Infected – PSP – Review

Alright, here is the premise: as a rookie NY cop
you were hoping to be knee deep in the action, but alas, you are sent to the
tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller square. In what can only be described as
"anti-festive" a zombie Santa and several other undead suddenly appear and
begin snacking on the good citizens of New York and the undead numbers begin
to grow quite rapidly. In a strange twist of fate you survive the melee only
to discover your unique blood contains not only a answer with how to deal with
the zombies but an ability to keep you from becoming one of the undead. Sure
as the day is long, you’ve been tasked with helping stop the zombie menace
using a gun that pulls plasma from your veins causing the zombies to join the
ranks of the dead rather then the walking dead.

"Imagine what it would do to a tree."

I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to
this game, just thinking about doling out some 9mm justice on the living dead
gets me all googly-eyed for action. And boy was I not disappointed, Infected
is a third-person perspective action title, as the hero officer (insert you
own name) you are armed with a new unique weapon that actually discharges
shots filled with your unique blood. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a
challenge if you had to just shoot the zombies one time, oh no, you must first
wear them down using one of the many other weapons you unlock. Shotguns,
machine guns, rocket launchers, grenade, and even a chainsaw to name a few are
all employed in dealing with the undead, only after you have sufficiently worn
them down (they glow red) you can shoot them with your viral gun and then
"SPLAT" an icky, dripping mess is left behind. This is made even more
enjoyable by being able to wear down several zombies before hitting them with
the viral gun. If you do so, then chain reaction style explosions will occur
giving you big bonus points/score.

Of course the game does encourage you to complete the missions in suitable
fashion; times are given to try and beat the scenarios, and if you can then
you will be awarded a gold, silver or bronze shield. These shields are
necessary to unlock further missions and the money you get for acquiring them
is how you can buy new weapons and improve your apparently mentally unbalanced
cop’s statistics. The missions are varied and somewhat bloody fun, some may
have you trying to rid a specific area of zombies while others may have you
trying to protect the uninfected from becoming lunch and subsequently more of
a problem for you. Now if you are thinking that because your cop’s blood
allows him to not become infected then he is virtually indestructible, right?
Wrong, you just won’t turn into a zombie when they attack, they can still hurt
you by spitting undead vomit at you and/or otherwise attacking you.

Now for a handheld actioner, the game plays fairly well, I initially was not
happy with the controls as you move and look only using the control
nub.  I just couldn’t move out of the way when I wanted to. Until I discovered
that if you hold down the right trigger, the game will lock on to a zombie,
allowing you to strafe. This one move opened up a whole other playing dynamic.
Moving left and right allowed me to still shoot while dodging the attacking
barf and as you get better at the controls you can switch to other zombies
while still strafing.  Of course you will want to
be very nimble with your fingers as you do use just about every button while
in the thick of the action.

"You know Chuck, I don’t think that guy
was a zombie."

Now where I may normally talk about the game’s sound, I think it’s important
to mention while there is some decent voice acting going on and all sorts of
explosions and wet, dripping carnage, the game is not exactly politically
correct. There is heavy swearing using all curse words and
some really raunchy, dark humor. I would get into this a little bit more but
even describing some of this would probably offend some. Just know that this
game is really tailor made for a mature gamer who has basically no problem
hearing and seeing awful stuff.  Now I personally did not mind this title
because having watched as many zombie flicks as I have I have developed an
immunity to bad taste, but for the uninitiated, watch out, this title has
bite.

And lots of them, getting bitten is fairly commonplace in this title as you
will see with the game’s slick visual style. There is no denying that
this game was made by people who wanted to play such a beast, but when I say
that there is blood and gloop and guts and bile, I am not kidding. It all
looks appropriately wet and disgusting and I loved it. When you wear down two
or more zombies and they are relatively close to one another, a red glowing
light appears, letting you know that a combo will be scored should you shoot
your viral gun. And the city, New York, looks pretty good; on the mission
load-out screen there is a top-down shot of Manhattan island with all points
of interest displayed for you and in-game visuals will have you running down
streets and into subways. It all looks like fun and although there is a
suspicious lack of vehicles, the game has a dirty, grit feel to it. I will
tell you that I thought the intro movie featuring the tree lighting ceremony
was quite humorous as the crowd of New Yorkers was about 14 people large.

Gameplay: 7.5
Not too bad, I thought it would be a problem but quickly worked out the
control kinks. I think they could have come up with something better, but as
it is, the controls are more then adequate.

Graphics: 8.3
Funny little cutscenes and way-cool bloody shootouts. This game is designed
like a big-budget zombie flick with more body fluids then I have
ever seen in a game. The city looks good and you can even design your own
character; mine looks like an albino assassin, cool. You can even unlock
quasi-famous people to help you in your never-ending bloodbath.

Sound: 8.1
Those sloppy wet noises are just what the doctor ordered for a game of this
type. Somebody get the barf bag, I hear the sound of a dripping corpse.

Difficulty: Medium
I banged through the first 10 or so missions without too much trouble, I died
a couple of times and replayed some levels because I didn’t save the minimum
amount of people, but for the most part it isn’t too tough. Of course you can
adjust the difficulty.

Concept: 8.6
Zombies descending on New York during Christmas time. New York is a resilient
city but this game certainly tests it’s mettle, somehow I know
everything works out though…

Multiplayer: 8.0
Log on line using the WiFi connection and try introducing your unique blood
signature into the virtual world. See if you can infect the planet or get
munched up by that dude out there called Black Plague.

Overall: 8.2
Yes, this is a hoot of a game to play and again I warn you, only for the
mature. The action comes at you with both barrels blazing and never lets
up. With crude humor, a "B" movie plot and lots and lots of guns, this is a
zombie fan’s dream.