![]() ![]() It is a title that feels a lot like a postmodern love letter to games of a bygone era. The art direction astutely compliments the gameplay and the self-referential, retro-infused style of Zombie Night Terror. Zombie Night Terror could have easily been another tired repetition of a pretty played out tune, so credit is due to NoClip for creating a genuinely fresh game that has an energetic feel to it. 28 Weeks Later (2007) far superior sequel to 28 Days Later. the film that started the nu-wave zombie cycle. With the gameplay being by far the best thing about Zombie Night Terror, I almost feel as though there was no need to overcomplicate things: the odd tongue-in-cheek reference and old-school shout out would have sufficed (such as naming the drug ‘Romero’). 28 Days Later (2002) animal rights activists accidentally release a deadly virus called 'rage.' Director Boyle claims the crazies in this film arent zombies. #ZOMBIE NIGHT TERROR BACKGROUND HOW TO#The TV updates also provide the player with instructions on how to use new power-ups, which sometimes leads to vital information getting lost in the mix. I’m not certain there was a requirement for a background story – the introduction, in which a random civilian gets infected by a new street drug and then zombies take over, would have sufficed. These were, in my opinion, unnecessarily reductive and distracting from the main gameplay. The narrative, such as it is, comes in the form of news updates accessed via TVs dotted around each level. On its surface, Zombie Night Terror should afford good replay value, but I had little motivation to return to completed levels despite the extra challenges on offer in each stage. Initially the game is pretty easy, however the difficultly spikes substantially later on and certain levels are overly long and complex. Zombies can be sacrificed for DNA, which unlocks other powers such as the ability to create an ‘overlord’ zombie (allowing the player to use one zombie to direct their remaining horde in a particular direction) or a self-destruct option (which allows the player to blow up a zombie in order to break through a wall). The player must consider each step in advance, and figuring out the puzzles on offer in each level – each of which offer multiple routes to success – is fun and satisfying.Īs the game progresses, the player unlocks new ‘abilities’ for their zombies. Simply marching forward without any thought or planning as to what potential pitfalls lie ahead will lead to serious loss of undead life. They will stroll obliviously into doors, drops and the gunfire of uninfected humans unless the player is able to devise an appropriate strategy for their survival. Individual zombies, in and of themselves, will meander forwards until otherwise directed. Typically end goals are to reach an exit or kill civilians, but extra goals are also available which add to the strategic challenge of each level. Essentially the game follows the same formula as Lemmings: the player controls a bunch of zombies and must find a way to navigate their horde around a particular level in order to accomplish set objectives. Subsequently, everyone gets infected and the apocalypse is well and truly underway. Zombie Night Terror starts by inviting the player to inject a random civilian with a drug called ‘Romero’ (an obvious but nevertheless amusing joke). Fortunately, it does a lot more than simply recycle these oft-used parts. ![]() Drawing inspiration from Lemmings, featuring an 8-bit art style and throwing zombies into the mix – because we certainly don’t have enough zombies around these days, right? – Zombie Night Terror certainly ticks a lot of generic boxes. ![]() Zombie Night Terror, from developer NoClip, is another title fighting for attention in amongst the pixelated crowd. He has also served on numerous horror projects as a producer and in 2009 was dubbed the 'Indie Horror Specialist' by Michael Gingold at Fangoria.Stylistic throwback games appear to be all the rage these days. Cain's seventh film, Dead By Dawn is getting back to his horror roots. Since 2008 he has gone on to direct six more films, Silent Night, Zombie Night, (with The Walking Dead alumnus Lew Temple) Breath of Hate, (which stars Jason Mewes, best known from the Kevin Smith films as "Jay") and SyFy fare such as Jurassic City, (with Ray Wise) Terror Birds, Eruption LA. Cain now resides in Los Angeles where he created Velvet Hammer Films with his longtime business partner, Jim Wright. Re-shooting about 60% of Naked Beneath the Water he finally achieved proper distribution on DVD in 2008. In early 2002 that Cain saw many of the low budget horror titles originally released on VHS were finding new life on DVD. This film was a very low budget psychological horror film, was shunned by his colleagues at college, but sold well on VHS through underground horror magazines such as Film Threat and Alternative Cinema. Originally hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, Cain directed his first feature, Naked Beneath the Water which he used to graduate the cinema program at San Francisco State in 1995. ![]()
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