Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse (henceforth known as just Stubbs... or maybe StZiRWaP) in one seriously old game, having being released in 2005 on PC and about two decades later in 2021 on the consoles when their hardware started to become almost capable. Oh sorry, that was a mistake... also re-released on newer generation consoles in 2021 (the old ones had their release around the same time in 2005 as the PC version!... teehee, PC Master Race!).

A sequel was planned... but was shelved when the development studio folded in 2014. Interestingly enough, on release, the game was condemned by some people as "encouraging cannibalism..."... because you play as a zombie that eats people's brains. Sadly, authorities and society decided not to heed the warnings of the Cassandras, and as a result the following decade recorded a huge spike in incidents involving impressionable children eating other people's brains. Studies are still being undertaken to see if there is a causal link between Stubbs and this sort of antisocial behaviour. With the amount of P-hacking rife in the social sciences... it is likely that eventually a link will be found!

The Setup

Stubbs is set in a post-WW2 American paridise of Punchbowl... where everything good and true about American Apple Pie and stuff is brought to life by the triumph of capitalism and industry. There are no homeless, no communists... and most importantly, no undead. Everything is as pure as a teenage sitcom... just like real life!

... until, one day... Stubbs (the zombie... not the game, I should have probably chosen something else to get over that ambiguity...) rises from the dead to violently break up a lover's idyllic and completely platonic hotdog sharing ceremony.

What would bring a Zombie to the world of Punchbowl? Love of course... and a weird twisted story of chemicals and science experimentation gone wrong.

... and who is the object of undying love? Well, this NOT Marilyn Munro figure... and trust me, the story gets pretty awkwardly weird! Awkward... but hilarious!... if that is your sort of humour.

The Game

Okay... the first thing that I do when starting a FPS style game is to set up the keybinding to the ones that I've had since I started gaming. Actually, not quite since I started... but a little bit afterwards, when I had transitioned to WASD away from the arrow keys. Anyway... F is ALWAYS the USE button! Plus, Y axis is ALWAYS inverted!

Anyway... digression aside, how can this keybinding screen not just bring a smile to your face?

Combat in Stubbs is pretty floaty and terrible... it isn't a difficult game at all, but there is a lack of heft to hits, and corralling your zombie horde is real pain in the bum! However, we do have to give it the benefit of the doubt, as this is a game that is about 15 years old!

The amount of map exploration is pretty thin as well (again... 15 years old...), and the levels are highly scripted corridors.... but then again, 15 years old!

There are some little vehicle sections... and these also suffer from the same sense of floatiness that infects the on-foot sections. They are mercifully short though... and again, very simple to play through and defeat.

Like most games, this cliched "captured" scene and escape sequence appears near the start of the game. One will always wonder why you don't just execute the person who has caused so much destruction right away... seems like the smart thing to do?

Boss battles are QTE battles... but done with some serious style! The first boss battle... is a dance-off with an ex-Nazi commandant! You would never see that coming... and it is emblematic of the writing and humour of the game all the way through! Hilariously unexpected... great in small doses, but so effective!

... because you will infect the town by peeing in their water supply....

Visuals, Sound and Performance

This is no longer a demanding game (even for consoles...), a Switch can run it... and if that notoriously underpowered piece of hardware can do this, then pretty much anything can run this. Honestly, if you can launch the Steam launcher, you probably can do this game!

Visuals are cutting edge for the turn of last century... and similar for the sound effects and music. My gaming laptop was overkill for this game, I ended switching to the iGPU instead of hammering this with the dGPU.

My Thoughts

The combat is terrible and floaty... the visuals are dated, as are the controls. However, there is a crazily hilarious charm to the humour and writing in this game that is just too good! If you haven't played this, this is a really fun 10 hour little romp... I would say that the writing and story are funny enough to slog through the combat... and the combat isn't difficult, it just isn't that engaging. So, definite recommendation... or just watch the YouTube cutscenes!

Review Specs

XMG Fusion 15

CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: SSD (SATA/Nvme)
GPU: Nvidia GTX 2070 Max-Q

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