December 11th, 2010 | By stewshearer
Skimming through the Flash game fare of Newgrounds over the weekend I took some time to play through The Last Stand 2. Being a defense game, and a zombie-centric one at that, it isn’t exactly overflowing with uniqueness but no matter how many times I load it up it never fails to entertain. A part of this, I know, is because I am a rabid fan of zombies. For some reason the idea of rotting corpses rising from the grave to devour is appealing to me. It’s ironic because in a survival situation I’d probably be one of the first to go. My pudgy sensibilities are tailored more toward casual munching and Oreo dipping than toward overcoming the legions of the dead.
A more tangible hand in my enjoyment of The Last Stand 2 is that it’s just a very well made defense game. You play a survivor of the zombie apocalypse, who having just survived an undead onslaught (the original Last Stand) winds up in a helicopter crash that puts you right at square one. Hearing news of another evacuation attempt you are tasked with making your way from city to city, scouring for supplies, fighting off the dead and ultimately escaping to evacuation site.
The game is split into two parts. During the day you search for supplies, weapons and other survivors. You’re given a set number of hours to explore, and then must choose buildings off of a map of your current location. The time you’ll need to spend searching each building can be viewed by clicking on its icon. You can also use your time to repair your hideout for the coming night. When you’ve used up all your time, you proceed to the night sections, which are focused on combat. You choose your arsenal, set traps and allocate weapons to any other survivors you may have found and then wait for the zombies to come.
When the action starts it’s a simple matter of shooting incoming zombies before they can make it to your barricade. The zombies will come at you both fast and slow. Some will also carry weapons they can use to kill your allies if you give them the chance. This part is fairly straightforward, but still a lot of fun. The game does a good job of raising the difficulty at a comfortable climb. It never feels too hard but also maintains an appropriate level of challenge that keeps it from turning into a cakewalk. In particular, I love the way the game incorporates head shots. Any lover of zombie lore knows that the traditional zombie can only be put down by a shot to the head, something most games ignore out of convenience. In The Last Stand 2, a headshot isn’t necessary, but aiming for the noggin will bring them down more quickly.
The Last Stand 2 as a game is more of a fun distraction than anything substantial. At most you’ll get a few hours of fun out of it. That said, it’s made with enough slick to be worth multiple playthroughs, and though it follows a simple formula it follows it so well that it is remains consistently fun and rarely frustrating.
stewshearer (6 posts)
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