When this game came out, I was very intrigued. I had seen a cool little demo on an E3 report not too long ago and it showed a lot of promise. An interactive environment, stunning graphics and zombie killing, I mean how can it not be good. Well, I have never seen a game disappoint so much, especially after reading the reviews from all the major sites.
Graphics and Sound
Let me say this first, I play on a 32" Sony with composite cables. Sure it is not high definition, but it is good enough for me and I have never really had the urge to buy a new television. I must say that these are not good graphics. After playing some other next generation games, these graphics look terrible. The faces on the characters are just not realistic and the voices do not sync at all with the mouths of the characters. I am not sure how much better it looks on an HD set, but even on my television I have seen much better.
The sound is fine on the other hand. You hear a lot of screams and can also tell how painful it would be to get chopped up in a lawn mower if you were a zombie. The voices do not always seem to go with the character, but that is of little concern.
Gameplay
Here is where it all falls apart. In a third person view, you have to be able to maneuver easily, since you often have to turn quickly or reposition your camera and this was actually done pretty well, while everything else was not. After so many third person games, you think they would get the hang of it. Why is it that the trigger is not the main action button and that the controls are laid out so that you constantly have to be looking around for the right button to push? When moving and shooting, the left thumb pad is used, but then, when in camera mode, the right one is used. The switch just does not make it easy to master the controls. Also, B should not be the activate button and when you are busy swinging away and your weapon breaks there needs to be some kind of warning, since you go right into your next weapon and start using it. This would be fine if only weapons were stored this way, but food is also, so on many occasions I found myself using all my food without even realizing.
Then we come to the text. Why there is text at this point I do not know. Sure, you can have it as a help, but things should be spoken. And then, if you do need the text it should be visible. I am not sure if everyone at Capcom has a 50" HD TV, but someone must have noticed that the text, a crucial part of the missions that without makes the game unplayable, needs to be large enough and clear enough to read. How can this even happen and how can a game like this get such great reviews.
Finally, saving. I Have to say that saving is not suppose to be a mission. With the tiny icons on the screen, I had trouble locating save zones. Maybe there was more then I thought, but I doubt it. And having to restart even 30 minutes of play is not the way to add longevity or difficulty.
Difficulty & Conclusion
If you take out the fact that I had to print out mission guides just to read the missions, since they are not spoken and unreadable, then the game is fairly straightforward. It is not a walk in the park, there are a lot of zombies and not always enough food, but you can get around and you will most likely fail some missions your first time around.
I am not one to rant and usually tend to post reviews on games I like, but I had to say something. Please make sure to rent this first. You may love it, but if you don't have an HD TV and hate fussing with bad controls, you have been warned. I tend to agree with the reviews I read, but I have no idea how this game got the positive feedback it got.
Rating: 4 / 10
Progress: 25%, I could t deal with it anymore.
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