I've always hankered for that arcade lightgun feeling at home. Those feels I used to get when stood in a dimly lit noisy arcade on London's Oxford Street in the late 1990's pumping coin after coin into House of the Dead 2 with my pal, perfecting our headshots, nailing each bad guy without missing a single shot, shooting all extras and generally being John Wick well before John Wick was John Wick.
Fast-forward over 20 years and I slap on my PSVR 2 and boot up Zombieland: Headshot Fever Reloaded, not for the first time. It occurs to me that this game has completely overtaken every other PSVR 2 title and PS5 title for my attention. I don't entirely know why at first, It isn't the most graphically beautiful, nor the most inventive, technically incredible or amusing - and then it hits me. I'm transported back to that arcade where I mastered HOTD2. I have the same urges of taking down zombies with perfect execution. I want to master the game. I want to be humankind's saviour - and look cool AF doing it.
Zombieland: Headshot Fever Reloaded sees you join the film franchise original quartet as the newest member of their zombie takedown squad, tasked taking down stages of the undead in ever more increasingly difficult situations, leading to the end game sporting event called the 'Zombieland Invitational.'
Essentially this is a series of timed stages whereby you must kill all zombies and make it to the end as quickly as possible. You can reduce your overall time you place by activating the games 'Adrenaline Mode' - a slow motion state which is triggered (excuse the pun) by planting two or more (depending on particular enemy type) headshots in quick succession in any given zombie. You can extend Adrenaline Mode by consecutive double-taps or shooting thrown objects out of the sky.
There are multiple enemy types, from huge tank-likes requiring an entire clip of 12 bullets to be pumped into their heads, to screamers, throwers (who lob stuff at you to temporarily stun you), small girls, affectionately called Ferals who run at you. The variety of enemy types will keep you on your toes, planning every encounter carefully as you take the enemy down.
The heart of this game is its global scoreboard. The quicker you complete a level, the higher up you place. This in turn will make you play each level countless times, trying to chain double-tap's together, nailing every single bullet, always thinking several shots ahead at any given time.
There are a multitude of weapons and added perks to choose from too, adding plenty of variety to each run. You carry a handgun as your main weapon, which you reload by flicking down on the control stick to remove the original clip then bring the gun rapidly down to your waist area to reload a new clip. You also have a secondary 'special' weapon on your hip which deals lots of damage but is less accurate and has limited ammo. These special weapons range from sub machine guns to shotguns and can really help out when in a tight situation. I tend do keep mine on my hip opting for a double handed grip on my pistol (I find this far more accurate), only grabbing for it when I've either mistimed my reloads or get in a slight panic and end up being confronted by 5 very close up zombies.
You can upgrade your guns by collecting currency during each stage - the currency at hand is toilet paper (because it is a zombie apocalypse). There's a lot to earn, but you will need heaps in order to not only upgrade every weapon, but also partake in the end game invitational event. This event costs 100 TP, so stack them up.
As previously mentioned there are perks you can also unlock and assign to your character. You can use up to three perks at once and you can pick and choose depending on your particular playstyle. There's everything from double TP earning to laser pointer weapon attachments, a perk which stops you being affected by the throwers to one which increases your special weapon ammo.
There are lots of levels to perfect with each one having a number of special in-game tasks unique to a particular level to achieve. These range from getting a particular combo multiplier, to shooting hidden objects, beating certain times etc. and once you think you've mastered them (check the leaderboards) each has it's own 'b-side' remix you can unlock. These remixed levels also offer you challenges but you'll only be able to access the remix levels once you have beaten the its standard levels A-Grade time requirement.
Scoreboard
There are no human survivors to rescue as in HOTD and the like and perhaps adding this would be beneficial. As is, there are dopey zombies who if hit do give you a time penalty, but adding a particular perk can see you not penalised for hitting these guys. I'd find more gratification in being rewarded with a time bonus from saving someone,.
If you are looking for more there is also a gun range with challenges where you can practice and hone your skills.
The PSVR 2 port has benefitted from receiving three new remix levels, a new story level, completely new guns, perks and unlockable gun skins, as well as offering up controller haptics and adaptive triggers to make the guns feel more real, headset rumble and eye-tracking (used for moving from point to point seamlessly).
The game has also polished the art-style, brought in new character models and animations, added new lighting new music, a new hub and generally improved on the original VR release in every way imaginable.
I bought the game on Oculus Quest when it first came out and spent a little time with it, but it never sank its teeth in to me, but Reloaded has got me well and truly hooked.
I'm having so much fun with Zombieland: Headshot Fever Reloaded that I've lost countless evenings to it, clawing my way up the scoreboards and knocking out PlayStation trophies galore. It's become something of a guilty pleasure and dare I say it, possibly on par with late 90's arcade lightgun feels.
Developer: XR Games
Release Date: Feb 22, 2023
Platform: PSVR 2
Reviewed On: PSVR 2
Publisher: XR Games
Genre: Shooter
TGS would like to thank the publisher for the review code supplied for the purpose of this review. For more information please e-mail info@thegamesshed.com
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