ZOMBIU, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA FEATURES
ZOMBIU WiiU
Ubisoft NINTH CIRCLE DREADLINES
Now that survivor horror staples such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil have gone the action game route, becoming more about fight than fright, first-person WiiU title ZombiU hopes to bring the genre back to its roots.
The 2012 Apocalypse has arrived in London in the form of
a viral infection, and you play as a lonely survivor just trying to make it through. On your journey you’ll encounter other sur- vivors, including the “prepper,” an army veteran who knew the end was coming, a scientist who’s working to find a cure for the infection, and members of a secret society known as the Ravens of Dee. The story mixes science and ancient prophesy, but it all feels a bit thin as the main focus in ZombiU is simply survival. This, however, is easier said then done. Ammo is scarce,
and it usually takes several shots to put a walker down. You’ll often find yourself resorting to your standby cricket bat, which takes even longer to work its magic, leading to more frustra- tion than tension. When you die – and you will die often – you simply spawn as a new survivor at the same start point and continue the story from there. You do lose all of your equip- ment, however, meaning that you’ll have to hunt down the
FEATURES 00 00 NINTH CIRCLE
zombified remains of your previous sur- vivor to get them back. The WiiU Gamepad is put to good use, acting not only as a map and inventory screen, but also used to pick locks, solve puzzles and loot corpses. Multiplayer mode is the real highlight of
the game, though. One player acts as the zombie master and uses the WiiU
HEADSHOTS: SLICK CONTROLS, FUN MULTIPLAYER MISFIRES: FRUSTRATING GAMEPLAY, GLITCHES, REPETITIVE MISSIONS
DREADLINES
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA Nintendo 3DS
Game Mill Entertainment
What should you do when you’re a vampire celebrating your 118th birthday at your dad’s creepy hotel? How about going on a bunch of boring errands for the various guests who have
checked in for the night? Sound like fun? I didn’t think so. Unfortunately, that’s the premise behind this tie-in to the recently released animated
movie of the same name. As Mavis, Dracula’s daughter, you embark on an unprece- dented number of chores, while trying to save the love of your life before he gets cooked up for your birthday dinner. Right off the bat (get it?), this game is visually and stylistically reminiscent of the
older Castlevania titles, especially Symphony of the Night. The graphics are decent and the controls are tight, but the 3-D gimmick isn’t really needed, as it still looks good as a 2-D side-scroller. And although the ten bonus levels and some of the unlockable fea-
0 000 HEADSHOTS: NICE GRAPHICS, TIGHT CONTROLS, EASY TO PLAY RM64 MISFIRES: MONOTONOUS GAMEPLAY, 3-D NOT VERY EFFECTIVE
tures – such as the ability to change into a bat or mist while stomping on zombies and skeletons – are pretty cool, it doesn’t change the fact you’re doing a long series of fetch quests where you’ll find yourself going through the same rooms, hopping over the same pitfalls and facing the same enemies over and over again. It definitely feels like a rushed effort, with any additional poten-
tial all but squandered by an unimaginative development team. So before you make any reservations, see if there’s a room avail- able at the Bates Motel just down the road.
ANDREW LEE
Gamepad to place armies of zombies on the map, while the other player uses the Wii mote or the pro controller to survive as long as possible against the increasing numbers of undead. Unfortunately, there’s no online play. ZombiU has some great ideas, but it
could have used a bit more time in devel- opment to iron out the wrinkles. MIKE BEARDSALL
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