Stubbs the Zombie Review
21 December 2005 | By Bogdan Dumitru
When you pick up the controller in Stubbs, you'll be the one initiating the undead infection
When you pick up the controller in Stubbs, you'll be the one initiating the undead infection. You'll eat brains and turn your victims into your followers who you can control to, well, eat more brains.
The hand, for instance, is the best weapon since it lets you control enemies with guns. This is essentially the only way in the game to access firearms. When you launch your hand, you'll get a fish eye black and white camera view as you move it across the floor, ceiling, or wall. Capable of grabbing onto enemy skulls while in midair, the hand soon becomes the most effective method of taking out airborne or otherwise out of reach enemies. It's also a great tool for flanking enemies provided you can successfully maneuver it behind enemy lines. Of all the selections, this was definitely the most entertaining to use, and an interesting alternative to simply killing your foes. Of all the weapons, the bowling ball head seemed the most useless since gut bombs were usually just as effective. The fart nova was also a great tool for when you're surrounded by multiple humans.
Another frustrating aspect of the melee combat is the fact that enemies will back away from you faster than you can catch up to them. This may seem logical since zombies typically move at a slow pace. However, and this is something many people seem to forget, zombies are not real. Given that excruciatingly true statement, why can't Stubbs walk faster? There is a fast walking ability built in, but it only activates after you've moved forward for a certain time period. When chasing a nearby soldier, there isn't enough time for this fast walking to activate, so you wind up chasing after him while taking tons of fire from their guns. This was especially frustrating with the enemies that carry some of the bigger guns. Adding a function to activate sprint at the press of a button could have alleviated this issue. At points you'll be able to control vehicles including a sod launcher, hover truck, and military jeep.
While the special attacks work well by themselves and in combination with each other, the melee attacks are slightly more erratic. This is mainly because each enemy type takes a specific number of swipes before you can eat their brains. For instance, army soldiers generally take four, shotgun wielding militia men take three, musket shooters take two, and the list goes on. While this is fine, the game also presents you with random opportunities to eat brains that do not follow the above patterns, making combat imprecise. Oftentimes you'll find you accidentally killed an enemy or haven't injured him enough when you go to eat their faces, resulting in either a missed opportunity to charge your special moves or unnecessary damage and death. Luckily, Stubbs features an excellent auto-saving system, so you'll never have to retread too much ground.
The intelligence of Stubbs' enemies ramps up as you progress though the game and is based on what level of difficulty you've set before you begin. Your zombie horde can be controlled through some rudimentary commands like whistling and shoving, but generally they'll do their own thing, and they prove to be pretty effective. However, your undead pals will start getting wiped out faster and faster as the enemy weapons improve, putting more of the onus of progress on yourself. Given your speed limitations and dependence on brain eating for special move charges, this can become frustrating. Thankfully, one meal of brain results in a
fully charged hand icon.
The game isn't without its weak points. Most notable is the plot, which you're often not aware of until after it's already happened. Also, even though the game is an eight hour single player experience at most, the gameplay does grow stale by the end. While the action set-pieces the game sets up as you progress are never boring, the degree of enjoyment you'll get out of them scales down as you make you way farther through. It's a mystery why more genuinely fun and unique gameplay styles like the dance-off weren't included later on in the game, where it's mostly combat mixed with a few vehicle sequences. Also, the game is incredibly linear since you'll pretty much be following one path the entire time.
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| The hand, for instance, is the best weapon since it lets you control enemies with guns | When you launch your hand, you'll get a fish eye black and white camera view |
The hand, for instance, is the best weapon since it lets you control enemies with guns. This is essentially the only way in the game to access firearms. When you launch your hand, you'll get a fish eye black and white camera view as you move it across the floor, ceiling, or wall. Capable of grabbing onto enemy skulls while in midair, the hand soon becomes the most effective method of taking out airborne or otherwise out of reach enemies. It's also a great tool for flanking enemies provided you can successfully maneuver it behind enemy lines. Of all the selections, this was definitely the most entertaining to use, and an interesting alternative to simply killing your foes. Of all the weapons, the bowling ball head seemed the most useless since gut bombs were usually just as effective. The fart nova was also a great tool for when you're surrounded by multiple humans.
