2.5/5 ★ – danbremner96's review of Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse.

Stubb's the Zombie: The Rebel Without a Pulse (2021) (PS4) (First Time Play) Released back in 2005 and now remastered and ported to the current generation of consoles Stubb's the Zombie is a comedy zombie game about eating brains and well... Not much else? Stubb's himself can only say one word "Brains", a patriotic and fist bumping speech from Stubb's in front of the American flag is a certain highlight of the comedy and just how much you can get out of such a limited vocabulary. I do like the design of Stubb's, half his stomach missing, green skinned and always with a cigarette in his mouth. The setting of a futuristic '50s America instantly gave me Destroy All Humans vibes, but this lacked the satirical bite of that franchise, although it's not without its moments. Characters are ridiculous, over the top and it's all very silly. The anti communist sentiment of the time is hilariously captured as everyone and everything calls you a commie for simply no reason. I sadly never got to play this back at its release as I never had an OG Xbox, but this remaster on PS4 looks and plays very well for a now 17 year old game. The load times are also instant, every time you die you instantly return to the checkpoint and carry on. Character models and details obviously aren't up to a 2021 standard, but it certainly looks better than the Xbox/PS2 era. While we do learn some vague backstory to our titular zombie, the game rarely deviates from "Eat brains and turn people into zombies", which is a constant loop through the whole game. It wears it's welcome out very quickly, and while there is the odd boss fight and a poorly designed dance section, it just isn't enough in terms of variety. As I shuffled my way from area to area, my patient did wear thin. While you eat your way through Greasers, police, soldiers, scientists and even Deliverance style hillbillies wielding chainsaws there is a distinct feeling that they all ultimately feel the same. Thankfully the amount of abilities you acquire throughout can keep things more fun. Using Stubb's head as a bowling ball to infect anyone in it's path was a treat, as was the constant farting used to stun enemies. Stubb's the Zombie certainly has its charms and solid humour but is hampered with a repetitive structure that wears out it's welcome very quickly. Glad I finally got round to playing it, but it sadly shows as a product of its time. There is enough here with the character and setting that I would like to see a sequel on modern day consoles though. So it wasn't a total waste. 5/10 Dans