Pixelated Horrors await you! They creep in from the dark, and devour your essence! They are also dumb and need to be herded. But it’s all in good fun!
In Zombie Night Terror, you are an evil mastermind tinkering away with mind-expanding and/or mind-rotting drugs. One fateful day, you discover the secret to turning people into mindless followers that blindly follow you. I am not talking about Trump-voters, but about zombies, obviously!
This game has a fantastic 80s vibe to eat, as the entire game is seemingly inspired by classic (and not so classic) horror movies of the 80s that have all the tropes: cops not shooting well enough to keep their guts from being torn out, the jock that wants to take on the zombies face to face, and evil doctors ready to take over the world, but not smart enough to protect themselves from their own creations. Zombie Night Terror has it all!
During the first couple of levels, you learn the basics of the game. Albeit, you are taking by the hand and you have to do everything exactly like you are told to do them, but this has a purpose, although it might be annoying. From the start, the game is already quite challenging if you dive in brain-first. You really need to take some time to get familiar with the various game mechanics. Zombie Night Terror plays as a zombie version of Lemmings, the classic game in which you have to guide the cute little creatures to safety. This game gives it a bloody twist however: you need to guide your zombies to juicy victims, while making sure your shambling minions are not all killed because they fall from roofs or get shot by machos with shotguns.
In this game, you start when and where you spread the infection by injecting one human with a syringe. You need to think about this, though. Where can Patient Zero inflict a lot of casualties without succumbing to the dangers of the world around him? The starting zombie has all of the well-known characteristics: it is slow, not very powerful, it can’t stand a lot of damage, and it only moves in one way. Luckily, you can pick up extra syringes that enable you to spread the infection more rapidly by infecting more people at the same time, or by mutating the basic zombie in a more specialised version. Some of these have the ability to force your creeping corpses in one direction (insert teenage boys band joke) or by turning a zombie in a brute that can smash down walls, or even a walking bomb that can destroy entire floors.
With every level that you complete, the difficulty also goes up. Some of the later levels are real… *ahum* brainteasers (I’m so sorry). Additionally, you are given an interesting (though basic) story that rewards you with some amusing scenes. Did I already mention the game was inspired by classic zombie films? Challenge yourself and try to find out how this game pays homage to them!
The feeling of this game is spot on, and the developers really know how to blend the 80s vibe with the horror films of that time, as well as zombies and humour. Although they might look cute in their sprite-like design, the first gush of blood that taints the wall after one of your zombies rips open the throat of a poor human made me stare at the screen in awe. There is a real sense of dread to this. And if a simple ‘zombified lemmings game’ can do this, it is a job well done!
| The good | The Bad |
| – Zombies | – Basic Story |
| – Challenging | – Rather slow (but necessary) tutorial |
| – Bloody Twist to Lemmings | |
| – Zombies!!!! |
Final Score: 4/5
