The last time this was given away it received 84% of 200 votes. You can see the comments made back then by following the link below:
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/?s=zombie+smashers+x2&x=46&y=11
The file size is 171Mb which is going to be a little large dial up users, once installed it’s 264MB, of which ~123Mb is made up of music, which therefore probably accounts for around half of the 171MB download
There is no shortcut installed to the desktop with Merscom LLC games so go to your Start menu and right click on the games shortcut there and select send to – select (desktop shortcut) for a shortcut to appear on the desktop.
The Game
When booting up the game you will be presented with a confusing array of menu's with a ‘never mind the B****cks feel to it (from one of Punks more memorable bands The Sex Pistols). Though once you’ve searched around you’ll see it’s just like a web diagram and a novel way of creating the games menus. For details of these just check out the screen captures by following the link below:
Slideshow:
All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Zombie%20Smashers%20X2/
Googled:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Zombie+Smashers+X2&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
There’s a single and a two player option, each one having several characters to choose from such as Punker, Chelsea, Hiro, Rudy or Maybey. The options menu enables you to remap the keys for each player and also adjust the music and sound effects. You can also toggle off specific graphic options such as reflections, blood, soft decals (translucent blood spatters on walls and floors) and friendly fire (off, quarter or full for friendly fire). All the key bindings are given in the read me that you’ll find in the games folder. If you have a game pad or joy stick these can be used as well, and will be detected when booting up the game, though you will need to remap the buttons using the remapping menu that is found in the options menu.
The Music:
If you're not big on ska, punk and hardcore, you can listen to your own
music! Just drop your own mp3s into the following folders:
The music comprises of four folders each with an different style of music which the game author has labeled , heavy, monster, poppy and skanky and contain tracks like 2 minute hate - superficial wounds, The young ones – victims of our doubt (heavy); Battling Seizure Robots – Ten Fold, Going Nowhere – Beatdown (Monster); Dakota Dream – In to Deep, Cherry Bing – The Yearbook (Poppy) and finally two Skanky tracks Acoustic Radio – Fall from it and Mexican Cessation – Fall from it. The author mentions that the different music styles have been added to create specific themes when playing through the levels; for example, Ninjas are a more lighthearted subject than metal heads, so
metal heads' theme uses a heavier music than the Ninjas' theme which is a poppy selection of music.
Conclusion
Personally I think the game is quite well made for a Independent production, but I think it’s going to be one of those games you’re going to either love or hate. I think the menus are a little confusing at first, but once you get used to them they are acceptable. The two player option is great, but I do think you need a USB gaming pad, or a joy stick to enjoy playing in the two player mode as two people sharing one keyboard is not recommended.
I returned back from the doctors too late to write a full review in time to catch the bulk of the game giveaway patrons so here’s a couple of links to some decent reviews of the game:
http://www.i-mockery.com/game-features/zsx2/default.php
http://gametunnel.com/gamespace.php?id=258&tab=3
http://www.download.com/Zombie-Smashers-X2-demo/3000-7435_4-10427370.html
http://www.casualreview.com/game/267/Zombie_Smashers_X2
http://www.bantamcity.com/arcade/game/Zombie_Smashers_X2-730.php
I’m one of those that loves the game as anything wacky or unusual appeals to me (well most of the time anyway) I like the retro feel to this game and the ability to add any music you want to the four folders in the tracks folder is great. You don’t need to rename the music either. It’s easily worth 7 out of 10 for game play in my opinion. The keyboard controls are minimal, so it’s relatively easy to control the game. If you have a joystick or game pad I’d recommend using those as it makes the flow of the game that bit better (IMO)
Thank you Merscom LLC and the Giveaway team for giving away this unusual indie game for a second time.
To return to the comments section for his particular giveaway please follow the link below:
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/smash-those-zombies/#comments