Since inception, zombies have had an undying effect on pop culture. The zombie craze was first conceptualized in the early 30s, with Victor Halperin’s White Zombie. White Zombie is known for being the first film to feature the undead nightmares. Since its 1934 debut, the zombie genre has continued to thrive. 1968’s Night of The Living Dead is often credited for the genre’s increased popularity. Zombies have since crossed many other mediums including; TV, comics, novels, and video games. While a bit overdone, the zombie genre continues to be infectious. Aspyr Media threw their hat into the ring, with 2005’s Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse. Initially releasing exclusively on Xbox and PC, Stubbs became somewhat of a cult classic. 16 years later, Aspyr has resurrected Stubbs in the form of a remaster. But how well does Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse hold up?
The Nifty Fifties
Stubbs the Zombie opens up to a cutscene of Andrew Monday, the city of Punchbowl’s mayor. Andrew, standing proud at Punchbowl’s grand opening, explains that their city is exactly what life is meant to be. That their residents were finally “free of all unpleasantness”. That one day, the whole world would emulate their futuristic utopia. Immediately following his monologue, our titular character Stubbs, resurrecting himself from his grave. After interrupting a couple’s picnic, Stubbs sets off to reunite with his old sweetheart, Maggie Monday. The game is very satirical of 1950s zombies movies. Everything from the voice acting, music, and tongue & cheek humor.
Same Old Song and Dance
The cinematics remain untouched from the 2005 original release of Stubbs The Zombie. This includes both audio and video. The visual quality of the cutscenes is considerably low for something considered a remaster. It’s often a bit jarring when switching between actual gameplay and the cinematics. They are presented in a much lower quality 4:3 resolution. It feels incredibly lazy and almost defeats the purpose of a remaster to have black bars show up every time a cutscene is triggered. That said, they are actually funny and entertaining to watch. As previously mentioned, this comedic tone sets the mood for the entirety of Stubbs the Zombie. Graphically, Stubbs remains mostly untouched. The textures were cleaned and upscaled, and the resolution was set to widescreen. Besides that, the original’s ugly dated character models remain on full display.
A Different Kind of Zombie Game
Players take control of Stubbs immediately following his resurrection. The retro-futuristic town of Punchbowl is loaded with the latest in protective technology. This includes futuristic weaponry and many automatons and robots. Even the gas pumps are autonomous beings looking to stop the zombie outbreak. Stubbs The Zombie controls from a 3rd person perspective, very reminiscent of the GTA or Destroy All Humans franchises. Stubbs travels around Punchbowl destroying anything and everyone in his way. His arsenal includes walking, jumping, gut grenades, flatulence, throwing a possessive hand, and of course eating brains! Each of the game’s missions has an end goal, but most of them all feel too simplistic. The goal of each mission is essentially to kill all humans. This gameplay loop is somewhat like a reverse Dead Rising. While there are the additional robots mentioned, the enemy variety is very lacking, not counting the few great boss battles.
Brains Brains Brains
Stubbs The Zombie does have some unique gameplay mechanics. For example, after killing a human they will turn. These new zombie allies can be manipulated into position via whistling. While a cool idea, often the extra zombies nearby end up getting in the way. There’s a shove mechanic, but it can get frustrating quick. Another fun one is his ability to rip off limbs. An example being his gut grenades, a much more effective long-range weapon. Stubbs can also tear off the limbs of NPCs and use the severed pieces as a weapon. There are rhythm-based music sections, with remixed tracks of music from the 50s era. Those feel thrown in and overly simplistic. Many sections require Stubbs to possess humans, using their own weapons against them. Unfortunately, these shooter sections are quite a bit sluggish. There’s a lot of variety here, but most of it feels unpolished and dated.
Flawed But Fun
Speaking of difficulty, Stubbs The Zombie is relatively easy. Many of the challenges faced will be due to dated gameplay mechanics. There is a glaring issue, however, and that is towards the end of the game. The difficulty quickly jumps, for no real reason other than to extend gameplay a bit longer. This results in an incredible imbalance in the gameplay, and definitely dampers the experience when all is said and done. One of Stubbs’ biggest issues is that it’s too close to the original. This remaster is way more of a rushed modern-day port. Visuals, gameplay, and music; everything remains mostly untouched in 16 years. Fun can still be had in Stubbs The Zombie, however, its flaws are still ever apparent. It’s a mostly enjoyable experience, just feels very dated and was an incredibly low-effort remaster.
Stubbs The Zombie is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For more information, visit the game’s official website. A digital copy was provided for the purpose of this review.
