Survival Crisis Z: Shoot, Survive, Shoot some more.

Keep away from my TV you freaks!

I am a huge zombie fan.  Voodoo, virus, radiation, fast, slow, I love them all.  That being said, there has been a deficit of really sweet zombie games.  Well, at least there was.  Things like Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, and (oddly) Stubbs the Zombie have shown people that the genre is still exceedingly cool.  While I still wait for a game where you can play as the zombie horde, these all are fine tide-overs until that wondrous day.

Now, with stuff like Left 4 Dead and such hitting the market with big worlds, tons of zombies, gore, and gorgeous visuals, what does a little indie game like this have to offer?  Simply put, it's wide open.  Beyond the basics of simple survival, any long-term goals are up to you.  Once you've gotten a few guns in your belt, and scrounged up enough food not to starve right away, the city is your undead oyster.

Doesn't look like much, but not pictured are the 40-50 random gun battles and zombie hordes between you and any vague objective.

The basic story is covered in the manual, and is more or less basic.  small outbreak, low-scale issues/rioting, large scale plague/rioting, apocalypse.  Now, the city is in ruins, with people trying to keep safehouses running for the few survivors.  What's more, a group of rebels and the remains of police and government have decided to start a war over the corpse of the city, with everyone and everything caught in the middle.

It's a bit like Grand Theft Auto, but with no cars.  You run around, scavenging through houses for guns, resources and supplies.  At any time, you may run in to a Alliance/Rebel patrol, or varying degrees of zombie hordes.  You may be walking about, peacefully, then upwards of eighty zombies and infected humans start literally exploding from nearby windows and doors, causing you to have to literally fight for you life in a rolling firefight.

Humm, a blood-soaked elevator in to the bowls of a zombie infested city?  What could go wrong, really?

You can run missions for the various factions, ranging from assassinations to basic fetch-and-carry stuff.  You'll slowly gain allies as you prove your ability to not die, and can even start taking control of safe houses and gaining a bounty on zombies.  You can also dip down in to the massive secret military base under the city and scrape up some heavy gauge weapons.  Or, for the truly ambitions, dive in to the sewers and basements, and fight of the horde and ghost-kids for secret items.

...this was not well thought out...

Overall, this is a fantastic way to waste a weekend, even if the first bit can be very, VERY frustrating until you get the hang of it.  Jump here to grab up your copy, and get blasting.  Oh, and try to be inside when the siren goes of.  Seriously.

The stuff that wrote this is way, way more unsettling.