Hey, Zombies Monsters Robots is called Hazard Ops in Europe.
Let’s dissect that name, then: the ‘Ops’ part is there to point out that this is a third-person cover shooter, in the grandest of traditions. And the ‘Hazard’ part? That denotes the zombies, the monsters, the robots, the mutants, the mummies, the “angry dudes”, the “totally pissed” demons, the spontaneously-exploding zombie dogs, the “really big ass” robots, the bone-crushing traps, the rocket-wielding dinosaurs, and the “ghost bitches on high heels”.
Yep: that sounds fairly hazardous.
The “WTF?!” boss creature had overtones of House of the Dead about it, don’t you think? So did much of the overt, pulpy silliness on show in that trailer, come to think of it.
So: how does one oppa hazard style? It’s a game that definitely makes a lot more sense when you contextualise it as the product of Yingpei Games, once known as Epic Games China. There’s definitely an air of Gears about the whole affair – though Yingpei clear ydon’t take themselves nearly so seriously as their former paymasters.
Zombies Monsters Robots will arrive in Europe at some point between July and September, published by Dragon’s Prophet gang Infernum. And En Masse will publish it in North America, as the rather frank ‘Zombies Monsters Robots’.
It’s easy to be cynical about cover shooters – but actually, I haven’t played a decent one in a good while. Which was the last you lot enjoyed?