Arizona Sunshine Remake Review
As the long dark nights set it what could be more attractive than some warm Arizona Sunshine? Sure, you are going to fight past hordes of zombies to get a sun lounger by the pool, but that’s a small price to pay if you want to top up your tan.
The original Arizona Sunshine launched in December 2016 with favourable reviews and was followed by a sequel last year. Vertigo games have now taken all the improvements from that sequel and applied them to a total remake of the original, bringing new graphics, new mechanics and even a few tweaks to the maps.
The story remains the same. Our unnamed protagonist wakes up in their cave seemingly months or years into a zombie apocalypse, but has his spirits lifted when he hears a radio message. Could there be more survivors? A five hour campaign follows which can be played solo or with online co-op as our man works his way through caves, train stations, and factories in a bid to locate the source of the broadcast.
The gameplay loop is fairly predictable, a few zombies at the start of each level and then you reach a blocker of some kind which will require a specific item to let you continue. From then on it’s some exploring, more zombie culling before returning, unblocking the doohicky, and being swarmed by a huge number of zombies.
When I say I huge number I am not exaggerating, the difficulty spikes through the roof. One one encounter I used every single bullet I had but the zombies were still coming and I had to run an lap of the map to lead them away from the exit so I could make a dash for it. You do need to play tactically and take out the fast moving critters first, then the armoured zombies and leave the shamblers till last.
The new graphics allow for plenty of gore with limbs popping off and blood gushing from wounds, plus new lighting, explosions effects. The realistic gun reloading mechanic from the sequel is now in place which really adds the tension, fumbling around for a new magazine, inserting and then cocking the gun
Read more on thesixthaxis.com
