Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

"Join us. Join us. Join us. Join us."

NOTE: I know the tagline is from The Evil Dead, but the things Ash fights in that movie are sorta zombies too. Just keep yer yap shut, Bruce Campbell owns.

First, there was a game called Destroy All Humans!, in which players were allowed to control aliens and lead them on their path to destroying the human race. Now that we have the Star Trek buffs satisfied, what about us horror movie fans? Well, I'll tell you, we got something so much better. Replace the aliens with zombies and ray guns with brain eating and claws, and slap in the Halo engine, and you'll get Stubbs the Zombie.

This game is the most amazing piece of software ever to exist on the Xbox. What, Halo? Halo 2? Get that crap outta here, Stubbs eats the Halo series alive, Night of the Living Dead style. No, wait, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD style! The zombies in that movie are more psychotic than in anything else, and this game does to the likes of Halo what Return's zombies do to George Romero's zombies. But what makes this game so excelent?

Graphics: 9/10

While not perfect, the graphics in this game are damn near close to it. Stubbs the Zombie was built on the Halo engine, and the Halo games have been branded as 2 of the Xbox's most graphically superior games made for the console. Actually, I would have to base this game's graphics on Halo: CE's more than Halo 2's, and considering the first Halo is around 5 years old, there's where this game loses a point. It doesn't suffer more than that because I know that graphics don't make the game, the gameplay makes the game. But as for the graphics in general, they're pretty good. When you play this game, don't worry about how the game looks on screen: yes, it's supposed to look grainy. The game takes place in Pennsylvania 1959. The grainy look is meant to fit the retro style from back then. Please don't judge this game based on that factor. The ambiance makes the game more enjoyable.

Sound: 10/10

What a badass soundtrack. These days, the genre's of hard rock, rap, and country & western reign supreme, expecially with the 16-24 demographic. But how can you not smile when you hear this game's soundtrack? Modern day bands have been called upon to remake classic retro rock and love songs specially for this game. While you munch on brains, you can hear modern day rock group "Oranger" playing "Mr. Sandman" during your rampage. If you'd like to listen and hear for yourself how the soundtrack sounds, play the games official trailer somewhere. It's great. As for the sound effects, they're top notch too. You'll laugh when you hear the things those helpless humans cry out as their get their brains eaten and arms ripped off, no matter how corny they might sound. Hey, it was 1959. That's how they were then. Corny, right off the cob.

Controls: 10/10

If you look at screenshots of this game, you'll see it's a Third-Person Action/Adventure game. "But Mr. the Slash, didn't you say it was made on the Halo engine?" Yep, I did. Play this game pretty much exactly how you would play a First-Person Shooter. You use the left thumbstick to move in a specified direction, and the right thumbstick to face in whatever direction you want the left thumbstick to move you, just like in an FPS. If you've played any of the Halo games, you should be able to jump right on into this game, that is if you make note that you can't do everything in Stubbs the Zombie that you can do in Halo (flashlight, grenade-swapping, etc.). Stubbs can't use a gun by himself, but when you use Possession ability to take control of a gun-using human, THEN it will start to feel like an FPS. On top of possession, you can use a number of other abilities, like unleash your Unholy Flatulence to stun enemies for the kill, lob Gut Grenades straight from your insides and detonate them like remote mines, bowl your own head like a bowling ball and blow that up (It regrows! It regrows!) and generally just claw and chew your way to the top of the food chain. Oh, and here's a first; in this game, eat someone's brain. A few seconds later they'll pop up as a zombie minion for you to hang out with. Build an army of zombies that you get to boss around! Go ahead, do it, I'll wait. Remember, the gore, the merrier!

Challenge: 10/10

Expect the same level of challenge from other Third-Person Action games to be in this, except combine that with the toughness of any FPS game to pump up the challenge. This game is quite challenging. Not so much in the first half of the game, but once you get to the musket-wielding hicks and barber shop quartet members flying on jetpacks armed with laser blasters that are running loose in the city for some odd reason, expect things to heat up. Those guys back a punch. Don't stand around to take more than 4 blasts from the muskets, or you're a goner. Oh, and watch out for land mines and tanks! Plan on using nearly all of your abilities very often to counter the slew of tough enemies ahead of you in later levels.

Replay Value: 9/10

For a concept that's never been done before, Stubbs the Zombie has loads of replay value. You can never get bored playing a zombie game in which you're the zombie. It used to be that you were a human killing zombies. It's the other way around here. The game is kinda linear, but the areas are large enough for you to wonder around and kill people at your leisure. Have a ball with it. Think up imaginative ways to convert your prey into allies. What I would have loved to see in this game though is online play. It would have been nice to see a mode where we can play online with others and either kill the zombies until we die and turn into a zombie ourselves and try to kill others. But it's not a bad game without online play.

In conclusion, check this game out. It's the first of it's kind. I personally want to shake the hand of Alexander Seropian, the project director for this game, for coming up with the first true game in which we can play as the zombie, rather than kill them. This man has set a standard for the gaming industry and I hope Stubbs will encourage other developers to try something unique and imaginative. This game has lots of hilarious moments with a dash of retro 50's and good wholesome horror thrown in for good measure. Don't miss it.

Overall: 9/10
Judgement: Definitely a buyer. Especially for Halo and Halo 2 fans. Avoid if you hate the intense gore shown in horror movies.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/02/06