ZOMBIES!!! MOBILE EDITION, RESIDENT EVIL: REVELATIONS, THE DARKNESS II
ZOMBIES!!! MOBILE EDITION Windows 7 phone
Babaroga Before undead board games went high-
profile with competing Walking Dead titles
(RM#119), there was Zombies!!! (from Twilight Creations Inc.), which re-envi- sioned how table-top games functioned while creating a facsimile of a zombie apocalypse using little plastic 3-D rotters. With a game board constructed dur- ing play – players add a new street or building tile and a random number of zombies each turn – no two games are the same. A session can last from five minutes to well over an hour (depending on how many expansion packs are being used) and requires an element of strategy in placing tiles and zombies to hinder opponents. Now, Zombies!!! is going digital with software developer Babaroga (Horror Master Trivia) creating a video game version of the cult title. “We are huge fans of the board game and we really wanted to see it made
available to a wider audience,” says Aaron Bauer, producer of Zombies!!! Mo- bile Edition. “We managed to find a wonderful and willing partner in Twilight Creations, so we dove right in. ... [They] provided us with their original artwork to use for the cards, so we were able to really preserve the overall look and feel of the game.” Babaroga recognized the strengths and solid design of Zombies!!! immedi-
ately, so instead of changing the pacing or any of the core game mechanics, the company focused on properly mimicking the original experience digitally and developing a complementary system for single-player gaming – some- thing that board games need not address. “Zombies!!! Mobile Edition follows the same turn progression as the board
game,” explains Bauer. “It directly recreates the board game experience, using simple touch controls. We have added multiple rule sets to allow for pre-gen- erated towns, single-player survival, and more. The addition of achievements and leaderboards adds to the experience as well.” And reminiscent of the plastic rotters that shuffled after your game pieces
in the table-top Zombies!!!, the mobile edition also embraces 3-D through its cartoonish environments, which can be rotated and zoomed into from any di- rection, allowing players to truly experience the tension of being surrounded
FEATURES
RESIDENT EVIL: REVELATIONS Nintendo 3DS
NINTH CIRCLE
by flesh-eaters in an unfamiliar city. “We have an excellent team of artists and animators who have really
brought the player pieces and zombies to life – or un-life, if you will,” notes Bauer, who explains the team used classic zombie films as inspiration for the game’s gritty menus. “The cinematic camera work also goes a long way to drive the tone of the entire game. ... There is a certain amount of whimsy in the board game that keeps it fun and tips its hat to zombie fans. We put a lot of effort into maintaining that balance of both fun and horror themes.” Though Zombies!!! Mobile Edition currently only contains content from the
original board game, Babaroga is not ruling out adding additional material from the expansions, as well as a proper online multi-player component (cur- rently, playing with friends requires one device to be passed from person to person). But clearly the company’s heart is in the right place. Bauer notes, “As avid fans of all things zombies and games, [this] just felt like something we had to do.”
Zombies!!! Mobile Edition is available for Windows 7 phones now, with ver-
sions for other mobile platforms and Xbox Live slated to be released over the course of the year. Visit
babaroga.com for updates and release dates. MONICA S. KUEBLER
Players take on the roles of RE alumni Jill Valentine and DREADLINES
Capcom For your next vacation, you might want to
book passage on the SS Queen Zenobia. That’s the cruise ship where the latest installment of the Resident Evil franchise is set. And be sure to enjoy the casino and play some shuffleboard
– when you’re not battling vicious crustaceans while waist-deep in bilge water. Capcom has definitely upped the ante by putting out what may possibly be the
best-looking game available for the Nintendo 3DS platform. It’s also the scariest title to date, absolutely brimming with tense, suspenseful atmosphere.
RM
0000 RM60
HEADSHOTS: AMAZING GRAPHICS, EERIE SOUNDSCAPE, VERY SCARY MISFIRES: WEAK A.I., CLUNKY CONTROLS, SOME CHARACTERS ARE ANNOYING
Chris Redfield, who are exploring the ship, along with their respective (and completely useless) A.I. counterparts. Slowly inching down dark, labyrinthine corridors, you’ll encounter a whole host of vicious creatures, such as gigantic water cockroaches with razor-sharp teeth and an ominous new enemy called the Ooze, which can melt its body and seep through narrow openings. Though the game still has a campy storyline, develop-
ers have stripped away a lot of the bells and whistles from previous outings to return to the series’ survival horror roots. That means you’ll have to conserve your ammunition once again and stay alert. Just be sure to grab a lifejacket and some green
herbs before setting a course for terror on the high seas.
ANDREW LEE
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