Zombies Ruined My Day Review: Elevator Action Meets Smash TV

Just like films and comic books, the video game industry plays off trends and fads too.

Case in point: there are probably more zombie games on the indie games section of the Xbox 360 Live Arcade than ever before.

You can say thank you to “The Walking Dead” for that.

While many of these games try to make a quick buck off a cool concept, many of them are just that- wastes of money. Mancebo Games’ “Zombies Ruined My Day” is different though. Incorporating gameplay elements from classic titles such as “Elevator Action” and “Smash TV” and a sweet look from games the likes of “Plants vs. Zombies” and “Castle Crashers,” killing zombies is both strategic and bloody fun.

The two analog stick control scheme works well for most shooters and it serves this game well. It’s easy to pick zombies off from the other side of the screen and even though it takes skill [These zombies don’t go down easy.], the game, in spite of its sometimes-cruel difficulty, is never impossible. Using your ammo wisely for strong weapons is essentially the name of the game. That level of strategy is the last thing you’d expect to see in a shoot-em-up, but it’s the thing that makes “Zombies Ruined My Day” so enjoyable. A jump button allows for some added strategy; maneuvering in between zombies is usually the difference between life and death. The amount of weapons to choose from also spices up the gameplay and makes you think more than you think you would.

With no health bar and death coming to your character from a mere touch of a zombie, you have to be perfect. Every move you make counts. While it’s possible to play the game recklessly and have some level of success, those who go for a run and gun style won’t be able to get past the first few stages.

It would have been easy to make this a game that relies solely on quick hands and button-mashing. Action-packed shooters are always a blast, but there’s little that separates them from one another. The inclusion of projectile weapons and barricades to block zombies effectively takes this title from a cute 2D shooter to one that you’ll remember.

The visuals too, while being nothing to bark at when compared to full games on the 360, are something special as far as the indie games on the console go. Colorful and sporting solid animations, you’d be hard pressed to find a game as polished on the indie game channel.

The best selling point for the title however is the price. For 80 Microsoft points, you get a few hours of gameplay with no hiccups. The story is no-frills, but the presentation is solid and sets up the killer gameplay without a hitch. Indie designers who want to take a note on how to make a decent game would be best served by checking this one out.

Challenging and a polished arcade experience, there aren’t much better ways to spend a buck on Xbox Live.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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