Two links to video footage from the upcoming PlayStation Network downloadable title Burn Zombie Burn were sent to me last night, and on watching them I was struck with a sense of how intensely this game resembles one of my all-time favorite action games: Zombies Ate My Neighbors.
The visual similarities were too numerous to ignore (see the BZB and ZAMN clips below the jump), so I sent an email to Ollie Barder, the senior designer on BZB. While Barder acknowledges the similarities between his game and the classic series (and applauds my recognition of said similarities, he says his game is "functionally quite different."
"It’s more an arena based shooter/brawler, with a heavy emphasis on arcade score chasing (rather than the action-RPG-esque approach of ZAMN)," Barder wrote in response to my questions.
"From my point of view, in terms of scripting the levels, I was very much functionally inspired by games like Bangai-O."
So, Burn Zombie Burn is an action-RPG aesthetically reminiscent of Zombies Ate My Neighbors, with level design inspired by the Bangai-O series? That’s all I need to hear to motivate a purchase when BZB hits the PlayStation Network.
Unfortunately, no official release date or price point has yet been laid out, though Ollie told me the game will be available "very soon indeed."
Burn Zombie Burn:
Zombies Ate My Neighbors:
See the similarities?
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