Attic of the Underdogs

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Review by Underdogs:

Zombie Smashers X2 is a superb shareware follow-up to Zombie Smashers X, a great beat 'em up game reviewed earlier on this site. Derek Yu (of Blackeye Software fame) says it all in his short review for The Independent Gaming Source:

"Every now and then, I play an indie game that just makes me go "Holy bejesus, this is frickin' cool". Zombie Smashers X2 is one of those games. Yes, it is.

Why? Well, imagine, if you will, that somebody took River City Ransom and then wrapped it up in a hundred copies of their favorite punk fanzine. And then spilled cheap malt liquor all over it. And then peed on it. Okay, forget the pee. But anyway, what you'd end up with is Zombie Smashers X2 - an extremely fun, non-linear beat-em-up with loads of unique charm.

I was imagining a hundred different kinds of suck when I booted up this game, but no, this is actually good! As I said before, the game is non-linear. Start by picking one of the five angry punks who make up the Zombie Smashers, humankind's last defense against the undead forces. You're put on the street with the initial task of rescuing your friend's sister, whose holed up in the backroom of a rave that has been overrun by zombies (you read that right). From there, you are free to move around, entering stores and buying things like beer and tacos to boost your abilities (with money earned from defeated opponents, just like in River City Ransom). Later on, you can acquire tattoos that give you special moves!

The fighting is probably the best I've seen in a game of this genre, because you can pick up all kinds of things and use them as weapons and it's a very flexible system. For example, you could pick up a crate and hurl it at a zombie's head. Then, kick the crate in midair to hit him again. When the zombie's down, pick him up and bash his friends. Eventually, the crate will shatter, giving you a few planks to pick up and use. Or use a zombie's head after he's dead! Even better, your foes can hurt each other, which leads to some hilarious moments (for example, try beating up some of the civilians on the street and watch the cops rush in and start hitting people with crossfire).

Zombie Smashers X2 is really about as indie as it gets. It's a fun, silly, kinda ugly game that you know its creators had fun making. You imagine it was one of those moments where a bunch of friends were sitting in their living room doing drugs and eating chips and going "wouldn't it be awesome if we made a fighting game where you could beat up zombies and the soundtrack was all our favorite songs?" "Yeah, dude, that would be awesome!" And then they just did it! Try out the demo."

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