City of Rott: Streets of Rott Demo

Zombies are one of the most overused tropes in video games and movies, yet there seems to be no end in sight at the moment. There is always a new mechanic or idea one can exploit to attract some players, especially when it comes to games. This is not even a new thing, given the fact that zombies have been in games for a few decades now.

City of Rott: Streets of Rott is not a very original game, but it tries to appeal to a specific niche of gamers. In essence, this is a 2D sidescrolling beat ‘em up, but with zombies instead of tough street fighters. Since not even the genre by itself is very popular at the moment, it should be interesting to observe the public’s reaction, probably fueled by the fact that the game is not very good either.

There are three characters to choose from, but only one is playable in the demo. As such, you can take the role of an old man fighting with a walker, which although is pretty funny, it gets boring rather fast. Other than that, there’s a typical tough guy with a saw blade, and a woman who seems to be completely naked, for some reason. As such, not much awaits you in the story department either.

The zombies themselves do not come in too many varieties, so you’ll be fighting the same two or three models at all times. Not only that, but they also seem to blend in with each other, which makes it more difficult to avoid their hits. On the other hand, the gameplay mechanics are very confusing and sometimes broken, given the fact that your character appears to move chaotically around the screen sometimes.

You’ll also stumble into a plethora of bugs, but some of them can be excused due to the early development stage. The lack of variety and content is tougher to excuse, however, mainly because it should be the focus of the game. Repetition and linearity in the same package do not make a dream combo, since it’s more like the perfect recipe for boredom.

In the end, City of Rott: Streets of Rott is just not up to the task at the moment, and it needs a lot more work before it can become something people can enjoy. Moreover, the journey will be that much more difficult when you consider the overcrowded genre the game tries to fit into.