Gunslingers & Zombies, out now for the Nintendo Change, locations you within the boots of a bunch of untamed west ranchers, keeping off a zombie invasion. It sort of places a brand new spin on the time period “ghost city,” eh?
Every stage within the sport begins off with a number of nonetheless pictures with dialogue to maneuver the fundamental plot alongside. The story, whereas not very deep or participating, does its job properly sufficient and offers you a basic concept of what your targets ought to be throughout every spherical. However the lengthy and wanting it’s this: there are zombies in a city, and these remaining survivors have to flee. It’s easy, however it works.
As for the rounds themselves, the sport performs like a method RPG. Image video games like Hearth Emblem or Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle and also you’ve received a good suggestion of how Gunslingers & Zombies works. You might be answerable for numerous the aforementioned gunslingers, and you must strategically transfer them across the map to be able to escape this military of the strolling lifeless. The degrees all have fairly distinctive necessities. In some, you simply must wipe out the zombies. In others, you’ll need to collect 10 luggage of loot and make it to the exit. There’s additionally a degree the place you must begin up a mine cart filled with explosives and survive because it slowly makes its method towards its goal.
Every character has two “actions” per spherical; you need to use an motion to maneuver a sure variety of areas, assault, heal, or reload your weapon. You even have completely different weapons and a knife for close-range assaults. This mechanic forces you to essentially take into consideration what is required to realize your targets. Do you have to use each actions to maneuver very far up the map to be able to attain the exit? What about these three zombies which are huddled round that explosive crimson barrel (additionally a online game staple)? Or can I simply maintain a defensive place and auto-attack a zombie that comes close to me throughout their flip? There are numerous other ways to plan your strikes, and this actually provides a tactical ingredient to the sport.
As soon as your flip is over, the zombies get their alternative. There are various kinds of enemies, similar to your commonplace zombie, explosive zombie, long-range assault zombie, and a zombie that splits into two smaller zombies when killed. Every has its personal attributes, and once more, you must plan each assaults and defenses. The AI is fairly commonplace for one of these sport and works for essentially the most half. I did have one occasion the place a zombie attacked a piano for an unknown purpose, however hey – it used its flip, so I didn’t complain. Plus, they’re zombies – there’s not so much occurring upstairs, anyway. There are three problem ranges as properly, so you may tailor the expertise to your wants.
Graphically, Gunslingers & Zombies isn’t something spectacular, however once more, it really works for what it’s. You’ll get primary, nearly voxel-style polygons, and the characters don’t have any faces or personalities. Zombies, too, are simply the identical mannequin with some visible variations within the zombie sorts. The maps are fairly sizable and match the outdated west theme properly sufficient. The music is simply background ambiance, and the characters and zombies re-use the identical vocal “ugh” each time they’re hit.
Controls additionally work properly sufficient. You’ll be able to transfer the digicam throughout the map to examine the structure and zoom out and in. It’s straightforward to pick your weapon and motion, and the sport does a very good job of serving to you out with in-game tutorials. I did have some points deciding on my character on the map because of a clumsy digicam angle, however it simply required a little bit fine-tuning. The one actual problem with the controls was that they’re too floaty. In a grid-based sport, I might anticipate to see a “snap” system the place your cursor rapidly strikes to the subsequent spot you might be pointing in the direction of.
There are another minor points with Gunslingers & Zombies. First, the writing is rife with grammatical and spelling errors. Typically I couldn’t actually perceive what the characters have been saying till I learn the dialogue a number of occasions. There was additionally no option to reset the spherical. Oftentimes I discovered myself in a no-win state of affairs, solely to must consistently skip my flip so I might get slowly attacked and killed by my enemies so I might begin over. I might exit the sport and restart it, however a fast reset would have been helpful. Lastly, the knife is method too weak. One would assume a melee weapon in a sport like this might be a bit stronger, as you’ll use it sparingly. This weapon solely did 1-2 injury per assault, and I resorted to utilizing my rifle even after I was just one sq. away. Whereas annoying, these issues don’t damage the sport – they only make it a tad irritating.
Don’t decide Gunslingers & Zombies by its cowl. It will not be as deep as Hearth Emblem or as flashy as X-COM, however for essentially the most half, it accomplishes what it units out to do. When you get into it, you’ll unearth a enjoyable and comparatively interesting tactical RPG that manages to make you assume and strategize, however not an excessive amount of so to’t have a soothing time with it. In truth, I discovered it an ideal companion to having a soccer sport or some music on within the background. This additionally might be thought of a midway first rate entry-level sport on this style (at the least on the simple setting). If you can also make it previous the script points, primary presentation, and gameplay annoyances, you’ll get a number of hours of enjoyment out of your $8.99 funding.