Another frustrating aspect of the melee combat is the fact that enemies will back away from you faster than you can catch up to them. This may seem logical since zombies typically move at a slow pace. However, and this is something many people seem to forget, zombies are not real. Given that excruciatingly true statement, why can't Stubbs walk faster? There is a fast walking ability built in, but it only activates after you've moved forward for a certain time period. When chasing a nearby soldier, there isn't enough time for this fast walking to activate, so you wind up chasing after him while taking tons of fire from their guns. This was especially frustrating with the enemies that carry some of the bigger guns. Adding a function to activate sprint at the press of a button could have alleviated this issue. At points you'll be able to control vehicles including a sod launcher, hover truck, and military jeep.
 |
 |
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| At points you'll be able to control vehicles including a sod launcher, hover truck, and military jeep | The intelligence of Stubbs' enemies ramps up as you progress though the game |
While the special attacks work well by themselves and in combination with each other, the melee attacks are slightly more erratic. This is mainly because each enemy type takes a specific number of swipes before you can eat their brains. For instance, army soldiers generally take four, shotgun wielding militia men take three, musket shooters take two, and the list goes on. While this is fine, the game also presents you with random opportunities to eat brains that do not follow the above patterns, making combat imprecise. Oftentimes you'll find you accidentally killed an enemy or haven't injured him enough when you go to eat their faces, resulting in either a missed opportunity to charge your special moves or unnecessary damage and death. Luckily, Stubbs features an excellent auto-saving system, so you'll never have to retread too much ground.
The intelligence of Stubbs' enemies ramps up as you progress though the game and is based on what level of difficulty you've set before you begin. Your zombie horde can be controlled through some rudimentary commands like whistling and shoving, but generally they'll do their own thing, and they prove to be pretty effective. However, your undead pals will start getting wiped out faster and faster as the enemy weapons improve, putting more of the onus of progress on yourself. Given your speed limitations and dependence on brain eating for special move charges, this can become frustrating. Thankfully, one meal of brain results in a
fully charged hand icon.
 |
 |
|
| Your undead pals will start getting wiped out faster and faster as the enemy weapons improve | The gameplay does grow stale by the end |
The game isn't without its weak points. Most notable is the plot, which you're often not aware of until after it's already happened. Also, even though the game is an eight hour single player experience at most, the gameplay does grow stale by the end. While the action set-pieces the game sets up as you progress are never boring, the degree of enjoyment you'll get out of them scales down as you make you way farther through. It's a mystery why more genuinely fun and unique gameplay styles like the dance-off weren't included later on in the game, where it's mostly combat mixed with a few vehicle sequences. Also, the game is incredibly linear since you'll pretty much be following one path the entire time.
STUBBS THE ZOMBIE VERDICT
Make no mistake, Stubbs is a fun game. It’s well built, has a satisfying though limited gameplay style, and cooperative support allows players to really get the most out of this title. The art and sound of the game is very well done, incorporating the style of the 1950s with retro-futuristic laser pistols, flying saucers, and robots. Stubbs is not an epic. It’s a game that is great to pick up at any time of the day, eat a few brains, and then move on to something else.
TOP GAME MOMENT
I belive that one of the best aspects of the game is Stubbs’s ability to influence weak-minded opponents via his detachable arm. You pull out the arm, move in on a specific target, and when the victim is in range, simply press the ‘E’ key and the unlucky individual is yours to command. The possibilities are practically limitless. You can manipulate soldiers, civilians, policemen and farmers, using a variety of ranged and melee attacks in the process. You can also order people to enter vehicles and do all the dirty work for you.
