Released (on Steam): 22 Apr, 2019
Genres: Action, Adventure, Indie
Developer: Ant.Karlov
Publisher: Armor Games
Steam Price: £11.39
A brand new entry to the Zombotron series!
Blaze Rush is a mercenary desperate for a job. In search of an easy payday he follows a distress beacon to the surface of a dangerous planet and the remains of an ancient crash site. There he finds a mystery that will test his strength, his resolve, and every gun in his arsenal. Zombotron features an arsenal of weapons and armor, enemies that hate each other as much as they hate you, and really nice explosions for an experience that’s out of this world.
Why go for headshots when you can drop a zombie down an elevator shaft? Or crush them beneath a pile of rubble. Or set of an elaborate daisy-chain of dynamite around them. Or run them over in an ATV. Or... you get the idea.
Completion: Game completed once
Playtime at Review: 7.6 hours
Total Playtime: 7.6 hours
Achievements at Review: 8/8 (100%)
My rating: 8.1/10
Nice variety of weapons and armour, each with a very different feel and design
Hidden secrets (generally stashes or skeletons to loot) make exploration even more interesting
Great conversations and banter between characters
Good variety of enemies, with increasing difficulty as you progress
Each boss is unique, with a different approach required to defeat them
Destructible surroundings give greater options when it comes to killing
Can spend a lot of time trying to flip your vehicle upright (I kinda like this too, as you can walk on foot anyway)
I got Zombotron in the Humble Conquer COVID-19 Bundle and my god was it good! It wasn't a game I could spend hour after hour in, but that doesn't make it any less impressive or fun. I spent an hour or so at a time, generally until I kept dying around the same point and needed a break before going in with a fresh head.
One of my favourite things about the game was the humour. While it's pretty simple humour, it's very effective! The witty banter between the main character, Blaze Rush, his robot companion, Ash, and the other characters they meet along the way is just priceless. They also have some great references to other well known things in their conversations, but I'll let you discover them for yourself.
You can acquire and/or buy a variety of different melee and ranged weapons as you progress, as well as different types of grenades, helmets/masks, and armour. The choices aren't huge, but the different weapon types each have a unique feel to them, which is always good! It's also nice seeing your main character jumping around in his new armour and mask every time you find a new one! I especially liked the masks!
I think the variety of enemies was spot on, and the increasing strength and general difficulty was done very well. The fact that the different types of enemies would fight each other when close enough was also something I really liked, as were the multiple options the player has when wanting to kill any enemy. Sure, you could shoot them, or hit them with a baseball bat or pickaxe, or even grenade them, but why waste all those resources? Instead, you could dislodge some rocks from above them and crush them to death. Or you could shoot the wooden support from beneath them and have them fall into a different enemy and have them kill each other.
You also get an awesome vehicle at some point in the game, mounted with it's own weapon! While it was great fun ploughing through enemies at high speed, it was a lot less fun trying to flip the damn thing upright when I've managed flip it and land upside down. Sure, I could've just got out and walked the rest of the way, but no! Perseverance paid off, and the couple of times it happened I managed to right it, it just took a long time.
The bosses you encounter are very much unique, as it the way you need to approach their destruction. While there aren't many boss fights overall, for the length of the game I'd say it was just right.
There was also a levelling system, where you get to increase your basic stats, but I'm not sure how much of an impact this had on the game to be honest. It's not really something I put much thought to while playing.
Overall, I freaking loved Zombotron! It's very well made, interesting, funny, and full of action! I highly recommend it!
Posted on 20-04-2020
Coming in a future update!