Gameplay

I discovered some things about myself playing Zombie Estate. I found out that I hate skeletons. I realized it's hard for me to have 3 friends over in real life at the same time. I also learned that I love rocket launchers. Don't get me wrong, I've been attracted to rocket launchers in the past (Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, etc.) but it wasn't until Zombie Estate that I realized I LOVE ROCKET LAUNCHERS. Seriously, I'm thinking about naming my first daughter 'Rocket Launcher'. Rocket Launcher Cunningham has a ring to it, don't you think?

But I digress. Zombie Estate is a 2D zombie shooter that likes to play dress up and pretend that it's a 3D game. You can't fool me pixels, you have length and width and that's it! There are 30 adorable sprites to choose from, and when I say adorable I mean THESE GUYS ARE FRIKKIN CUTE. Have you ever wanted to fight zombies using a robot? Ninja? Cat? Poof, wish granted. Although each character sprite is made up of no more than 15 pixels or so, they do a great job of creating very distinct little characters.

Once you've chosen an adorable hero, the game starts. Zombies come in waves, with each wave including varied amounts and types of zombies. Priest zombies that heal themselves and other zombies, skeletons that come sliding towards you quickly if you get too close. I know I mentioned it earlier but I feel it needs to be reiterated: I hate skeletons. The enemies quickly grow in strength and numbers. Dead zombies drop random items of ammo, health or cash. In between each of these waves you spend your hard earned cash at the store and purchase new anti-zombie weaponry and ammo. You have a limited amount of time in between waves to shop and set yourself up in a good location before the next wave hits. Dragging your feet over your next purchase and squabbling with your friends in between waves can prove lethal people, so be smart!

Let's start with the bad first. There are some technical issues with switching guns. Multiple times I found myself jabbing the D-pad frantically trying to pull out a gun I actually had ammo for while zombies enthusiastically munched on my head. Death by D-pad difficulties can be very frustrating. Also, I get that it's called Zombie Estate, and that Estate is singular. Still, another level would be nice. Another issue I had was with the ammo types. They made four different ammo types and you have four D-pad weapon slots. This sounds GREAT, right? Four guns, four ammo types, match made in heaven. However, the down D-pad slot is taken up by a weak pistol with unlimited ammo that you cannot remove! This means ultimately you will always have some ammo type in full because you can't equip a gun to use it because of the stupid pistol. This fact is what ultimately resulted in my demise every time. A save feature would have been pretty sweet too, starting back at the beginning every time is not my favorite thing.

Now here are the good things. First off, this game is fun! You will like it! It costs a dollar! The game allows for up to four local players. I only managed to play with myself and one other person at a time though because I am not so popular. If you are more popular than I am however, you will have more fun! Go go gadget friendship! The gameplay starts off a bit slow, but the waves get difficult quickly. The later waves are frantic and fun with lots of running around and screaming "I'm out of ammo" or "Damn you, skeletons!!!" There are also a good amount of different guns to buy, and they are almost always fun and occasionally even effective against zombies. The card shuffler in particular is a hilarious yet surprisingly devastating weapon. The cattle launcher is overrated and expensive. And don't you dare put your hands on MY rocket launcher without expecting a fight.

Visuals and Sounds

The graphics are pixels. But these pixels are bright, colorful and adorable. The character sprites are well done with many to choose from. Some of the later zombie sprites I had a harder time figuring out what they were supposed to be. At this point, I believe the zombies wearing tuxedoes are meant to actually be priests but don't quote me on that. And I still never figured out which zombie had the power to put dresses on the zombies around him, or why for that matter. Although the pixels are in 2D, the game lets you move around like it's in 3D. It's an interesting feel but they pull it off nicely. The music consists of one song. Do I like that song? Sure. Do I want to only hear that one song for the entire game? Not so much. After awhile you more or less phase the song out and don't hear it any more. What is really great actually are the sound effects. The different sound effects for health pickups versus ammo pickups versus zombies eating your face really help distinguish what's happening when the action gets frantic. This small detail becomes pretty important in the later stages of the game.

Final Verdict

Zombie Estate is a very adorable alternative to Left 4 Dead. It's the type of game when you say "One more wave" and then check your watch later and go "Damn it now I'm late!" which is a good thing. It only costs a dollar and you get to kill zombies with three of your friends. My recommendation is to download the trial and I will predict that when time runs out you'll pony up that big ol' dollar. Now if you'll excuse me I think I saw some skeletons in the backyard. Those BASTARDS!