Monday, March 17, 2008

In-Depth Review # 7: Boxhead: The Zombie Wars


Rating: 4.0/5 stars (Great)
Good: Epic new graphics, nice variety of enemies, new defense weapons fit in great with the Boxhead series.
Bad: Maps are a bit of a let-down, some problems when starting a game, missing features.

Note: My review "series" will now be named In-Depth Reviews, as opposed to the Weekly Random Reviews (due to no longer being weekly, and game of the day reviews which will probably make a comeback sooner or later).

Today I am reviewing the 5th in the Boxhead series, Zombie Wars. Once again, Sean Cooper has improved upon his previous Boxhead games, but after five games, is it good enough? We'll see. Just click for the rest of my review.


First off, an overview for those who have not played Boxhead. You are a boxy character, whose objective is very simple; stay alive! Hoards of zombies (and occasionally a devil or two) will come from every direction possible--and they all want your blood. But don't worry, you are given an arseny of weapons to keep them away, which you earn as you get your multiplier up. This new addition to the series keeps this same formula, but adds quite a bit to it.

The content in Zombie Wars is give and
take. You are unable to play local multiplayer or customize your character, like in 2Play Rooms, but in return, you get new enemies and weapons. There are four different kinds of enemies; four (thanks
Ashebrethafe) different types of zombies (some faster, some more enduring) and a devil. The devil is what you need to maim first, because he will send out a wall of fire, destroying anything in its path. This especially endangers your defense weapons, which are also new to the series. There are barricades (which aren't as permanent as you would like), turrets, and mortars. While shooting up zombies is fun, setting up a well-made bunker is extremely satisfying as well. However, the game lost a lot of potential when it was limited to the six maps it has. All are located in an outdoor environment, but feature no creative paths or other such things.

As mentioned in the summary rating above, the new graphics in Zombie Wars are leagues better than the previous games. Additionally, this new look does not sacrifice much speed, as it runs fine on my old computer (which has trouble running a game like Portal: The Flash Version). Zombies will leave behind puddles of blood, while leaving their bodies to fade away, so as not to clutter the map that much. Also, air strikes (and just explosions in general) are amazing.
...Truly epic.
The gameplay, just like other Boxhead games, is simple. Arrow keys to move, space bar to shoot. Number keys choose your weapon, and the z+x buttons were added to switch through them (greatly appreciated). The game goes smoothly, with one exception. I'm not sure if it is just me, but when starting a game, occasionally I will get stuck at the 'entering hell' screen.

Replay value in Zombie Wars is a bit better than previous games, due to the defense mode of play, but still suffers from lack of a campaign or story. Zombies tend to crowd you very quickly and end the game prematurely if you are not careful. But don't expect to be playing this game for long periods of time--it just fails to suck you in. Zombie Wars, like all of the Boxhead series, remains to be a pick-up-and-play game.

Summarizing my review, Zombie Wars mixes up the series with defense weapons, but is missing a few non-vital features from previews games. The new graphics kick ass (without taking from performance), but with this the maps could have been a bit more creative. But overally, Zombie Wars is a great game to pick up and play whenever, and is a significant improvement in the series.

There goes my 7th review. Hopefully I'll be able to get these out more often. Oh, and happy St. Patty's Day!

~Malachi




5 comments:

Focus said...

Yeah, I also wonder why people doesn't like commenting on reviews.

Malachi said...

Yeah, really! That's why I'm not that excited about making reviews all the time... It seems like no one reads them! D:

Focus said...

Yeah... walkthroughs for the win... I make a poor article about Fancy Pants and it gets 9 comments :P

Anonymous said...

It seems you forgot one of the types of enemies, although I'm not sure which one. Three types of zombies plus devil makes four, but the game has five types: zombie, runner, mummy, vampire and devil.

Anonymous said...

Nice thanks