gaming Atomic Zombie Smasher. Look it up. Now.

[Firehearted 120]

Atomic Zombie Smasher. Just let that sink in. You're probably thinking "It's a FPS about zombies. Seen that before" WRONG! You are a military commander and your job is to evacuate as many people as possible before they are eaten alive by the purple zombie horde (Zed as the game calls them). You only have a helicopter to start with and you have to get as many yellow dots to the evac zone as possible then hope the evac zone isn't overrun. Despite the game using dots for people and zombies it a charm. They are 3D so it doesn't look tacky. It makes little moments of drama using tiny dots.

 

A lone zombie stumbles along the street. Around the corner are dozens of civilians waiting for the helicopter to arrive. You watch the purple dot helplessly as your ground team rushes to the rescue. It appears to be turning but instead harmlessly keeps walking missing the civilians as your team takes it out.

 

A small group runs from a single zombie backing them into the end of the street. Just as the zed is about to infect them your snipers land the shot as your helicopter lands to take them out of the city.

 

A cluster of people run from a huge group of zombies only to be stopped by a wall you put up to stop the zed from advancing. You watch helplessly as they scatter with no hope of survival each one picked off and turned.

 

Your helicopter hastily loads civilians as the zombies approach. With a fraction of the living loaded your helicopter takes off as the pilot shouts into his radio that the LZ is hot. You are forced to call an artillery strike killing zed and any still living people in the overrun evac zone.

 

I could put a few more put it drags on. You may think "Okay so after a few runs I can get a strategy down then it becomes repetitive. Nope! Early game you unlock many different types of troops from minelayers to a mobile ground team to artillery but there's a catch. You are given a random loadout of units every round. You may have a crack group of a ground team, snipers, dynamite squad, and zombie bait. The next you might have mines, your slow reloading artillery, and barricades. This game is insanely hard for both the new player and the veteran. Nine out of ten times the Zed will win by either a landslide or a few precious points. With every territory they hold they get points depending on the level. For every infected individual they gain one point. It may get to the point where if a evac isn't going well you call in an artillery strike on innocents to deny the enemy points. However if you kill all the Zed before nightfall you will capture the territory giving you twenty points every round. If you simply evacuate the area it is neutralized and no longer plays a role in the game. I'll then leave the rest of that to you. 

The soundtrack is good with tunes that don't get old (Often becasue you're paying more attention to playing). Did i mention this is in the Cold War era? It is. You'll have period music playing in the background as you frantically order your men around. The way it puts it's story is strange. The game is very good without it nevertheless. It gives you comic like strips of info every once and a while that alone will leave you clueless. You won't get them all after a few plays though as each game can last from an hour to many more. It depends on how fast the zed win. Another thing: luck is a big factor. Since the cities are random you may get a place to have a great chokepoint or open areas with no chance of keeping the evac zone clear for long. As the points add up more things unlock on the victory track. The victory track measures points and once you get far enough you unlock more but the Zed have the same system. You unlock weapons while they get things to use against you such as giant zed that you have to use explosives to kill. 

Expect failure! You might not always evac the territory and you will lose the game a lot. A LOT. If this hasn't convinced you this is a good game than... meh...