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- Jan 2, 2007
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I'm not made of cash, my Xbox 360 is in the shop, my computer is from the ancient year of 2004 so I honestly can't review anything new right now, so I decided to dust off a copy of a game I got back in 2005 and give it a little once over since it's been awhile since I played it. That game happens to be the strangely forgotten "Stubbs the Zombie In: Rebel without a Pulse."
Why was this game forgotten? Is it really that bad, or did it just fail to attract an audience? Well, let's find out.. but first, a brief history.
Stubbs the Zombie was originally being developed in 2003 by Bungie, the guys who made Halo of course. However, before the game could even make it past a storyboard, Microsoft stepped in and told the development team they had to stop production of the game go backup the team working on Halo 2 so that it could progress faster. Some of that development team went to help on Halo 2, but the others refused to give up their brain child and went on to found Wideload Games so that their game could come to fruition. 2 and a half years later, Stubbs would finally make its way into stores, appearing on the Xbox in PC and using a modified copy of the original Halo engine. Enough chit-chat though, let's review this sucker... I'm using my modern format, but I'm tweaking some things since this is a retrospective.
Story
The game begins with a brief black and white video that explains the setting of the game, the futuristic city of Punchbowl which was built by millionaire playboy Andrew Monday and a team of genius scientists who have created various robots and hovercars. This brief intro sets the tone greatly, the cheesy, silly, yet imaginative 50's take on the "future" is brilliantly recreated for the game. After this, a couple holding a picnic is interrupted by a hand unceremoniously bursting from the ground and stealing the couples hotdog. Naturally, the hand belongs to a zombie who bursts out and you are given control of the zombie, the titular "Stubbs." Believe it or not, the game DOES have a story beyond "You are a zombie, go make more zombies in a futuristic city." and it's a genuinely interesting one, although it takes some time to kick in and start giving you clues. Where the "story" truly excels though is the comedic writing, there's never a dull moment in Stubbs, if this game doesn't put a grin on your face, you must be devoid of a funny bone. The writing is great and so many silly things happen that it's impossible not to laugh, and it does a great job at delivering quite a number of laughs, some are mere smiles, some are just chuckles, some will make you fall out of your chair and grab your sides. This is easily one of the funniest games I've played, perfectly balancing a silly take on the zombie phenomena and the already silly setting. It's humour is dark and light, at the same time and yet both get along well.
9.0/10
Production Values (Sound/Video)
Even for 2005, the original Halo engine was showing its age, but Stubbs managed to breathe some life into it. The detail was fairly good, while not superb, the art direction really helped make the game look genuine and good. The effects were decent and the lighting was actually rather good on player models, even if some player models were repeated. The animations were a mixed bag, some characters were animated perfectly, others were choppy. Strangely, the animations in the cinematics are the ones that are choppy, but the ones in gameplay are a little better. Zombies shamble like you'd expect them too, and cowardly cops, civilians, military and various other human foes would run away in a very well animated and comedic fashion. There are some problems though, one thing that bugs me is a complete and utter lack of a physics engine, and by 2005 this was a fairly standard feature. There is a sort of "Pseudo-physics" engine that would sometimes change a bodies position once it landed in order to prevent clipping, but this is actually a bad thing because sometimes it creates weird disturbances, one time a rather fat character landed against a wall and the animation system bent his body to be against the wall, but it was contorted and his gut sort of imploded in a really creepy and off fashion. The environmental graphics are the weakest part, usually fairly bland. They get the job done in many areas, though some areas they show their weakness; usually in outdoor areas, especially the farm area which appears to have almost no texture at all.
The sound design is great though, both the licensed and original soundtracks are good. The original soundtrack is usually very zany and comes up when something silly is happening, and the licensed soundtrack is sadly underused, but when it does show its face it's a very welcome one because it's full of authentic 50's jukebox classics like "lollipop" and "Mr. Sandman." This is shown off best in a rather humorous segment where a police chief, who earlier in the game promised to "dance on your grave," then later literally challenges Stubbs to a dance contest in front of a group of swat members. The voice acting is well done too, its often over the top, but in a good way. Many of the characters tied to the story have great and distinct personalities, and even the useless grubs awaiting to be zombified shriek hysterical screams and funny lines of dialogue as you horrifically maim those around you and order your legions of zombies into suicidal assaults.
