Atom Zombie Smasher (PC) (2011)

Overview: A real-time strategy game where the player must protect the city from zombies!

First Level

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20120712:
I downloaded this demo and gave it a try.

First Impression:
It's pretty fun. While building a strategy wasn't straight forward, the game's initial goals of saving 30 people was relatively simple.

Positioning a Llama Bomb

Unfortunately, the task of destroying all of Zed's forces was tough, and from my initial encounter, seemingly impossible. But your troops level up, and I suppose that's all part of the fun.

Taking a Peek at the Co-op:
I was, however, mostly interested in how the game handles cooperative gameplay. The game allow you to add up to two more players to the game. Each player is a new cursor and the players can split up tasks and micromanage more efficiently.

Setting up blockades (orange icons) to divert Zed towards my sniper team and infantry unit.

Note, however, that each additional player will require his/her own gamepad or joystick.*

*This is often standard. But a shooter called Jamestown allows every player to use a combination of mice, keyboards, and gamepads.

[20120713][20160114 Edit]

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20160114:
My goodness, this game felt totally different than the demo I experienced several years ago. In particular, the campaign mode was quite engaging and I ended up playing for over six hours straight!

Tried a different arrangement that forced the around.

Remark: I completed the campaign and exported the log to a text file: 'AtomZombieLog_Jan15_4-52.txt'.

[20161014 Edit]

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Small, random elements allow for a slightly different game experience each time.
+ Various options to play around with when starting a new campaign.

Minor Con:
- I guess the game takes a rogue-like approach to the campaign mode, because once you commit to attempting a level, you must either retry it until you're satisfied or concede. Can be fun, but there were no warnings.

Completed my first campaign!

Comparison:
As I played this game, the world map and its spread of infection began to remind me of a board game my friends and I played call Pandemic (2008). There are only, however, vague similarities.

Recommendation:
While I've been avoiding a bunch of strategy games lately, this one caught me by surprise and I definitely enjoyed it. As such, I would also recommend it to anybody willing to try a real-time strategy game.

Steam: 6.2 hours (total game time, demo not included)

I immediately started another.

[20160114]

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Atom Zombie Smasher (PC) (2011)

Relevant Links:
Atom Zombie Smasher Webpage
Atom Zombie Smasher (Steam Store Page)
Atom Zombie Smasher (Wikipedia.org)