Atom Zombie Smasher

While I can't figure out what's going on with the title, I love this game.  A strategic roguelike-like, Atom Zombie Smasher sets you as the containment protocol commander during the 'zed' apocalypse.  You direct your various mercenary forces to save the gold dots from the purple dots civilians from the zombies.

Dots everywhere!

Atom Zombie Smasher is the pure core of strategy.  Given a set of constraints, solve a problem.  In this case, the problem is "save all the people or kill all the zombies."  The constraints are what make the game interesting.  Your mercenary roster rotates on a semi-random basis, so most missions are run with a group of three units the game chooses for you.  Each in-game month, a new modifier comes into affect, which can be anything from improved helicopter speed to decreased daylight to speedier zombies.  The outbreak level of your chosen mission site will determine not only the number of zombies running about, but can even modify your objective.

Also, this game is hard.  Failing a mission does not end the game, so the fail state will be determined by where things stand at the end of the campaign.



Things started out rosy.  The first half dozen missions or so are fairly easy, as you are unlocking your mercenary teams and the game is teaching you to play.  My first two missions resulted in successful evacuations, although progressing through the night in the second was a little nerve-wracking:

So many zombies!

Once I got some units unlocked, things tilted even more in my favor, and I started successfully wiping out the enemy, resulting in a territory capture.  Captured territories get me bonus points on the monthly updates to the victory bar, so I want as many as possible.  They are also safe zones that can't get re-infected.

This screen makes me happy

I'm sufficiently badass that I grab a five hundred point lead, hitting my first blip on the victory bar well before the zombies approach theirs.  In my case, victory bar milestones unlock additional resources, like science labs and superweapons.  When the zombies cross their milestones, I am faced with new constraints, such as mega-zombies and exploding gas mains.

Suck it, shambling devils!

Unfortunately, immediately after this I face my first defeat.  The combination of reduced helicopter speed, and largely non-lethal units, left my civilians overly vulnerable to getting chomped on.  I only managed to rescue 41 of the required 60, so the zombies closed the gap on the victory bar and held on to the territory.

Snipers don't shoot fast enough

Within a few months, my lead has dwindled to barely-there.  I'm winning in victory points, but Zed controls most of the map.  Even when I complete missions successfully, its not enough.  I'm so far behind on territory that the zombies are eating away at my lead.

Extinction Outbreaks (purple zones) are search-and-destroy missions

Fortunately, I've unlocked some fun toys, in the forms of the catbird cannon and elephant gun.  The catbird cannon is a special weapon I can use on any mission, and is 'loaded' by killing zombies or rescuing civvies.  It's a great last-ditch area-of-effect.  The elephant gun is really only useful on search and destroy missions:

Nuke it from orbit! It's the only way to be sure!

As gratifying as leveling cities can be, my new toys aren't much help.  A few months more, and its the beginning of the end:  the zombies have surpassed me in victory points.  It will take a miracle or a cheat code to get control of the situation.

Uh-oh

It was really only a matter of time, after that.  I am rather proud of myself that I managed to reach all of the victory bar milestones, though.

Make sure to zoom in and read the text.  Trust me, its worth it.

Atom Zombie Smasher is an absolute blast to play.  I feel that I made a good showing, and more playthroughs might see a win one day.  In the meantime, this gem must be shared:

Yes, that does say 'llama'

On to Audiosurf!