Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

Genre: Action

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

Stubbs the Zombie is an Action game released in 2005 on PC and Xbox and then ported in 2021 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Taking place in the fictional retro-futuristic town of Punchbowl, Pennsylvania, Stubbs has players controlling the titular zombie as he saunters around, attacks the townsfolk, eats brains, and directs the other zombies he creates to do much the same.

Players aren’t given much of a reason why there should be a zombie attacking Punchbowl, what reason he has to attack the town, or who Stubbs even is. Through the course of the game these details will gradually be revealed, but at least initially it all seems to be a bunch of odd non sequitirs that are only explained well after the fact. Why is there a zombie attacking the town? Well, because the game’s creators wanted there to be a zombie attacking the town. Oh, and I guess he has a backstory tied to one of the other characters in the game but that’s not important.

This poorly thought-out story seems mostly to exist for the sake of having a bunch of silly humor, such as the game’s tutorial where a robot like The Jetsons’ Rosie seeks to give players a tour of Punchbowl, and apparently can’t comprehend the brain-eating so happily ignores it and at times even encourages it. The humor here is all over the place, from satire to fart jokes, and while I was at times mildly amused, I don’t think I ever laughed out loud.

The presentation overall seems largely untouched from the game’s original 2005 release, save for an increase in resolution. That said, despite its age, Stubbs the Zombie’s 3D visuals still looks decent enough, though far from anything impressive. To its credit, the character designs still feel like they have a lot of personality. These are joined by a soundtrack that fits the game’s offbeat tone but is otherwise forgettable, as well as some good tongue-in-cheek voice acting.

The gameplay in Stubbs the Zombie generally has players attacking humans then biting them to add them to their zombie army. This army will stumble around, attacking humans that get in range and turning them as well. However, without your intervention, this is aimless and slow. With your intervention it’s still slow, and while you can get these guys to follow you, it feels like you have to babysit them to get them to do anything. Ultimately, the zombie horde you create is far more useful at attracting gunfire from enemies so you can go on with taking the enemies out yourself.

You’ll gradually get new abilities as you progress, often involving flinging your own decaying body parts. And you’ll also find occasional vehicles and even a silly minigame or two. However, mostly you’ll be doing the same thing over and over again – attack an enemy, eat his brain to turn him, then try to get to the next enemy and repeat the process. This sort of gameplay is satisfying on a basic level, but it’s shallow and repetitive, and grows old quickly.

Because of this, Stubbs the Zombie is mildly amusing and might keep you entertained for a little while, but I don’t think there’s anything here that’s going to drive you to keep playing for very long. This is by no means a bad game, but it isn’t an especially good one either.

tl;dr – Stubbs the Zombie is an Action game where players control the titular zombie as he wreaks havoc on the game’s retro-futuristic town, attacking its citizens and turning them into more zombies. This game has its charms, but overall it seems shallow and repetitive. It’s mildly entertaining in short bursts, but not much more than that.

Grade: C+

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