8.5/10
Design
Stubbs is very well designed, each level is unique in theme and there are plenty of obstacles as well as ripe brains out there for you. There are a few levels that do get a little repetitious, namely the farm level which looks so samy all throughout sometimes you get lost, but generally they are consistent yet varied enough that you can find yourself around and rarely break the action. My biggest problem with Stubbs' design is that it's very, very short. In my recent re-playthrough, I finished the game in a single 8 hour sitting on the medium difficulty. It's kind of sad, seeing as most games are getting shorter and shorter, that you can actually find a game from that era that even today would be considered ridiculously short. The design is still great though, and each level is varied and has different objectives and unique settings that contribute to the funny dialogue and setting.
8.5/10
Gameplay
Naturally, this is the most important part of the game. So just how fun is Stubbs to play? Very fun. No, really, its a blast. Eating brains and amassing an army never gets old, and as the game gets progressively harder, managing that army becomes more interesting and you find more opportunities to use your bizarre array of weapons. While Stubbs only has 4 "weapons," they are balanced enough and zany enough that you often anticipate the next chance to use them, and at the same time you can use one of those weapons, your hand, to possess enemies that often carry other weapons, plus there are various vehicles that are weapons in and of themselves. The fast paced and fun gameplay goes hand in hand with the great comedy writing, meaning even when you are in a lengthy game play sequence with less of the cutscenes or scripted inserts, you will still be smiling whether it be the funny foes or the wacky weapons, or even the sheer over the top gore that would make Peter Jackson proud. It's funny AND fun to play, which is a great thing of course.
9.5/10
Conclusion and Verdict
So why was Stubbs The Zombie overlooked? I don't really know. The marketing was poor, the critics were mixed, and maybe it was too weird for the public. In Yahtzee's Psychonauts review, he pointed out that the industry is built on copies of other games and has very little originality, and people eat those copies up. Games that defy categorization are sadly misplaced because people are afraid of funny, unique and clever games. That's most likely what happened to Stubbs. This game is great though, it's available on Steam or Xbox 360 under the "Classics" section and there's no reason not to snag a copy. I do recommend the xbox version mostly because the PC version has some control issues and is missing the co-op function, which added a bit more replay value since you could enjoy it with a friend. Hell, I bought the xbox version despite owning the PC version just so I could have the co-op function, and me and my wife enjoyed being the progenitors of the zombie apocalypse.
Overall, I give this game a
9.1/10
Come on' Wideload, cough up a sequel. Hail to the Chimp sucked, but I still believe you have talent in there..
Why was this game forgotten? Is it really that bad, or did it just fail to attract an audience? Well, let's find out.. but first, a brief history.
Stubbs the Zombie was originally being developed in 2003 by Bungie, the guys who made Halo of course. However, before the game could even make it past a storyboard, Microsoft stepped in and told the development team they had to stop production of the game go backup the team working on Halo 2 so that it could progress faster. Some of that development team went to help on Halo 2, but the others refused to give up their brain child and went on to found Wideload Games so that their game could come to fruition. 2 and a half years later, Stubbs would finally make its way into stores, appearing on the Xbox in PC and using a modified copy of the original Halo engine. Enough chit-chat though, let's review this sucker... I'm using my modern format, but I'm tweaking some things since this is a retrospective.
Story
The game begins with a brief black and white video that explains the setting of the game, the futuristic city of Punchbowl which was built by millionaire playboy Andrew Monday and a team of genius scientists who have created various robots and hovercars. This brief intro sets the tone greatly, the cheesy, silly, yet imaginative 50's take on the "future" is brilliantly recreated for the game. After this, a couple holding a picnic is interrupted by a hand unceremoniously bursting from the ground and stealing the couples hotdog. Naturally, the hand belongs to a zombie who bursts out and you are given control of the zombie, the titular "Stubbs." Believe it or not, the game DOES have a story beyond "You are a zombie, go make more zombies in a futuristic city." and it's a genuinely interesting one, although it takes some time to kick in and start giving you clues. Where the "story" truly excels though is the comedic writing, there's never a dull moment in Stubbs, if this game doesn't put a grin on your face, you must be devoid of a funny bone. The writing is great and so many silly things happen that it's impossible not to laugh, and it does a great job at delivering quite a number of laughs, some are mere smiles, some are just chuckles, some will make you fall out of your chair and grab your sides. This is easily one of the funniest games I've played, perfectly balancing a silly take on the zombie phenomena and the already silly setting. It's humour is dark and light, at the same time and yet both get along well.
