The trend of using Zombies in games does not seem like it’s going to end any time soon. We have so many games, both recently released and upcoming that the boiling point for the genre should be fast approaching. In most cases, it is the protagonist(s) who are trying to defeat Zombies, but what if you could use the Zombies as your own personal army to seek revenge? Well that is the premise behind Koei-Tecmo’s latest PSP release Undead Knights. In what could have been an interesting concept ends up being a repetitive bore-fest hampered by a horrible camera.
Gameplay
Undead Knights revolves around Romulus Blood, a knight loyal to his King. When he proclaims that the King’s wife is slowly betraying him, Romulus, his brother Remus and Sylvia, Remus’ wife and the daughter to the King are all killed. The three make a pact with a mysterious being to return to life and to get their revenge. In order to do so they are given the ability to transform the living into the Undead.
Not exactly a captivating story, it at least puts you into the scenario of the game. Your goal is to traverse through the 20 chapters defeating enemies, monsters and destroying structures in the hopes of reaching the King and Queen and gaining your revenge. In order to do so, you will need to use your Undead Army to assist you.
All three of the characters to choose from have their own attacks, but since you spend the majority of your time creating Zombies and directing them, you don’t get to use their skills too often. Romulus is a brute, with vicious attacks; his brother Remus is extremely fast while Sylvia is the most balanced fighter of the three.
Each of the three Bloods has the ability to transform enemy soldiers into Zombies. In order to do so, you simply have to grab them with the Circle button and allow the transformation process to complete. Once you have done that, you can command them to attack other enemies, pillars or use them to complete tasks such as creating a bridge or shaking down structures. The creation of your Undead army is very simple but they don’t last that long. They are extremely expendable; most of your time spent playing each level will revolve around you grabbing foes and transforming them into Zombies.
Sadly, the gameplay suffers from a number of different annoyances. For starters the levels are extremely generic and repetitive. Your goal almost always is to go from point A to point B and defeat as many foes as you can. Some soldiers you encounter are extremely easy to transform while others are a bit more difficult. However, the real problem is that for the most part, when you manage to create a zombie out of a soldier it simply results in a generic Zombie. It would have been nice if there was a bit more strategy or variety in this. If I transform an Archer to a Zombie, I want a Zombie that can attack long range.
There are some enemies that can be controlled that are not just a regular Zombie, but these monsters are often the ones you are trying to defeat in order to progress. Once you’ve defeated them, you have either completed the stage or are moving on to the next checkpoint. What should be cool additions to your army are simply wasted.
The other problem is the game’s persistent camera issues. There is no proper free flowing camera, so when you are trying to properly direct your Zombie horde, you will be fumbling for a moment. This issue is even more prevalent if you are in a corner; you are unable to see yourself and where you need to move. If you have enemies blocking your path, then expect to die rather quickly.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, Undead Knights has some potential but there is still too much repetition to really get any sort of enjoyment. The constant re-spawning of generic soldiers overshadows the creative monsters bosses in certain stages. There are persistent graphical glitches that are connected with the aforementioned camera issue. In certain spots, enemies will become transparent and it just looks rather ugly. The environments are also extremely repetitive. It does get a bit better later on, but the chapters are grouped in sections so you will see the same environments for every five chapters.
Undead Knights relies on a heavy-metal soundtrack for its music. It works considering the violence on the screen but it isn’t exactly the greatest sounding music either. As for the game’s voice-acting, it really shows off its cheesiness with really poor dialogue and delivery. It also hurts that there is no attempt at giving the characters facial or mouth animations. It just looks and feels really ugly and you’ll spend more time laughing rather than being absorbed in the atmosphere.
Value
If you’re having a hard time, there is a customizable section where you can use Dark Energy points that you collect in each level to upgrade characters. There is also a title system that you unlock after completing specific objectives. Both of these do add a bit more incentive to go back and complete levels on different difficulties.
There are three multiplayer modes available. They vary from racing to battling monsters but are not connected to the main story. This game would have been better suited with the ability to play through the campaign with a friend. Considering the fact that there are three characters to choose from, the lack of Co-Op makes absolutely no sense.
Conclusion
If you must play everything that contains Zombies, this might hold your interest for a bit, but the interesting concept quickly loses its appeal. There are way too many short-comings to make this a worth-while purchase; a bit more development time would have done wonders to the final product. If you see this Zombie Army, I suggest you move in the other direction.
Mature gaming has come a long way since its infancy. I mean, back in the Atari days, mature gaming was considered "Custer’s Revenge" type of fare. It was crude, senseless, and more often than not, pretty darn offensive. I think it’s safe to say that gaming is finally past that juvenile period, and we’ve now entered an age where a mature game... 
StevieQ
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