VIDEO GAME REVIEW

Flesh-Eating Action

Ah, the true glory of modern games: being pitted against an army of hideous zombies with only a pack of bullets and a mean-fisted punch. In Zombie Revenge, load-time is the only thing that stands in the way of seemingly limitless amounts of trigger-happy action.

Nearly two dozen weapons are your engines for gut-wrenching destruction – from the cold steel pipe to the awesome slicing power of a 40-pound laser gun. With bullet time in mind, the basis for gameplay is, simply put, saving the country from the horror of undead creatures.

Directly transferred from the Naomi-based arcade game, this Dreamcast title is one positive example of why the system was voted machine of the year by Time Magazine. Supplying hours of multiplayer fun – fun so violent that an "over 17" label was required – Zombie Revenge loses nothing but size when compared with its bulky arcade mother.

Taking a stroll through the game’s fully interactive 3-D environments offers branching paths, hidden compounds and secret firepower. But ultimately, Sega ignored the chance to eliminate the one downfall that all arcade games have: The tick-tock of the ever-annoying countdown might cause some gamers to quit playing altogether. But what about "continues"? They are limited too. A "save" feature would have been nice as well.

But aside from the drag of starting over and over again in the first stage of combat, Zombie Revenge is still a pleasant antidote to an irritating day at work. Plus, where else can you decapitate bioengineered baddies with a medieval hatchet? Venturing into zombie territory is a challenging feat, so train well.

Jon M. Gibson writes about video games for Metro Times.