Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel without a Pulse

By Consul General

Well it’s been awhile since I last reviewed a game. I guess some of you may remember my last one and know why …

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel without a Pulse is set in the 1950’s in the futuristic city of Punchbowl, a weird combination if there ever was one. The city is promoted as the “utopia” of the world where robots do the menial jobs and humans are left to do things they like doing, like singing in a barber quartet, being a scientist or simply hanging out at the nearest milk bar. Stubbs the Zombie is “born” in Punchbowl and by the end of it has seen to its destruction.

Gameplay
he story behind the game is weak and isn’t conveyed well in some cut scenes, but considering we are talking about zombies here it’s no big deal. The game starts with Stubbs interrupting a young couple dating. His hand bursts through the ground to snatch the hotdog being eaten between them. That doesn’t stop the guy from asking for his hotdog back however! This is the key in the game – humour. Stubbs is largely a 3rd person view game. You run about attacking literally everybody (and even robots) trying to eat their brains! You have two attack buttons; X is a swipe attack used to daze an enemy (or keep pressing to kill them) so you can use your Y attack, which involves holding them still as you rip into their skull with your teeth and eating their brains. Eating ones brains or killing a human turns them into a zombie who are then your minions who actively seek out other humans to eat their brains too and the cycle continues.

The numbers of zombies is not limitless and you get about a max of 8-9 following you around (or sometimes crawling since they lack the necessary limbs to walk) or aimlessly wandering about. You can whistle to them to get them to follow you if they get distracted and they are very handy when you just need a whole lot of body bags between you and an enemy!

Of course there must be another reason to eat a person’s brains rather than just killing them, I mean what are brains good for? They are good for regenerating your special abilities and regenerating a little bit of lost health. At regular intervals in the game you are given new abilities which even the odds up on increasingly harder humans to zombiise (yes every review should have a made up word!). Firstly you get the ability to use your stomach as a grenade (and yes people killed in this attack will turn into zombies). Then you get your super fart. This fart when used wisely can save you from certain death (if only this was true in real life). Humans caught in the fart effect area cannot move so are powerless to your Y attack. Next is your detachable arm which can be used to take over a human and take control of the weapon in their hands – vital in some parts of the game. Lastly you get the power to even use your head… as a bowling ball.

In the event you cannot rip into someone’s skull due to head protection, Stubbs has the brilliant ability to rip people’s arms off often with hilarious one-liners like "that was my second favourite arm" uttered from the dying human. These arms or “clubs” are instant zombie creators and can be used three times before being used up. Unfortunately by the end of the game these one-liners are starting to wear quite thin.

There are also a few vehicles which you can jump into with my favourite being a tractor which can impale humans.

Graphics
This game is based on the Halo engine. If you have ever played Halo, you wouldn’t need to have read this to know. From the game menu, how you regenerate health (health not shields this time) to even the loading screens which slowly change colour as it progresses – screams the Halo engine. Unfortunately the Halo engine has been surpassed quite a long time ago and the game looks dated. It doesn’t help that the creators have implemented a grainy 50’s look over the top as well. The textures are quite bland and like Halo some of the map designs are poorly thought out making it hard to know where you are going/have been.

Sound
In game dialogue and sound effects was reasonably well done and the music is of a few popular songs from the 1950’s which I found to suit the game well, especially in the “dance off” mini game found later in the game.

Live
No Live Support

Multiplayer
2 player split screen support – this is quite fun.

Conclusion
By the end of the game which is about 10-15 hours long, I was glad that it was over. Repetitive one-liners and gameplay had killed some of the original delight/humour. However saying that, it was probably the first game in a long time that I actually completed on the Xbox – and that is saying something. Stubbs the Zombie has a few annoyances, like no dedicated running button or decent path finding for the zombie minions but the disjointed and often amusing cut scenes and hilarious gameplay made me come back for more and finish the game. Stubbs the Zombie is a recommended rental for anyone (over 16 years of age of course). Consul Score 7.5 - 8.0.