LOTD: The Road to Fiddler's Green has a lot going against it. That's probably inevitable, given its bargain-bin price tag, as well as the fact that it's a movie tie-in. Graphically, it's very bland: textures are boring and lacking in detail; buildings (in the downtown areas) look like they were pulled from a PSX game; and even the zombies, for the most part, are pretty uninspired (and there are far too few variants). Sound is nothing to write home about, either. In many cases (I won't say all cases), level design is a monotony of identical rooms and corridors. The first half of the cornfield level is particularly lame, and four ultra-generic sewer levels were certainly unnecessary. Some of the weapons are more or less useless, like the .22 rifle (although ammunition for this gun is easily the most common) and the shotgun (which has an effective range not much more than eight feet, in-game). The game's coding is apparently a mess: collision detection is extremely poor, and half of the multiplayer servers won't even connect. Its plot could easily fit on one side of a napkin, and that's an entire transcript, not a mere summary. Nor is it very challenging: pickups are very plentiful, if you're willing to search through every drawer, cabinet, and locker you find.
So why did I give this a five? And why do I still play it at all? Aside from the fact that it's the only commercially-produced FPS zombie game for the PC, the developers did get a few thing right, sort of. First, there's the mêlée weapon system. Not counting your fists, you can pick up any of six close-combat weapons, each of which does a different rate of damage at a different range and a different speed. Some, like the axe, can take off arms and even heads. There's a very simple joy in backtracking through a hallway with a handful of ghouls trailing you as you hack them apart one by one. It's a slow process (a good swing with an axe can take up to a second) and it requires good timing, but I find that adds to the atmosphere.
That's the other plus: atmosphere. Generic as your surroundings may often be, limited visibility (from darkness, corners, or corn) and unplaceable moaning nearby can often combine to get your hair up. An unexpected horde of zombies, pouring from every opening, can induce the same reaction. And while they're slow-moving, so are you. In LOTD:RTFG, you are not a god--you're a hog farmer who's just trying to stay alive. Your weapons take time to use and time to reload, and you've got to stand still to aim properly (essential for blasting heads apart with the revolver). You can't hit caps lock and run through a level--you can sprint for a while but it tires you out.
Bottom line: if you can put up with the technical shortcomings, this is a cheap--and, damn it, fun--game that can satisfy a genre fan's zombie craving. Until something better comes out.
So why did I give this a five? And why do I still play it at all? Aside from the fact that it's the only commercially-produced FPS zombie game for the PC, the developers did get a few thing right, sort of. First, there's the mêlée weapon system. Not counting your fists, you can pick up any of six close-combat weapons, each of which does a different rate of damage at a different range and a different speed. Some, like the axe, can take off arms and even heads. There's a very simple joy in backtracking through a hallway with a handful of ghouls trailing you as you hack them apart one by one. It's a slow process (a good swing with an axe can take up to a second) and it requires good timing, but I find that adds to the atmosphere.
That's the other plus: atmosphere. Generic as your surroundings may often be, limited visibility (from darkness, corners, or corn) and unplaceable moaning nearby can often combine to get your hair up. An unexpected horde of zombies, pouring from every opening, can induce the same reaction. And while they're slow-moving, so are you. In LOTD:RTFG, you are not a god--you're a hog farmer who's just trying to stay alive. Your weapons take time to use and time to reload, and you've got to stand still to aim properly (essential for blasting heads apart with the revolver). You can't hit caps lock and run through a level--you can sprint for a while but it tires you out.
Bottom line: if you can put up with the technical shortcomings, this is a cheap--and, damn it, fun--game that can satisfy a genre fan's zombie craving. Until something better comes out.
