Reviews - PlayStation Network

This dual stick-style shooter puts you in the shoes of a machismo and foul-mouthed hero named Barry Steakfries as he travels through time trying to destroy zombie hordes unleashed by the evil Professor Brains.

Age of Zombies features a great audiovisual presentation and a fun weapon and multiplier system. Players will blast through zombies in five different ages—Prehistoric, The 1930’s, Ancient Egypt, Feudal Japan and The Future—complete with themed art, music and sound effects. More…

Each age has three stages in which you must destroy a set number of zombies indicated by a green meter. This meter acts as a health gauge during boss encounters at the end of each age. Bosses have distinct personalities and attack patterns.

In between stages and before boss encounters, cut scenes will advance the silly and nonsensical story. The dialogue is immature, crude and laced with profanity. Steakfries is cast in the mould of Duke Nukem and spews bad puns and one-liners at every turn.

Players will encounter a number of limited-ammo weapons in Age of Zombies including a shotgun, a sub machine gun and a flamethrower. You can also carry secondary weapons like grenades and mines.

The more zombies you dispatch with a weapon, the faster your score multiplier will rise. Accurate shooting and use of explosives are rewarded with high scores. Weapon pick-ups are essential to surviving attacks from larger zombies, ones that speed around the screen and for igniting exploding zombies.

You get three lives at the beginning of each stage and any extra lives you pick up do not carry over. Steakfries can absorb a bit of damage from zombies before losing a life, which helps to prevent frustration and cheap deaths.

The story mode only lasts about an hour, but Age of Zombies is highly replayable and also includes an endless Survival mode. The game looks fantastic on a PSP and holds up quite well when played on the PS3.

Positives:

+ Great Art Style, Music and Sound Effects
+ Silly, Immature Humour and Story with Funny Dialogue
+ Tons of Zombies On-Screen with No Slowdown
+ Fun Weapon and Multiplier System

Negatives:

- Story Mode Only Lasts One Hour
- Diagonal Shooting can be Tough with Face Buttons



Game Forward Score: 4/5

Brian J. Papineau > Game Forward

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Age of Zombies (PlayStation Network minis) Quick Facts:

Genre: Shooting
Developer: Halfbrick Studios
Publisher: Halfbrick Studios
Release Date: February 24, 2010
Price: $4.99
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

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