"...It has tremendous novel value-- and that's about all it has going for it."
it has going for it.
You start off in this city called Punchbowl, Pennsylvania, which is just a big futuristic city with robots and flying cars. The first area is a little tutorial to introduce you to some of the special abilities Stubbs has at his disposal, but first things first: you play as a zombie, and zombies are bent on eating brains. The primary thing you will be doing is eating brains of the poor inhabitants of Punchbowl. And if you know one thing about zombies it is their reproductive power; after a victim gets their brain chomped on they transform into a zombie. And these zombies ultimately become a part of Stubbs' army of the undead to seek out brains of the living and make them zombies. These zombies will lumber around and follow you for the most part, but Stubbs can use a shrill whistle to get their attention. Most of the time Stubbs must melee attack an enemy in order to "stun" him or her to give himself an opening to get their brains. This is done by clicking the mouse button two or three times in quick succession. This is about as exciting as the combat gets and unfortunately it is not very satisfying-at all. That is 90% of the gameplay right there, but Stubbs has an array of other abilities to help him get brains. As you make progress through Punchbowl you will learn new abilities thanks to the helpful "Guidebot" NPC. There are four abilities in all and they all have their own degree of use. The first ability you are likely to use is the one where Stubbs removes one of his organs and tosses it, and with another press of the button it will explode, and if humans are nearby they are knocked back and eventually become zombies. The second ability allows Stubbs to release a potent flatulence that stuns nearby humans and leaves them wide open for Stubbs or his minions to munch on. The third ability is a fun one to use because Stubbs will literally rip off his arm from his elbow down and throw it, and you can control where it goes whether it be up walls or along the ceilings. And the cool thing about this ability is the hand can grab hold of someone's head and possess them. And if that individual was using a gun you take control of it as well. The fourth and last official ability Stubbs gets involves him removing his head and sending it rolling like a bowling ball into a throng of people. And like the previous ability the head can explode as well causing damage and creating zombies. Another more unofficial ability Stubbs gets is the "skill" to rip off someone's arm and melee attack them with it. All of these moves have on thing in common: their novelty. While at first they are enjoyable to use and feature some truly unique mechanics they are, when the rubber hits the road, not very fun to use after a while. And with the singular goal of consuming brains things can get repetitive. The game will take you through twelve levels and you will encounter a number of foes and despite the fact you are a zombie you will take damage. Though fortunately if you take a quick break your health will regenerate, though you can heal quicker by eating brains. The game is challenging, but never really overly difficult because Stubbs will almost always have additional zombies nearby to run interference or consume brains. Even if you begin with no zombies things are still fairly easy to manage, and within minutes literally you can have five to ten zombie minions in tow. These zombies are not particularly intelligent AI-speaking (they are zombies after all), but they do enough to distract foes or possibly allow Stubbs to sneak up behind or just run past. And speaking of running, there really is no running per se because we are talking about zombies. They tend to either clunk and lumber along and the same thing goes for the game. It is realistic but it can be a pain because getting from point A to point B is cumbersome. Overall gameplay in Stubbs is good for a while but things can become repetitive. And as I mentioned earlier the game relies strongly on its novel value to pull itself off.
Graphics in Stubbs are done well and they emit a charming and even silly atmosphere regardless of the fact you play as a zombie. Stubbs himself is unique by way of zombie fashion because he wears a hat, he smokes a cigar, and he is mostly a green color. Other zombies in-game are pallid and pasty with numerous holes all over their skin, and the only thing they are after are brains. Humans that become zombies will sometimes have no arms or no legs and it is fun to watch them try to function with their handicap. Zombies will often appear completely headless. Stubbs also exhibits regular emotions such as love like when this busty blonde lady appears on a billboard early in the game. A cutscene comes on when he sees this billboard and little pink hearts begin to emanate from him. This is the core of the game's charm and it is also what makes it unique. There are other funny elements throughout the story as well involving the residents. The city of Punchbowl itself is unimpressive with futuristic-looking buildings, flying cars, and laser weapons. The little sequence where Stubbs directs his severed arm around is both funny and grisly as it scurries along. The actual instance where Stubbs takes control of a human is satisfying and very funny. The one thing that will permeate the game will be blood. There is plenty of blood that will spray, squirt, and drip as you take a bite out of mankind. Often if you just attacked a crowd of people it is not unusual to see blood on the walls and on the floor. Overall the graphics in Stubbs are mediocre.
Sound is the shining gem of the game because not only does it feature great tunes but also it offers funny and professional voice work. The tunes take an interesting approach because the game takes place in the 1950s and most of the tunes come from 80s and 90s bands. One tune straight from the era is "Mr. Sandman" and the song fits very, very well. The voice work is done enormously well. Most of the funny voices you hear will come from people you munch on or mutilate in some other way. They will yell something like, "My braaaaains!" or if you rip off someone's arm they will cry, "That was my shooting arm!" or something similar. Often during a brain-munching you can hear the juicy and satisfyingly sickening squirting of blood or the crunchy and cracking sound of skull and brains. Overall sound is excellent and brutally humorous.
Stubbs sports a premise that is promising but unfortunately the game pulls its weight with mostly its novel value. And to make matters worse the game is extremely short clocking in at only five to six hours. When a game is frighteningly short and relies on its raw novel value to gain appeal then one might wonder if the game is worth purchase. I say no as I think I made clear previously, but if you are a fan of short and purely novel games then you should definitely consider Stubbs.