Zombotron
a game by | Armor Games Inc. |
Platform: | PC (2019) |
User Rating: | 8.3/10 - 20 votes |
Rate this game: | |
See also: | Zombie Games |
Even though today kids may have never heard of them, flash games were pretty big back in the day. This was a time before smartphones when smaller, more casual games weren't always in your pocket with you. The wide variety of websites with mobile games of all kinds was crazy, and you could spend entire evenings surfing through game after game. Now, this has changed completely, but Zombotron survived and made its way into Steam by Ant.Karlov and Armor Game Studios.
About the game
In this title we play the role of Blaze Rush, a mercenary looking for easy money in easy missions, but one day we land on a weird planet inhabited by hostile alien creatures.
Yup, that's about it about the game's plot. Remember that this was a game you could play on your browser, and those games barely even needed a plot. These titles were made to be enjoyed in a casual gaming session, so no 20-minutes cinematics was needed to make it good.
Blaze Rush may not be looking for tough missions, but he sure knows how to handle them. The weapon arsenal is varied and interesting, there's also different equipment such as armors, helmets and more items to unlock.
The best of the Flash games
Probably that would be exaggerating things up, it would be impossible to determine which flash game could be worthy of such a title. Zombotron had certain qualities that made it closer to a full game than your average flash game.
Of course, it wasn't the only survivor of the vast world of flash games. Keep in mind that both The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy started up as Flash-based games too. One thing they all have in common is simplicity, which isn't a bad thing. In a world full of complex games, where the line between games and movies is getting more blurred out by the day, it's nice to have casual games too.
Review
Zombotron is a nice Metroidvania game, with some interesting game design. Thanks to its popularity and depth, it was only natural for it to finally make it into a more stable platform and become a full-fledged Steam game. However, since it was intended for short game sessions, it can be pretty repetitive. The whole game is based around you walking through rooms, shooting enemies to unlock the next room, defeat a boss and repeat. It doesn't really innovate the genre or is it too creative.
Graphics and Visuals: The art looks great, especially when it comes to the scenery. However, the character design is quite bland and boring. And the animations aren't too lively either.
Gameplay: there are plenty of reasons why Metroidvania titles are popular, and their simplicity is one of them. The game delivers in being simple, but it still has some issues that immediately tell away this is still a flash game. The shooting is nicely done, the variables between different weapons work great for making it at least a little less repetitive. But be aware of reload time, it really takes a long time and it can be annoying.
Sound: Both in the soundtrack and in sound design, this title is pretty simple. It's not overworked, but somehow it fits the whole game. However, most of the best Metroidvania games excel in this field, and this one falls short on doing that.
Download Zombotron
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP