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Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick Review - Xbox

Are you a button-masher fan? Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick will give you blisters that you can tell a story about to your mates. A strange lightning bolt has hit the TV studios, and before you know it, it's up to you to save the world from zombies. What an uncanny, unrepentant storyline this game has! GameBiz investigates why this game didn't make it to the top, and what Vis (the developers) could have done to improve on it immensely. For those that don't know Vis, they are the masterminds behind the game State of Emergency - and for those of you that have played that game, you'll be glad to know that Evil Dead is using the same engine. So picture your gangster killings, then turn them into zombies and there you have Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick.

Gameplay

Evil Dead is not trying to get you too deep into the storyline, as that's not what it's about. The storyline is there nevertheless, but it's not a very intriguing one. After killing your bartender that's been your good mate for quite some time, you decide that this world has definitely changed. With your trusty shotgun, you set off to see what the hell is going on. For those of you that have watched the Evil Dead movies, they'll be happy to know that the voiceover is done by Bruce Campbell as well, which can really get you into the game if you're a fan. Luckily this game was released with a RRP of $49.95, so it will sell to those that are only interested in a new game where they can go on violent rampages and kill anything that looks dead already.

The game handles fairly well, as Ash (the main character) battles through the hordes of zombies. Camera angles never get caught up, and the framerate is very smooth. Fans of the movie trilogy can not go past this game, as it has the trifecta - Ash, a chainsaw, and his boomstick. The bosses are occasionally an interesting challenge, and there are multiple puzzles throughout the game that might keep the inexperienced gamer boggled. Overall though, with only 6 real levels in the game, it won't take you long to beat.

Playing through the story mode will unlock modes for you in arcade, which can then be used to record your fastest times of killing a certain amount of zombies in a set time. This is a nice little bonus feature that Vis have added in. Another cool feature of Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomstick is the ability to cast spells. There are quite a few spells that you learn throughout the game that will help you progress through the harder parts, and to gain magic all you need to do is run over the zombies you've killed, and absorb their soul. Some (continued next page)