each character. (This aspect has since been improved in ZSX 2 by allowing characters to retain knowledge of what each food item does after they have tried it for the first time.)

Fight scenes offer up plenty of blood if you have the blood level option ramped up to �"Ridiculous�". Blood squirts and flows from punches, kicks and flying innards, coloring the ground in each scene almost completely red. Apart from the standard punches and kicks, special moves can be executed if you have learnt them, and items such as crates, wheels and metal pipes can be wielded or thrown. There is also an adrenaline bar underneath the standard health bar, which gradually fills up as you land blows on your enemies. When this bar fills up, your character goes on a killing rampage � la Jack Bauer on crack (minus the guns and raving terrorists).

There are the usual boss fights and the dialogs before and after the fights are generally humorous but otherwise does little towards fleshing out the overall plot or pointing you in the right direction. In the more expansive buildings like a school or a supermarket, it will take a fair bit of exploring and trial and error to pinpoint the location of the boss. Given that mobs respawn when you backtrack and cross scene boundaries, and the fact that you cannot accrue more than $99.99 at any one time, I ended up sprinting and avoiding a fair bit of the mobs in search of the sometimes elusive bosses.

Apart from cosmetic differences, these bosses lack special abilities and differentiation. Powerful moves that require timely dodges or defenses that require the use of special abilities to break through could have added another layer of sophistication to the gameplay. In the end, the bosses merely play out like harder hitting regular mobs with faster reflexes.

Graphics:
The graphics for this game harks back to the 8-bit NES days of old. Even with that benchmark, some of the character models for the mobs are rather uninspiring, with nearly identical face models for all. Sadly, it�"s hard to immerse yourself in the game when everyone looks the same as everyone else.

Sound:
Sound is reminiscent of 90s style arcade beat �"em up games, with a generic background score and simple sound effects for actions like punching and eating. Not flashy but gets the job done.

Gameplay:
The overall gameplay is fun and addictive, but is somewhat let down by niggling issues such as the generic boss fights and lack of depth. The RPG element is underdeveloped and is further compounded by a loose plot. ZSX 2 greatly improves on this aspect though with new features such as the addition of quests and side missions.

Concept:

The age old concept of a beat �"em up with RPG elements still feels gold. The incorporation of tattooed skills is also a novel concept, and the impressive repertoire of special abilities keeps the game from getting stale.

Value:
This freeware game ships with a game editor and various crazy modes including an �"All Specials�" mode and a �"Crackhead�" mode, injecting a great deal of replayability into the package.

Overall:
Being the first in the series, this game touts simplistic, addictive gameplay, but it does have many imperfections. ZSX 2 has since improved upon its predecessor in just about every single department, but this sequel does cost $19.81 to unlock. For newcomers to the genre or those on a tight budget (or rather zero budget), try out this game first to be introduced to the gameplay concepts and mechanics. If you see enough of what you like, head on over to the Zombie Smashers X2 website and give that follow-up a try.

By: Freddy Lim
Posted: Wednesday May 30, 2007