Released for Nintendo Switch, Gunslingers & Zombies puts you in the boots of a group of Old West ranchers to fend off a zombie invasion. It’s like a new twist on the term “ghost town.”
Each stage of the game starts with some still images with dialogue to advance the basic plot. The story isn’t all that deep or engaging, but it works well enough and gives you a general idea of what your goals should be in each round. The remaining survivors must escape. Simple, but it works.
As for the rounds themselves, the game plays like a strategy RPG. Playing picture games like Fire Emblem and Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle will give you a good idea of how gunslingers and zombies work. You’re in charge of a number of the aforementioned Gunslingers, and you must strategically move them around the map to escape the army of this Walking Dead. Some have to wipe out zombies. In other games, he has to collect 10 bags of loot to reach the exit. There’s also a level where you launch a minecart full of explosives and have to survive as you slowly make your way towards your target.
Each character has two “actions” per round. Actions can be used to move a certain number of spaces, attack weapons, heal or reload. There are also various weapons and knives for close range attacks. This mechanic forces you to think hard about what it takes to reach your goals. Do you have to use both actions to move very high up the map to get to the exit? Three zombies swarming around that explosive red barrel (also a video game staple) Or can you hold a defensive position and auto-attack any zombies that come close during their turn? There are many ways to plan your moves, and this really adds a tactical element to the game. add.
After your turn is over, the zombies have a chance. There are different types of enemies, such as regular zombies, exploding zombies, ranged zombies, and zombies that when killed he splits into two smaller zombies. Each has its own attributes and requires planning both offense and defense. AI is pretty standard for this type of game and works for the most part. For reasons unknown, he has one instance of a zombie attacking a piano. Moreover, they are zombies. Anyway, nothing happened upstairs. He also has three levels of difficulty, so you can customize the experience to your needs.
Graphically, Gunslingers & Zombies isn’t spectacular, but it still works well. You get a basic, almost voxel-style polygon, and the character has no face or personality. Zombies have the same model, but there are visual differences depending on the type of zombie. The map is fairly large and fits the Old West theme well enough. The music is just the background atmosphere, with characters and zombies reusing the same vocal “hmm” each time they get attacked.
The controls also work well enough. You can check the layout by moving the camera on the map and zoom in/out. Weapons and actions are easy to choose, and the game has an in-game tutorial to help you out. The only problem with the controls was that they floated too much. I think grid-based games show a “snap” system that quickly jumps to the next spot your cursor is pointing at.
Gunslingers and Zombies have a few other minor issues as well. First, the text is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. Sometimes I had no idea what the characters were saying until I read the lines a few times. There was also no way to reset the round. A lot of the time I found myself in a no-win situation, always having to skip my turn so that I could start over, slowly being attacked and killed by the enemy. I could have quit the game and restarted it, but a quick reset helped. Finally, the knife is too weak. You’d think melee weapons in a game like this would be a bit more powerful as they are used sparingly, this weapon allows him to deal only 1-2 damage per attack and only 1 square away. I used the rifle even when I wasn’t. Although annoying, these concerns don’t ruin the game.
Don’t judge Gunslingers & Zombies by its cover. It may not be as deep as Fire Emblem or as flashy as X-COM, but for the most part it gets the job done. Once played, you’ll find a fun and relatively engaging tactical RPG. It makes you think and strategize, but not so much that you can’t relax. In fact, I thought it would be the perfect companion for a football game and music playing in the background. It could also be considered a middling entry-level game in the genre (at least in a simple setting). You can enjoy hours from your investment.
