Bleeding Joystick (June 14, 2012)

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Impressions of Burstin’ Some Zombies

First, I’d like to mention an iOS title I had the opportunity to get my hands on over the past few weeks. It’s called Zombie Burst and comes from the fine folks at CatFoster Media. The premise of the game is simple. The zombie apocalypse has landed, and the zombies are ripe for the picking..or squeezing.

This strange little title is very basic and somewhat limited, but carries a cool concept that helps the game live up to its namesake. You don’t shoot zombies or run from them, instead you get to play Head Crusher (anyone get that reference?) and you literally squeeze the zombie’s gross clear melons until they pop. You pinch their heads like your life depends on it (and it does).

The game is pretty fun to pick up and play and features some cool hand-drawn graphics and vibrant backgrounds. It doesn’t animate very well, but it looks pretty good. Ultimately though there isn’t much to it. You squish heads, you wipe the viscera off the screen so that you can keep squishing then repeat til the level is over. The pinching mechanic doesn’t make things really fun over an extended period of time, but this is the perfect little title for short burst.

And hell, for a buck, I certainly recommend it. You can download the title for your iOS device here.

Another Visit to Dead Island

Hot out of a relatively lackluster E3 expo comes the news that there’s a sequel coming to last year’s Dead Island, a different game that had a few quirks it needed to overcome to be great. This one’s called Dead Island: Riptide.

There’s very little else that has been revealed about the title, but we do know it’s coming to the 360, PS3 and PC platforms, and in another tip of good news, it’s going to be marketed 10 bucks cheaper than most console titles. I know it’s not the most exciting news, but I enjoyed the last game and look forward to seeing what this one will deliver.

If you’re one of the 6.5 million people who are playing Diablo 3, I have some potentially awful (or potentially great) news for you. Blizzard has recently announced that they’re planning to wipe out the cheaters.

If you’re cheating, Blizzard is looking for you. They’re on the hunt for those who are hacking or using bots or modifying the game in any way. What they’re doing is disabling the Battle.net accounts of the cheaters so they can’t play online. We know that the ban hammer is dropping soon, because Blizzard “has always taken cheating in any form in Blizzard games very seriously, and that’s no different for Diablo III.”

This comes just in time for the the Auction House launch, where players can sell weapons and armor for actual money. I for one don’t play this game, because I really know it’d be the end of my life. It would completely consume me.

Left b4 Dead

In some very exciting news, Computer and Videogames got a scoop that there’s a Left 4 Dead prequel coming! It’s currently in development from Overkill Software (makers of Payday: The Heist), and they’re working with Valve to make a game that has been described as a “very cool blend of Payday and Left 4 Dead.” This one  aims to explain the truth about the outbreak, which provides some nice context.

We haven’t seen a Left 4 Dead game since Left 4 Dead 2. Those games were both fantastic, so I’m always down for more zombie killin’ fun.

Universal Monsters Coming for..your Browser!

In more PC based news, developer Bigpoint recently announced Universal Monsters online, a browser-based game that’s free to play. This is an official licensed Universal Monsters product that is based in the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena setting, and features your favorites like Frankenstein’s monster, The Wolf Man, Van Helsing, Dracula and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Screenshots look a little basic, but I’m a huge mark for the Universal Monsters so I’m pretty pumped to at least give this a shot. If you’re inclined, you can sign up at their website, universalmonstersonline.com, and perhaps get an opportunity to Beta test this sucker!  

Until next time kids, keep watching the skis! Er..skies.