It’s safe to say that the undead and zombie genre has been, and forever will be, rinsed within an inch of its life. We have films, books, comics and games all taking a bite into the popular category, but developer Entertainment Forge has, like so many before them, tried to put their own unique spin on things.
Scheming through the Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning is the first game in an episodic collection of titles that tells the story of friends Hank and Larry as they try to make their way through a zombie-infested world. What’s different here is that there are no humans in sight – they’re all animals. Not only does the witty, anthropomorphic cast range from deranged badgers to sassy felines, but they’re also not afraid to tell each other to f**k off every ten seconds.
That’s right – from the very beginning of this point-and-click, cartoony adventure, expletives are fired left, right and centre, and it all feels a bit unnecessary. Hank and Larry can be seen mooching around a dilapidated apartment looking for spare drugs to pass the time while the end of the world is unfolding outside. I see where Entertainment Forge was going with this, though; the stark contrast between the cutesy-looking bears and the dogs who spout disgraceful lines of speech is sure to make players crack a smile, but it does wear thin pretty quickly.
The gameplay of Scheming through the Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning involves scavenging for loot that you then sell, while still maintaining a good level of stock. You do this by controlling Hank and Larry through scenes that cough up multiple choices for you to decide on the best way to progress. The main premise is to encourage other animals to do your dirty work. From my playthrough, it didn’t matter what selections were made; the same outcome always resulted.
The action is split up between a few reoccurring sections: road trips, trading areas and some sort of shop front. Road trips involve conversations between the two main characters, while the trading area is where you can speak to other animals and gamble your loot – or, alternatively, try to convince someone to work for you. The shop front is where your unlucky comrade does the job of looting. It’s understandable that these areas are so different as to serve their individual purposes, but it is disjointed by long dialogue and awkward menus that players will likely find annoying.
With no option to ‘Select All’ when choosing what loot to pick up, it becomes a cumbersome chore to work through the items that are waiting to be picked. The ability to use the touch screen would have been a nice addition to combat this. Still, tilting the analogue stick to move the characters around on-screen works as it should. HD rumble is nowhere to be seen or felt, which, as a definitive feature of the Switch that makes ports to the console feel that little bit different, is disappointing to see left out here.
Between the crass jokes, pop culture references and a story that struggles to keep you hooked, the first Scheming through the Zombie Apocalypse game doesn’t fill me with much optimism. It’s never clear where it’s going or what the goal actually is and the relationship between the two main animals is irritating.
Sure, the voice acting is great at points, but it’s just not enough to keep you playing for any length of time.
Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning £4.99
Summary
This anthropomorphic zombie point-and-click adventure game may come across as a Happy Tree Friends title, but its slow-moving story and irritating cast unfortunately won’t excite you for future episodes in the series.