Zombie Apocalypse (video game)

Zombie Apocalypse is a downloadable action shoot 'em up video game developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Konami.^[2]

Zombie Apocalypse
Title art
Developer(s)	Nihilistic Software
Publisher(s)	Konami
Director(s)	Robert Huebner Yujin Kiem Jon Knoles Leo Martinez Brandon Moro Martha Richter Smith
Producer(s)	Stella Balmoria Steve Hutchins
Designer(s)	Tim Miller Jon Slavin
Programmer(s)	Yves Borckmans Mark Cooke Benjamin Goldstein Vic Keenan
Artist(s)	Shao Wen Lim Mike Parsons Jasmine Sarmiento Michael Teperson
Composer(s)	Will Loconto
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release	XBLA September 23, 2009[1] PSN September 24, 2009[1]
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

In 2011, a sequel was released, Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone.

Gameplay

Zombie Apocalypse is a multidirectional shoot 'em up. The player controls one of four characters through 55 levels set in seven different areas. The player must rescue survivors, and kill waves of zombies using a range of weapons and the environment. Use of environmental kills rewards the player with more points for their score. Every five kills awards the player with another score multiplier, which resets to one upon death. Each of the game's modes can be played in single or multiplayer.^[3]

There are 12 trophies/achievements available. Playing through the game unlocks new modes.

Development

Nihilistic sought to make a pure arcade shooter, akin to Robotron 2084 and Smash TV.^[4] Inspiration for the environments and characters was taken from zombie films, including Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead.^[4]

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
	PS3	Xbox 360
Metacritic	61/100[5]	66/100[6]

Review scores

Publication	Score
	PS3	Xbox 360
1Up.com	D+[7]	D+[7]
Destructoid	7/10[8]	N/A
GamePro	[9]	[9]
GameRevolution	C−[10]	C−[10]
GameSpot	7.5/10[11]	7.5/10[11]
Giant Bomb	[12]	[12]
IGN	6.5/10[13]	6.5/10[14]
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK	6/10[15]	N/A
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	N/A	8/10[16]
TeamXbox	N/A	7.6/10[17]

Reception

The game received "mixed or average reviews" on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[5][6] IGN said, "[Zombie Apocalypse]...is inconsequential."^[13][14] GameSpot called it "Robotron: 2084 with zombies...what it lacks in innovation it more than makes up for with good, mindless fun."^[11] Destructoid praised the variety of zombies in the PlayStation 3 version review, but added "by the time you hit your 25th night, you've pretty much seen them all."^[8] However, 1Up.com criticized the repetition, as well as the difficulty level and enemy variety, saying, "Worse than simply being tedious, though, is how jaw-grindingly frustrating Zombie Apocalypse becomes. As the game wears on, absurd variants...replace the run-of-the-mill brain-eaters."^[7]