9.0/10
Production Values (Sound/Video)
Even for 2005, the original Halo engine was showing its age, but Stubbs managed to breathe some life into it. The detail was fairly good, while not superb, the art direction really helped make the game look genuine and good. The effects were decent and the lighting was actually rather good on player models, even if some player models were repeated. The animations were a mixed bag, some characters were animated perfectly, others were choppy. Strangely, the animations in the cinematics are the ones that are choppy, but the ones in gameplay are a little better. Zombies shamble like you'd expect them too, and cowardly cops, civilians, military and various other human foes would run away in a very well animated and comedic fashion. There are some problems though, one thing that bugs me is a complete and utter lack of a physics engine, and by 2005 this was a fairly standard feature. There is a sort of "Pseudo-physics" engine that would sometimes change a bodies position once it landed in order to prevent clipping, but this is actually a bad thing because sometimes it creates weird disturbances, one time a rather fat character landed against a wall and the animation system bent his body to be against the wall, but it was contorted and his gut sort of imploded in a really creepy and off fashion. The environmental graphics are the weakest part, usually fairly bland. They get the job done in many areas, though some areas they show their weakness; usually in outdoor areas, especially the farm area which appears to have almost no texture at all.
The sound design is great though, both the licensed and original soundtracks are good. The original soundtrack is usually very zany and comes up when something silly is happening, and the licensed soundtrack is sadly underused, but when it does show its face it's a very welcome one because it's full of authentic 50's jukebox classics like "lollipop" and "Mr. Sandman." This is shown off best in a rather humorous segment where a police chief, who earlier in the game promised to "dance on your grave," then later literally challenges Stubbs to a dance contest in front of a group of swat members. The voice acting is well done too, its often over the top, but in a good way. Many of the characters tied to the story have great and distinct personalities, and even the useless grubs awaiting to be zombified shriek hysterical screams and funny lines of dialogue as you horrifically maim those around you and order your legions of zombies into suicidal assaults.
8.5/10
Design
Stubbs is very well designed, each level is unique in theme and there are plenty of obstacles as well as ripe brains out there for you. There are a few levels that do get a little repetitious, namely the farm level which looks so samy all throughout sometimes you get lost, but generally they are consistent yet varied enough that you can find yourself around and rarely break the action. My biggest problem with Stubbs' design is that it's very, very short. In my recent re-playthrough, I finished the game in a single 8 hour sitting on the medium difficulty. It's kind of sad, seeing as most games are getting shorter and shorter, that you can actually find a game from that era that even today would be considered ridiculously short. The design is still great though, and each level is varied and has different objectives and unique settings that contribute to the funny dialogue and setting.
8.5/10
Gameplay
Naturally, this is the most important part of the game. So just how fun is Stubbs to play? Very fun. No, really, its a blast. Eating brains and amassing an army never gets old, and as the game gets progressively harder, managing that army becomes more interesting and you find more opportunities to use your bizarre array of weapons. While Stubbs only has 4 "weapons," they are balanced enough and zany enough that you often anticipate the next chance to use them, and at the same time you can use one of those weapons, your hand, to possess enemies that often carry other weapons, plus there are various vehicles that are weapons in and of themselves. The fast paced and fun gameplay goes hand in hand with the great comedy writing, meaning even when you are in a lengthy game play sequence with less of the cutscenes or scripted inserts, you will still be smiling whether it be the funny foes or the wacky weapons, or even the sheer over the top gore that would make Peter Jackson proud. It's funny AND fun to play, which is a great thing of course.
9.5/10
Conclusion and Verdict
So why was Stubbs The Zombie overlooked? I don't really know. The marketing was poor, the critics were mixed, and maybe it was too weird for the public. In Yahtzee's Psychonauts review, he pointed out that the industry is built on copies of other games and has very little originality, and people eat those copies up. Games that defy categorization are sadly misplaced because people are afraid of funny, unique and clever games. That's most likely what happened to Stubbs. This game is great though, it's available on Steam or Xbox 360 under the "Classics" section and there's no reason not to snag a copy. I do recommend the xbox version mostly because the PC version has some control issues and is missing the co-op function, which added a bit more replay value since you could enjoy it with a friend. Hell, I bought the xbox version despite owning the PC version just so I could have the co-op function, and me and my wife enjoyed being the progenitors of the zombie apocalypse.
Overall, I give this game a
9.1/10
Come on' Wideload, cough up a sequel. Hail to the Chimp sucked, but I still believe you have talent in there..
