Zombi (PS4/360)
By: Ubisoft
I'M NO expert on the subject but death can really do a number on your limberness, hence my preference for the slow, shambling zombies as created by Romero.
Of course, the coked-up ASBOs that run like the clappers through 28 Days Later and its ilk are a force to be reckoned with, but they can't compare with being trapped by a horde of mouldy old blighters.
ZombiU, the Wii U's blistering launch title, catered for all sorts, with explosive and electrified types chucked in for good measure as players survived an undead apocalypse in London.
With the English capital looking like the basement of an old folks' home, its dingy Underground opening conjuring up the same cockney, cultish feel as An American Werewolf, the only mature Wii U title certainly earned its hardcore stripes, with all the dismemberment and gore a zombiephile could want.
Three years on, sans the "U", Ubisoft's underplayed gem gets an outing on the more muscular hardware of PS4 and Xbone. With London taken over by a bunch of cadavers, there's plenty of tramps, traffic wardens and Danny Dyer-types to smack around with a cricket bat.
Soon, the blood splatters, brains ooze, and, like all the best zombie cinema, there’s a dash of social commentary to chew on with the gizzards. Like some sinister Ralph McTell, the Prepper takes you through the streets of London, from sewers and back alleys to a heavily fortified Buckingham Palace (where the Beefeaters live up to their name).
And though a first-person actioner, Zombi has more in common with old-school Resident Evil and the Dark Souls series as players battle through the city streets with the spectre of perma-death looming large.
While your foe is of the shuffling variety, lower your guard for a second and you’ll become zombie chow, losing hours of progress. In a neat post-corporeal touch, your first task as a new survivor is to hunt down your old zombie self and pilfer their hard-earned bounty.
While the original made canny use of Nintendo's bespoke hardware (the game playing on the fact that you had to look away from the telly to rummage through your second-screen inventory) the game-pad has been replaced with an on-screen device which, if anything, works even better.
It also adds two more implements of death - the shovel and the nail bat - while the flashlight has been juiced-up, letting players use a wider beam at the expense of battery life and the risk of attracting zombies.
Apart from these minor tweaks, this is essentially the same game that Nintendo-ites enjoyed in 2012, and, like a poorly appointed percussion and woodwind shop, there's a distinct lack of bells and whistles.
So it's occasionally ugly as sin, but Zombi is this year's best release for horror buffs. With or without U, one of Nintendo’s dirty diamonds still shines bright.
