Stubbs the Zombie is perhaps one of the most offbeat games I have ever played and that’s saying something. Initially released for the original Xbox, Stubbs the Zombie sees you play as a murdered salesman who rises from the dead decades later to enact revenge. The game is set in a retro-futuristic ’50s and definitely does not take itself seriously. Stubbs can attack, eat the brains of various individuals, and raise them as zombies under his command. Then the fun begins!
There are a variety of abilities available over the course of the game, such as using Stubbs’ organs as grenades, possessing people using his hands, and more. There are also a number of vehicles you can access during certain points of the game, which you can use to go all out, causing damage with wild abandon. Part of what makes Stubbs The Zombie work is its offbeat nature, catering primarily to the comedy aspects of the game. The story is a send-up of fifties culture and paranoia, and the game has aged well in that regard.
However, Stubbs has not aged well in all areas, probably to be expected as this release is not a true remaster. The controls are fixed up a bit to to make them more streamlined, but the visuals are exactly the same as the original release. The game was made on the Halo engine and has a certain charm, but you may be put off by seeing sixth gen graphics that make up the game. Still though, the art style choices do work wonders to help hide the age of the game, but a new coat of paint would would have been appreciated.
Combat is easy enough to figure out, and taking on enemies becomes extremely fun. If you ever take too much damage, you can eat a brain to get some health or stay still to regenerate your health like in Halo. This is not to say the game is easy though, especially since there are multiple difficulty settings for you to engage with. You can choose to make the game significantly harder on the highest difficulty if you wish to have a real challenge.
I like the way you can control your zombie horde in this game, either by whistling to them or pushing them in the direction you want them to go. It helps give the game some strategy elements that manage to defy conventional genres a bit. The story is the main selling point here though, as it is incredibly funny, pointing out absurdities in both the decade of the 1950s and what people in the ’50s thought the future would be like as seen through it’s portrayal of pop culture from that era.
If you can get past the aged visuals, Stubbs The Zombie In Rebel Without A Pulse is one of the best zombie games around. Rather than facing horror, you ARE the horror and that makes this game simply great. I give Stubbs a recommendation, because thanks to the changes to and refinements of the controls, the game does handle pretty well. It may have dated visuals, but the core fun factor is here and that is what makes it shine to me.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition, for access to an extensive variety of active retro gaming groups on Facebook, visit Retro Gamers Hub.