Kill Zombies With Music

Zombie Slayer Diox, a 3DS eShop downloadable title, has a creative concept behind its gameplay but ultimately suffers from quirky control and an unfair difficultly spike.

You play as Diox, a Thor-looking rock and roller who feels the need to put a silent X at the end of his name.  As it turns out, Zombies have taken over but Diox tries to eliminate the onslaught by journeying to find a legendary guitar amp that is said to save the world.  Diox lures zombies in close with his music then slashes them when they get close and performance is rated similarly to DDR: good, better, best.

Gameplay is based around music and keeping track of the music’s beat.  Diox is constantly running to the right side of the screen and when a zombie comes within slashing distance, the player must swipe the touch screen using one of several motions.  Players of the Guitar Hero DS games should feel somewhat familiar with the control scheme.  The difficulty quickly ramps up as players must hold a directional button in conjunction with a stylus swipe.  Unfortunately, there is a steep learning curve as zombies are designated with a color as opposed to a d-pad direction.  I suppose gamers learned the color scheme mechanic by pushing colored buttons with Guitar Hero, but it feels much different here as all zombies walk the same path as opposed to different notes separating themselves by gliding down different note highways.

Besides memorizing colors to d-pad directions, swiping can also be inconsistent.  Zombies walk from right to left at an alarming pace, especially on the higher difficulty settings.  Because of this, the player must swipe with extreme precision if all zombies are to be destroyed, and if Diox misses an attacking zombie, he takes damage until it is game over.  In short, there just isn’t enough time to swipe the stylus.  Each musical track also too long, increasing the difficulty even further.  The game just seems to be placed at an unfair imbalance that only the most dedicated gamers will continue to pursue.

For a game based around music, it is composed of unforgettable and unimpressive musical tracks.   It is really nothing more than generic rock and roll.  Also, the 3D effect is one of the worse I have seen on the system; playing in 2D is much preferred as things actually blur together with the 3D slider turned up.

Besides the main story mode, players have the option to go back and play individual songs and there are many guitar picks to unlock; these picks act as the built-in Achievement point system.  There are many Achievements to unlock but be warned that there is a lack of multiplayer mode and online functionality.

Zombie Slayer Diox deserves credit for providing a new spin on a music game.  But the clunky control scheme, lacking musical score, and challenging gameplay is not very approachable.  With other higher quality handheld music titles available at record low prices, it is hard to give Diox a second look.

5/10

Not As Good As: Guitar Hero: On Tour

Also Try: Rock Band: Unplugged

Wait For It: Typing of the Dead 2

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