Samurai Vs. Zombie seems like one of those ideas that sounded great on paper, possibly while partaking in substances that aren’t altogether legal. Although, since I’ve had that same conversation before, and I would argue that I’m not altogether alone in this, I had to get the game and give it a try.
The first thing you’ll notice when the game is started, is that it feels indie. The whole thing has kind of a Flash quality to it that smacks of being put together by hand. The guitar music that wraps up the experience by Kjohnn of the Brokin Sticks is also nice in a kind of indie band kind of way. You know, the one that the guy that listens to college radio loves, but you’ve never heard of.
Then you’ve on to selecting your avatar, all equipped with different stats and running the gamut from Kill Bill-esque jogging suit Samurai to, my favorite, The Dude in the Shorts. The basic stats of each make for a slightly different gameplay experience. So players have the option of either being fast enough to avoid the ravenous undead hordes, or being boned. An assortment of weapons ranging from katana (obviously) to baseball bats is then available to wield, each with different stats to allow players an option of covering the weaknesses of their character, or doing a basic Min/Maxing of a certain stat (like using Dude in the Shorts with a Bat for maximum, if stationary, beatdowns).
Then the game starts up with what sounds like a headset miked “SAMURAI!” and you’re off to mashing on buttons. One for quick attacks, one for stronger attacks and one for “finishing” attacks, which means to mash that button only after mashing another button. Zombies come from the left and the right and you get to hack them. They hit you and you get progressively more “infected” leading to a quick search for health boxes.
Samurai vs. Zombies is not all silliness though. The makers of the game have instituted challenges for different levels. So kill as many zombies as possible with single strokes, or rack up a high combo by not whiffing attacks. The different challenges that are implemented are admirable, and almost serve to make the basic gameplay more than it is. The key being almost, since regardless of the dressing, button mashing is the core of the game.
I should also point out that SvZ does support up to 4 player simultaneous action, so if you can rope some friends into it, the gameplay picks up a little bit. It also adds a cute option to team kill your friends if/when you get all the way infected, which can make for a sick kind of joy for the zombie player.
At the end of the day though there isn’t really much to Samurai vs. Zombie. It seems like a modestly upsized Flash game and it plays like one too. Even the multiplayer isn’t enough to really make it stand out, especially on Xbox Indie Games. Yes, it’s only a dollar, but so are other games that offer more value for it.
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If Dead Rising has taught us anything, it is that those swords have 2 or 3 good swipes in them, tops. Then you are zombie grub.