One example of the fun and macabre art style of Zombie Tycoon.

Zombie Tycoon is the latest casual title for the PSP by Canadian software giant Frima Studio. Built on the Vicious Engine, this beautifully illustrated RTS definitely has its share of strengths and weaknesses.

Zombie Tycoon boasts ten unique levels, each with its own goals, puzzles, and rewards. To conquer the living inhabitants of each stage, the player must wield three customizable zombie units, each consisting of up to eight zombies.

There are also a variety of trophies associated with different goals, ranging from challenge-based tasks like finishing a level within two minutes, to collection-based tasks  like dressing zombies up in unique costumes.  You should expect to spend anywhere from five to ten hours on the title depending on how far you’re willing to go once you’ve completed the ten levels of the main story.

Immediately upon loading the first level, you will notice that the game interface is very rudimentary. The UI provides a set of color-coded unit frames at the top left of the screen which only serve two functions:  First, to show how many zombies are left in each unit and, second, to alert the player to combat activity by flashing when a zombie from that unit takes damage.  Color-coded health bars are additionally displayed beneath each individual zombie or enemy; red, green and blue are for your zombies, while yellow is for enemies.

The only map available to the player does not provide the player with a map marker showing their current camera position or zombie position(s).  Unlike most traditional RTS games, which allow the player to move their cursor and perform actions without moving their viewpoint, the cursor in Zombie Tycoon is fixed in the center of the screen, which forces the player to move their view of the area while issuing commands to their units.

Our human friend here is the joyful recipient of the X button.

Map limitations aside, controls are simple: Square, Triangle, and Circle command each of the three units individually to move or attack, with X commanding all three units simultaneously.  Your viewpoint is moved using the analog stick.

The zombie equipment interface is more intelligent than the game interface.  When you open the equipment interface by hitting the “L” button, you are presented with a close-up visual of each of your active units.  To equip an item on a unit, you highlight the unit you’d like to outfit with the directional pad, then hit the “X” button.  From there, you will see the five equipment slots: head, chest, right hand, left hand, and feet. As you destroy structures, you acquire items to occupy each of these slots and thus outfit your zombie horde as you progress through the story.

My only complaints in the zombie equipment interface stem from the lack of a way to shuffle quickly between units while looking directly at the current slots of one unit, and the lack of an organization structure in the equipment lists themselves.

The level design is actually quite good in contrast to the control and UI shortcomings.  Puzzle, objective and combatant difficulty starts low and steadily increases  as the levels progress.  The level designers did a good job of keeping the game from completely becoming “point, click, kill” – with goals ranging from guarding multiple exit points and preventing the living from escaping, to urging a frightened cow through a winding dirt path by startling it from behind (Flock, anyone?).  My complaints in this regard can be narrowed down to the trap system—which by the end of the game requires you to swap frequently between roughly 10 different items to prevent your zombies from being destroyed instantly as you traverse each level.

Okay, so maybe they wouldn't sing "Happy Happy Joy Joy", but you get the idea.

The B-movie quality story/dialogue, Ren & Stimpy meets Plants vs Zombies art style, and over-dramatized sound clips all serve to keep the game light and funny.  There are even a few pop culture references in the game to make you grin (or groan).  So whether you’re enjoying the effects of zombification on buildings or chuckling at the programmable road signs reading “Warning Zombie Outbreak”, Zombie Tycoon’s personality is definitely its strongest selling point.

While it doesn’t really adhere to what “Tycoon” might imply from the title, as there is a complete absence of the type of academic challenges found in other tycoon titles, Zombie Tycoon definitely makes a brave attempt to bring an RTS title to the PSP market.  At its heart, the game will appeal to casual audiences who find the zombie genre amusing and are more interested in the comedy of the game than its controls/interface.