Well I suppose it was a crossover that was going to happen eventually. Contrary to what you might be expecting though you will not play as Vikings fighting off hordes of zombies but rather play as actual zombified Vikings. To make sure there’s something a little bit Norse underpinning the whole thing there’s a nice, convenient video before you start playing explaining everything.
Loki the trickster has stolen Odin’s only good eye. That pesky thief. For some reason after only 20 seconds this game transformed me into a miserable old man. I looked down and saw a patchwork cover over my knees, a pair of decade old slippers and the legs of a rocking chair. I can hear myself sounding like a total misery even before I start. I found the style so quirky and childishly funny that it came across as nothing but patronising. I love charming games like Little Big Planet and Puppeteer, which is a particularly beautiful game, but Zombie Vikings didn’t charm me at all. I just felt like I was watching something aimed only at children.
After a couple of minutes I really wanted the video to just end. I often don’t get so negative so early in a game but being patronised and watching something fail to be funny is a sure fire way to get me there. Somehow all the jokes run flat perhaps because they are aimed at kids but I can’t think that many kids in the age range this might appeal to would appreciate the irony that Odin is making a glittery staff or even know who Odin is aside from the ‘bloke who was ill’ in the avengers.
One thing I did enjoy was the art style. Zombie Vikings pulls off a colourful cartoon style with infinitely more finesse than the humour achieves. It’s smooth and stylish providing a really authentic hand drawn look. The separate stacks of 2d sheets make up a layered appearance giving a nice 3 dimensional look to everything.
Appearances and script aside Zombie Vikings is a side scrolling action game. You take control of your ‘favourite’ undead Viking and work your way through the various enemies to help your master and creator get his eye back. I found very little creativity or imagination when it came to the gameplay. It’s all too easy to assume a game with such a nice visual style will accompany a creative game as they often do. Zombie Vikings does very little to entice you to play. It also makes little attempt to embrace the Norse culture other than use the word Vikings in the title and include a few names from the mythology.
There’s some casual co-op fun to be had but only for a short time. Even with friends there’s a limit to the fun you can have with Zombie Vikings. If you enjoy the humour that would certainly help but most will find it just a little too silly and immature. Zombie Vikings feels like a rushed job that was thrown together from little more than a rough knowledge of games that came before it. There’s little care for the Viking setting either and you have to wonder why that style was picked. Aside from the small amount of co-op fun there’s not much going on here.
