PSP Review: Infected

Santa’s coming to town, but this time he’s Infected.In our inagural PSP game review my good friend Kurtis, a frequent programmer here and master of the Xbox Gaming League, took a look at the game released by Majesco.Without any further ado… read on… read on… Publisher: MAJESCO SALES INC.Category: ShootersRelease Date: 11/15/2005Game Features:* Infect the world with your PSP – Players spread their own unique avatar like a virus to other players’ PSPs;* Ultra-fast paced, two-gun action in the streets of New York;* Set off massive chain reactions of exploding Infected, showering the streets with blood;* Exciting multiplayer modes: Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch;* Through multiplayer victories, players spread their avatars around the real world, player to player;* Form clans with shared uniforms, spreading the same unique virus to the unsuspecting;* Access a huge arsenal of powder weapons, viral weapons and special weapons such as air strikes and fire trails that ignite chains of Infected.Overview (back of the case)A mutant virus is turning New Yorkers into flesh-hungry zombies! In a gore-soaked campaign mode, you will save New Yorkers from the Infected!In four brutal Multi-player modes, you will infect your opponents with your customized cop. Play 8-player games in ad hoc mode, or Infect the world in 2-player Internet deathmatches. Track your infection online as you spread it around the world.Gameplay – 7OfflineInfected is your basic run and gun shooter but with a little more intensity. There’s not much more than zombie killing to this game…not that there’s anything wrong with that. Your missions are varied from time to time. Sometimes you’ll have to defend fellow officers or round up some civilians. I found the missions to be short and sweet which was nice. A ten-minute mission of zombie killing just wouldn’t cut it. I’m sure the developers knew that keeping the missions short would keep the players interest level up. Most missions can run anywhere from one minute up to five or six minutes. The majority of the missions if you’re an average skilled player would probably run anywhere from two to three minutes. You are provided with a good variety of weapons for the oddly fulfilling task of ending these zombie’s misery. I mean, how can you go wrong with playing butcher for a day with a chainsaw?!?!OnlineThere’s not much to say about the online play. It doesn’t offer anything that I can’t get anywhere else on any other game. My thanks goes out to ‘Matt’ for educating me in the world of online Infected. It is, however, quite a bit different and more challenging playing this game against a human than zombie AI.ControlsThe controls of this game are laid out pretty good. Although I would prefer to use the triggers for shooting my weapons. For some reason using a trigger to fire just seems natural. All the buttons and triggers are used effectively and the layout is pleasing on the ‘ol digits. The thumbstick was a little odd to get used to for me but after the initial period of getting used to it I was hacking, slashing, blowing up, and decapitating in no time. Most of them were even zombies!

Graphics – 8The graphics in this game were top notch. The visuals in the cut scenes were as good as I’ve seen in any highly detailed game. The gameplay graphics where pretty good as well. They did not blow me away yet they did not disappoint either. The character models seemed to be a little grainy when up close. When things were on fire, the flames looked superb. The developers do an execellent job of making you feel like you are in a city that has been rioting and overturning, well, everything! Gore, there’s plenty of it to around…there is definitely not a shortage in this department. You might even say there is a plethora of it.Sound – 8Where do I begin? I’m consistently amazed at what this little piece of machinery can churn out. The creators of this game definitely harnessed the sound capabilites of the PSP with this game. If there’s anything that I can’t stand, it’s a game that has a soundtrack that doesn’t fit the game. I’d have to say that the soundtrack for Infected is absolutely perfect for the content. Running around blowing up everything in your path is just that much more enjoyable when you’ve got bands like Slipknot, and Fear Factory pumping you up. I figured the sound would be even better piping through my stereo and…it was! I may have cranked it a little more than my neighbours would have liked. The sound effects that go along with the killing a nasty zombie fit the tone of the game very well. Overall, the sound for this game is very appropriate for the genre.Replay Value – 5Other than the online play, I don’t think that there is much replay value in a game like this. Customizing your character is pretty cool in any game but that’s about all that you’d really able to change between finishing the game and starting over. If you bought the game for the online playability, you’re golden.Conclusions & Final ThoughtsInfected is a fun game. It has a decent story line but not a whole lot of depth to it. I didn’t find that this game drew me in as much as I would like a game to. I want a game to envelope me so I can not put it down because I can’t wait to see whats in store for me next.With the release of Infected, mindless zombie killing has never been so intense!For more screenshots click here.Rating: