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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action/Adventure Developer: Inlight Entertainment Publisher: Ignition Entertainment |
When it comes to epic battles, there are none that people are looking more forward to than zombies versus aliens, except maybe Chuck
Norris versus Godzilla. Though Inlight Entertainment can’t do anything about a Chuck Norris battle, they have finally brought the battle
between zombies and aliens to the Nintendo Ds with “Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys.” This isn’t a mindless
action game like many would expect from the opening cut scenes of the game. Instead players are offered a slow paced puzzle
platform game. Though the game is good, it lacks a little bit considering the fact that it included aliens and zombies.
Brains have attacked earth and the gray matter that has been equipped with lasers and mind control devices wants to take over the
planet. The only way to defeat the evil brain invaders is to be living among the dead. This is where the Teenage Zombies become very
important, the three undead teens have risen from their graves and are ready to protect the planet by eating their way through a never
ending brain buffet.
The game features three rotting teenage corpses in the form of Lori "Lefty" Lopez, Finnigan "Fins" Magee and Zack "Half-Pipe" Boyd.
Each zombie has a different skill to help the group to feast on delicious brains. Lefty, a former basketball player has a long reach that
can be used to grab ledges. Half-Pipe is missing his lower body, so wheels around on his skateboard and can roll through tight areas
and jump off ramps. Fins, a plump swimming aficionado, mutated when he was buried and now has tentacles growing out of his back.
He can use these extra arms to climb walls and grapple along wires. Each member of the odd team is useful and players can switch
between them to complete the levels.
The entire game feels like a comic book and the developers present the story in a comic book format. During the cut scenes players
are able to flip the DS to read about the adventures of the teenage zombies like a book. The story is usually focused on the game’s
main villain, the Big Brain. The writing is done well and is humorous through the entire game, offering some fun voice over work. It is a
dark comedy with a cartoon feel to it. The game starts off line any alien invasion story should, with a lot of violence. People get holes
blasted through their torsos; dogs are turned into dust and the undead burst from their graves in order to munch on some brains.
After players watch innocent people get murdered and are given the overall goal of destroying an entire army of alien brains, it is a little
strange that the game doesn’t have more action involved. Though the game has a lot of platform elements, it is mostly an intricate
puzzle game. Most of the work in the game involved players figuring out which zombie they need to control and when to work through
the levels. There is a little bit of action in the game, especially with all of the aliens floating around, but players will focus more on the
puzzles.
As anyone would know by watching any zombie film, zombies tend to be fairly slow, and this isn’t any different in the game. As a result,
the game moves pretty slowly as well. At times it seems to take way too long for a zombie to move through a level. There are a total of
33 chapters that cover seven different, fairly short, worlds. However, each of these levels feel a lot longer than they really are because of
the fact that everything is paced so slowly. In a way this helps to prolong the game since it is not a game that can be played for long
periods at a single time.
The game contrasts with the story presentation. While the cut scenes are very cartoon-like and violent, the game itself is a little bit dull
in comparison. There are only a few sound effects and the levels get to be a little boring at times. Players will enjoy the comic book
panels that are actually used as platforms with the game, and the power ups are fairly humorous. The game play is okay and manages
to be fun, but the whole appeal of zombies and aliens battling it out doesn’t get translated very well in the process. Almost every enemy
is taken out by a single blow and players will grow tired of seeing the same bad guys over and over again in every level.
Players will want to like “Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Brain Thingys” because of the basic story that it is trying to tell, zombies
fighting aliens. However, it just seems like there should have been a lot more to the game than there was. After the voice acting at the
beginning of the game and the fun and interesting premise of the storyline have been covers, the game sort of falls apart, leaving
players wanting more of what was at the beginning of the game. It offers some decent puzzle platform gaming, though the game never
seems to become very challenging. The hardest thing to understand about this game is the fact that it actually is a lot of fun to play in
short bursts over a long period of time, but it is extremely difficult to recommend this game to the everyday player.
Norris versus Godzilla. Though Inlight Entertainment can’t do anything about a Chuck Norris battle, they have finally brought the battle
between zombies and aliens to the Nintendo Ds with “Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys.” This isn’t a mindless
action game like many would expect from the opening cut scenes of the game. Instead players are offered a slow paced puzzle
platform game. Though the game is good, it lacks a little bit considering the fact that it included aliens and zombies.
Brains have attacked earth and the gray matter that has been equipped with lasers and mind control devices wants to take over the
planet. The only way to defeat the evil brain invaders is to be living among the dead. This is where the Teenage Zombies become very
important, the three undead teens have risen from their graves and are ready to protect the planet by eating their way through a never
ending brain buffet.
The game features three rotting teenage corpses in the form of Lori "Lefty" Lopez, Finnigan "Fins" Magee and Zack "Half-Pipe" Boyd.
Each zombie has a different skill to help the group to feast on delicious brains. Lefty, a former basketball player has a long reach that
can be used to grab ledges. Half-Pipe is missing his lower body, so wheels around on his skateboard and can roll through tight areas
and jump off ramps. Fins, a plump swimming aficionado, mutated when he was buried and now has tentacles growing out of his back.
He can use these extra arms to climb walls and grapple along wires. Each member of the odd team is useful and players can switch
between them to complete the levels.
The entire game feels like a comic book and the developers present the story in a comic book format. During the cut scenes players
are able to flip the DS to read about the adventures of the teenage zombies like a book. The story is usually focused on the game’s
main villain, the Big Brain. The writing is done well and is humorous through the entire game, offering some fun voice over work. It is a
dark comedy with a cartoon feel to it. The game starts off line any alien invasion story should, with a lot of violence. People get holes
blasted through their torsos; dogs are turned into dust and the undead burst from their graves in order to munch on some brains.
After players watch innocent people get murdered and are given the overall goal of destroying an entire army of alien brains, it is a little
strange that the game doesn’t have more action involved. Though the game has a lot of platform elements, it is mostly an intricate
puzzle game. Most of the work in the game involved players figuring out which zombie they need to control and when to work through
the levels. There is a little bit of action in the game, especially with all of the aliens floating around, but players will focus more on the
puzzles.
As anyone would know by watching any zombie film, zombies tend to be fairly slow, and this isn’t any different in the game. As a result,
the game moves pretty slowly as well. At times it seems to take way too long for a zombie to move through a level. There are a total of
33 chapters that cover seven different, fairly short, worlds. However, each of these levels feel a lot longer than they really are because of
the fact that everything is paced so slowly. In a way this helps to prolong the game since it is not a game that can be played for long
periods at a single time.
The game contrasts with the story presentation. While the cut scenes are very cartoon-like and violent, the game itself is a little bit dull
in comparison. There are only a few sound effects and the levels get to be a little boring at times. Players will enjoy the comic book
panels that are actually used as platforms with the game, and the power ups are fairly humorous. The game play is okay and manages
to be fun, but the whole appeal of zombies and aliens battling it out doesn’t get translated very well in the process. Almost every enemy
is taken out by a single blow and players will grow tired of seeing the same bad guys over and over again in every level.
Players will want to like “Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Brain Thingys” because of the basic story that it is trying to tell, zombies
fighting aliens. However, it just seems like there should have been a lot more to the game than there was. After the voice acting at the
beginning of the game and the fun and interesting premise of the storyline have been covers, the game sort of falls apart, leaving
players wanting more of what was at the beginning of the game. It offers some decent puzzle platform gaming, though the game never
seems to become very challenging. The hardest thing to understand about this game is the fact that it actually is a lot of fun to play in
short bursts over a long period of time, but it is extremely difficult to recommend this game to the everyday player.
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