Yes, that whole thing is the title.
The folks behind Steam offer up some pretty incredible deals each weekend and this last weekend was Stubbs for 75% off which made it $5. I figured what the hell since it's only $5 and it has zombies.
Well, I am happy to say that I didn't get ripped off. No matter what else I have to say about the game, Stubbs definitely has $5 worth of gameplay and story.
The story revolves around a utopian town called Punchbowl run by a guy named Monday. Everything is perfect in Monday, and then Stubbs pops out of the ground in the middle of the city. The rest of the story is mainly you running around chomping brains until a random cut scene deep into the game gives you a hint that something else is going on.
As Stubbs, you shamble around attacking innocent people, which turns them into zombies. Not every turns into zombies though, as those who are run over, killed in an explosion, and some who are shot do not reanimate. I have no idea why.
These zombies are weaker than you and do a great job of distracting enemies or grouping up to over power a single enemy. Beyond that, they're worthless.
Stubbs has multiple attacks that are refeshed by eating brains and only eating brains. His main attack is a simple slash, then there's the brain eating... After that, he has a fart that is an area attack weapon, but is limited in range. He can throw his pancreas as a grenade that does explosive and gas damage. He can roll his head like a bowling ball which does gas damage in its path and can also be exploded. Finally, he can rip his hand off, which then becomes a controllable character you can use to possess someone and use their attacks.
Stubbs can also heal just by standing in place and can drive vehicles and operate their turrets if they have one.
Obviously, the game is intended to be humorous and there are a few funny moments, but the comedy gets thin as the levels get more repetitive.
That's one of Stubbs' biggest problems. Initially, it's a blast eating brains and creating a zombie army, but that's what you're doing CONSTANTLY. Sure, there are a couple of moments where the developers force you to do something different like use your hand, but overall, this is a game where you are simply shambling and attacking.
The other problem is the level of difficulty. Stubbs seriously amps up the difficulty level requiring you to be an absolute master of the game AND have a lot of luck. What makes this worse is that early on, even through the middle of the game, it's so easy that when the difficulty ramps up, it hits you out of nowhere.
What makes it difficult are poor design decisions. For one thing, enemies spawn endlessly in certain places and sometimes they need you to continue giving you fresh brains so you can resupply your ammo. Obviously, these "ammo suppliers" also being enemies that can actually damage you makes the process that much tougher.
Making it tougher is the fact that your enemies progressively get tougher, faster, and carry bigger weapons.
You even fight enemies that can fly, which gives you only one option to fight them with and that's your pancreas, of which, you can only carry three at once before needing a reload.
Hell, you even fight tanks which can also be damaged by the pancreas. The tanks are tough because they can run you over or shoot you (even when you're right next to them).
Remember, you're a slow, shambling zombie, not some quick footed ninja. There were some extremely piss poor design choices here...
That makes the game seriously difficult and not in the good "This is a challenge" type of way, but "This is stupid and frustrating".
Overall, Stubbs was easily worth the $5, so I'm happy. It's not the longest game, but it was of decent length. A lot of repetition among enemies, but they tried to change the levels up more frequently than they could've gotten away with. The story is dumb, but what do you expect.
I wouldn't recommend this to most folks. At that price, sure pick it up and if you hate it, who cares? At any other price, I'd avoid it.
3 out of 10.