Zombie Night Terror Review | They're coming and they're hungry

Does anyone else remember the zombie obsession around the 2010s? It seemed to be everywhere: movies, games and even books, no matter how niche something was it HAD to have zombies in it.

Nowadays, it's all passed, but fragments can be seen from time to time and I'm happy to say that Zombie Night Terror is on the better side of products from this bygone era.

Aesthetics

The limited usage of colors ends up giving a unique look to the picture

The pixel art used in the game is very detailed for the background, but a bit too simple for the characters for my taste, they could have received a bit more. The game compensates for this by a smart usage of the colors, using a very limited color palette for specific things gives the image an atypical look in a good way.

This feeling applies to the particle details too, they're gruesome and let the imagination fly.

The animations are quite detailed, sometimes a bit silly depending on the movements of the zombies, like how when they sprint and flaccidly put their arms behind their back. 

Apart from verses by the zombies and the screams from the humans, there isn't any kind of voice acting, they are decent to hear at least.

The soundtrack uses mostly synthetic sounds, sometimes it's slow and creepy, other sometimes it's vibrant and flashy, in certain occasion is adaptive and changes based on the action happening.

Not bad to listen and there have been a couple of tracks I enjoyed a lot.

The sound design is amazing, definitely one of the best I've ever heard: the crushing of the doors, the crunch when zombies bite someone, the clunky noise of the weapons and so much more make this a delightful experience to the ears.

In short, nice enough visuals and great sound design.

Game Mechanics

Bosses are puzzles instead of a completely different kind of challenge

The title is a puzzle game where, instead of directly controlling the zombies, you give them power ups. These power ups range from transforming them in direction-pointing guardians, crawlers who can climb walls and more. It's also possible to combine these power ups, creating a unique move, sometimes necessary to get to the end.

At the start you are only able to infect someone with a syringe, with time you gain new abilities such as evolving a singular zombie or combining the effects with others to create a unique combination. Depending on the level, some power ups may be locked and must be unlocked by letting the zombies pick up a barrel, which also grants a bit of DNA.

About the DNA.

The two main resources are the DNA and the zombies themselves. The first is used to give the seconds power ups, but must be used with caution since it's limited. The seconds are either finite or infinite depending on the level you are one and while you technically only need one to beat the stage, you have to take care of them since they die easily, you can also burn them to gain DNA in desperate cases.

I don't have problems with the DNA, but the number of zombies being limited in specific levels is a choice I didn't like. For the most part it makes sense, you have to use your imagination to lead them to the end, but in specific situations, like boss-fights and siege style maps, it was a bit annoying to see my zombies run out as I was figuring out the strategy to win. I would have preferred if the solutions for these kinds of maps were harder or longer to achieve, but with the security of a constant supply of zombies at my disposal. Considering how in the later boss levels of the game you actually have infinite zombies, it made this design decision the more bothersome to me.

Your progress is only saved after beating a level, meaning that you can't actually save inside them, it could be a bit frustrating, especially if you are trying a long level multiple times.

The action required to win a level are one of two categories: get a zombie alive at the end or kill enough people. Not the most assorted amount of requirements, but it's balanced by the diversity of levels themselves.

In fact, the level design is quite varied, having both a set of familiar style of levels with an additional gimmick and a series of once used challenges that will make you think twice before acting. The last level in chapter 5 is something I think I've never experienced in this sort of games, having a completely unique set of actions for controls I used for the entirety of the game uniquely without feeling out of order. Also, the game has a level editor, allowing the creations of maps from the users.

Enemy design wise, it's very varied, from random goons who tire very fast, to professional police personnel to more or less trope characters typical of a zombie setting, one in particular that struck me is a woman who covers herself in zombie blood making here invisible to the regular zombies and as such needing a more varied strategy to defeat.

If you want something more difficult, you can always try the challenges, one optional objective for each level, they don't give a lot, only an achievement. They range from speed challenges, requiring you to beat a level under a certain time, to restriction challenges, like beating a level without using a certain ability.

Beating the 5 chapters plus 35/50 of the challenges, I finished the game in 12.5 hours.

So basically, the mechanics are fun and well integrated with the general theme.

Narrative

How much hard do you think is to satisfy the walking dead?

Imagine this: it's late at night, you and your friends have just come out of the theater watching a campy horror movie when suddenly, one of them pulls out something from his pockets, he calls it the Romero.

He claims that the stuff is phenomenal, to the point it that it wants to gnaw and bite you for the euphoria it has given to him.

He starts coughing.

The coughing doesn't stop.

He coughs blood.

His skin becomes pale and his eyes stare into the void, he has become like one of the creatures you saw in that movie: a zombie.

Sooner than you think, the infection spreads out of control and now the whole city is in danger.

So far it sounds like a pretty standard survival story, but here comes the twist: you, the player, are on the side of the zombies and must help them spread the plague.

This fact alone switches the narrative completely, since you are mainly following the reactions of the survivors on the zombies, instead of the survivors themselves.

Despite this, there are instances of recurring characters that shed some lights around the story, such as the doctor who created the Romero.

Even though it's not the deepest or thought-provoking, I enjoyed watching the cutscenes and see how everything unraveled in the various episodes.

The general tone switches between horror and humor, which blend together surprisingly well. When it wants to, the game gives a sense of fear and dismay, and other times it shows something funny.

It made the experience quite enjoyable and it made me want to see what other surprise was waiting around the corner.

In conclusion, I did not to prove the deepest emotion once the credits rolled, but I had a good time.

Recommendation:

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Zombie Night Terror is a little Lemmings style puzzle gem, with engaging puzzles and a bit macabre sense of humor.

Available on Steam, Gog, Android and iPhone.

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