Based on Dead Horde’s creepy first moments, and its excellent sound design, I was one time expecting a zombie game on the atmospheric finish of the scale. After some blaring techno music, a gang of charging zombies (with zombie canines thrown in for lovely measure) and ignominious death, I could tell that I was one time mistaken.
That’s not to say that Dead Horde isn’t enjoyable. The top-down zombie shooter has its lovely points, the sharp-loooking, post-apocalyptic environments and the breezy, arcade-style gameplay. It’s like a primitive version of Left four Dead. It’s not long on the jump scares.
What it is long on is kiting. Since there’s no way to aim at a specific part of the zombie that’s hungrily charging you down (like the head, say, to pick at random), most of the game involves frantically backing up and firing, hoping that the undead menace in front of you will fall over before he gets a chance to wet his whistle. If you’re the kind of gamer that’s in to tense reload animations, Dead Horde might be for you.
You won’t need to reload as often, however, in case you take advantage of the upgrades made obtainable in game. Killing zombies earns you funds, and that funds can be spent on increasing the clip size of your primary weapon, among other useful perks. The game also keeps a persistent, mutliplier-based score tally on the top of the screen ‘ trash-talk fodder for the net coop mode.
In addition to more straightforward zombie-killing, Dead Horde throws in environmental puzzles and vehicle-based sections. The latter are a blast ‘ something about mowing down a horde of reanimated corpses never gets elderly. Sometimes, the even merge ‘ that forklift isn’t in the game because it’s fun to drive.
As you progress further in the game, you’ll encounter zombies that are increasingly advanced, and acquire commensurately advanced weaponry with which to combat them. That ugly fellow pictured above won’t be as cocky one time he feels the business finish of your mini-gun, now will he?
