[h1]SUMMARY[/h1]
Zombies Ate My Neighbors but bad....
So I was looking forward to playing this game based on the trailer, but actually getting to play it is another thing entirely. It has a somewhat enticing pixel art-style, but that's where the positives begin to end. First we see our first red flag on the intro cutscene, which is nothing but a wide open barren space, where the people who you need to rescue get kidnapped, for no other reason than Santa "hates metal!".
Getting to actually play the game, it controls fine, the shooting mechanics are...alright...But one thing that immediately stood out to me was the underperformance of the voice actor for the main character. He sounds very amateurish and does not quite match the portrayal in the game. From there, things only deteriorate. The levels are huge wide open spaces, when they should be tighter and more claustrophobic, or at least have more things going on in the environment. Everything just feels so empty. On top of that, there are discs you have to collect to buy upgrades, buy ammo and upgrades with, which involves freeing people, killing elves, and destroying the environment. That's right, so expect to spend minutes at a time making sure you destroy everything in a level for all those little discs so you can afford your upgrades and ammo. Tedium. That is what we call tedium.
Now it would be okay if that's where it ended but the gunplay is not very satisfying either. The elves apparently all die the same way, no matter if you shoot them, burn them, explode them, or "glory kill" them (yes, you heard me right, there are glory kills in here), so the responsiveness to your actions doesn't feel that interesting or fun.
Furthermore, the game just does not get very much more interesting. While in the game this was inspired by, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, you used unique AI and mechanics to create themes for levels, none of that is present here. Virtually all the enemies are identical to one another with the only standouts being the bosses. In ZAMN, you had chainsaw psycho's, killer dolls, zombies, aliens, the giant baby, giant worms, and a dozen others. Here you have elves, and gremlin looking things. That's it. The AI and abilities between them is not that particularly different, nor do they look drastically different from one another, making them blend in with each other very easily.
What really kills this game for me is the progression system. There's a little over a dozen levels, and then it ends. The reason for this being that you expected to die, a lot, akin to an arcadey experience rather than a more home entertainment experience, and it only takes 4 hits for you to die. In ZAMN, you have around 40 or so levels, and it gradually progressed with you needing to use your arsenal to defeat certain enemies and explore the environment, cutting down over-growth, blowing up hedge-maze walls, and so on. Nothing like that is here. You have a melee button and you just bust down doors and make your way forward.
There is very little to like about this game, really only grabbing your attention if you enjoy shooting up elves, with very generic, low-effort metal music playing in the background.
[h1]OVERALL SCORE[/h1]
Highly Not Recommended
[h1]REPLAY VALUE[/h1]
Above Average
