Reviews for You Are Undead

[Gallowswaiting]

I have played about halfway through the game so far, and I have no idea how to unlock any of the "Freaking Creepy Mutations" for the zombies. Since you kind of need them for the later stages, one might think that you, as the game developer, might have given the player some indication as to how to do that. Maybe, I dunno, drop a hint or two during the game? Or, hell, since they're outright required for progression, maybe you should allow the player to unlock them after gaining so many stars, or to find them in a level if you look really hard.

But, you don't. It's up to the player to find the missing mechanics. And that's not really good game design.

It would be one thing if they were just secret unlockables, and you could just as easily get through the game with the standard zombie, but you can't.

You can't get to survivors behind barricades without the strong zombie, and I have heard there is a flying zombie, though I have no clue what that's for, since I'm only about halfway through the game, and haven't seen anything that says to me "Y'know, the ability to fly might help me get that guy over there".

Beyond that, this game is not terribly engaging. I understand that you made it in a month or so, and it lacks a lot of polish. And don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying it's bad, per se. I'm saying that the actual game is very shallow, and fails to maintain my interest for more than a few minutes. With your decision to hide away important game mechanics from the player, you've basically ensured that I'm not really going to put forth the effort to keep looking, or playing.

And on top of that, it is dreadfully slow-paced. I get that you're playing a zombie, and they're portrayed to be a tad slow, but really, now. You couldn't speed the character's shamble up just a tad? It's like the guy's wading through hip-deep quicksand! On crutches!

Anyway, I hope that there's no hard feelings here. I need you to understand that my intention with this review is not to attack you, or trash your work. I hope this review has helped you, and you can have a good one.

fabioecco responds:

Hey, Gallowswaiting, sup? The first zombie is just a regular one, the three others ARE the mutants, unlockable with stars. There's no way a player miss them, because the menu pops up when the player press space bar to continue.
There's no hidden mechanics, you see, to get wings the player just need to do the same thing he's doing all the time: eat 1 survivor. It's the white zombie's hability. Same thing for the fat one, everytime he eats he gains +1 heart. The yellow one's hability is quickly noticeable and the strong one is the only that requires the player to guess.
The other issues you pointed were design choices I made while doing coding + art/animation + level building + audio + playtesting + everything. Unfortunately, I can't do much with a 30 days deadline. I only wish some people could have fun with the final product and give me some feedback to improve. Thanks!

[littlemusicboy1628]

This is great. Nice 2D animations. Great story...

fabioecco responds:

I see what you did there. hahah Thanks for playing!

[WhatCouldAWoodChuck]

The Coolest Pixel Zombie Game I've Ever Played! Keep Up Tho Good Work Man!

fabioecco responds:

Thanks a lot! I'll bring here one game a month! :D

[Plasmarift]

It's a cool zombie game. I've always wanted to play as a zombie going around eating people (too many games go for the "zombie swarm" approach or overpower the zombies you control). Still, the game has many flaws.
- You don't inform the player about the different abilities of the zombies you allow them to choose from. Although it is fun to figure the zombie's abilities out, it gives the initial impression that there's nothing special about them, but aesthetic appeal.
- You need the fourth zombie (the strong one) to break through some boards on an early level to get all the humans. If you don't choose the strong one, you can't get three stars on that level, which means if you want to try the level again with the strong zombie, you need to go back to the previous level, beat it with the regular green zombie (which is extremely tough sometimes) or beat a level farther back and work your way up to that level. Since that early level where the strong zombie was needed, I've always chosen the strong zombie, even though I'd like to use the flying zombie, but I needed the flying zombie in a later level.
- If you want to fix the above problem, allow the player to choose the zombie they want based on the previous level's star count, even when entering the level (have a button or prompt that leads to the selection screen). Another benefit to this system would be allowing players to experiment with different zombies on the increasingly difficult levels.
- You don't list the level number anywhere on the level. If you are still advancing through them in order, it will be pretty obvious from the stars, but what if you want to play a specific level that you found fun. You might not remember which one it was.
- There's no pause button.
- You can't tell what the field of vision is for the enemies. You can slightly estimate it, but on many of the later levels, you need to be almost literally just outside their field of vision to get to the humans before they turn around.
- When you get to the last person on the level and attack them, you automatically get three stars and can move on to the next level. Was this intentional?
- Why not just have the player hold down the down arrow instead of rapidly pressing it to eat the person.

I do like the fact that you can't be seen at night unless you are under a light and that when you are eating a human, you can move in and out of buildings to avoid being seen. I wish you luck in your future creations.

fabioecco responds:

Man, if I could I would pin your coment in the top of the page. There are many good points there that I could have used.
Not telling the habilities: on purpose, I loved how a guy on youtube reacted to the skeleton zombie hability.
The bulk pink zombie: Since the stealth mechanic is limited to doors and lights I wanted a zombie which could easily navigate through house's debris, unfortunately I'm not the best level designer around there. Your solution (total stars count) is excelent.
I didn't think that level numbers would matter, but you're right.
I don't know how to code a pause function (it's my 2nd game). I'm serious. hahah
Hide the field of vision was a design choice, I think otherwise would be easy to avoid them.
Last person on level: Why force people to tap the button till the end if the victim can't escape?
Tapping, not holding button: The faster you tap, the faster you finish eating. Holding would take a constant duration (random durations would be odd).
Finally someone mentioned the "hide the body" mechanic! But I can't complain because I didn't make a proper tutorial due to the time constraints I took.
I'm curious if you got to the storm level. Thanks a lot for the amazing feedback!

[xXQUIRKYDIGITXx]

I like the game mostly. Good idea and its fun I know its a game jam which makes it hard to polish a game but graphics are preety boring.game play is nice but if your the yellow zombie it some times soft locks with no reason when biting into a brain

fabioecco responds:

Pixel art is lighter to load, faster to draw and animate and there's lots of people who loves the style, so it's a pratical decision. All the zombies are controlled by the same code/file, did you notice if other zombies are soft locking? Any details of bugs like print screens or gifs can help, feel free to message me and thanks a lot for the feedback! :)