Hello Zombie aficionados! I wanted to let you know that Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone will be available on PSN later today! Now for those of you who played the first Zombie Apocalypse (released in 2009) welcome back to Konami’s take on the world of the undead. For those of you who are new to this whole experience, I’m here to give you a few brief and yet thoroughly engrossing (emphasis on “gross”) tips about a world that’s near and dear to my heart.

At its core, the game is an overhead twin stick shooter which places a focus on more of a fast-paced arcade type feel. You’ll deal with thousands of zombies throughout the game, all of which are trying their absolute hardest to eat your brain and steal your soul. That’s the bad news. Your job is to use every arsenal at your disposal to fend off the zombie wave and get the hell off this godforsaken Canadian island.

Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone was developed by our good friends at Backbone Entertainment. Believe me when I say, Backbone and I are proud of the work we’ve done on this little game so please do me a favor and check it out. When you finally get your hot little hands on the game, here are a few tips and tricks to keep you alive and well.

Fools Rush In!
Do not play this game as if you were playing the very first Zombie Apocalypse! Meaning – don’t think you’re going to survive solely on blasting zombies left and right. What’s worse, if you try and rush through the traversal levels you’re gonna get pwned! That said, take your time. Use some strategery. Make sure to use your secondary weapons as often as possible. However, my recommendation is that you try and keep some of your Pwnage Powers handy until you’re in a jam. ESPECIALLY, Father Bill’s. Keeping Father Bill’s Pwnage Power handy at all times will definitely mean the different between beating the level and seeing the “reload the level” screen. Sorry people. No mid-level save points here!

Don’t Get Too Fond of Jeremy
Most players will probably try and focus on Jeremy due to the fact that he carries around a fast shooting Sub Machine gun. But ignore your other characters for too long and your skills will absolutely, positively not improve. This will, of course, make the game tougher than it really needs to be. The ONLY way to upgrade any of your characters abilities is to use them and use their abilities. Keep in mind that someone like Alma may not seem as powerful at first (due to her slow shooting Sniper Rifle) but upgrade her skills and you can take out multiple zombies with just one shot making her a bit of a heavyweight out there!

Konami Code
Will you get a bit of an advantage if you use the Konami Code somewhere in the game? Hm… maybe!

A final thought… be on the lookout for Downloadable Content (Pure Pwnage pack!) coming sometime in mid-to-late November. You’ll get a chance to play as the missing character, FPS Doug, and possibly be reacquainted with some old Zombie Apocalypse friends.

Enjoy the game when it hits PSN later today for $9.99.

True to its name, it was a lot of rushing. And attacking. Mostly with a knife, sometimes with a flamethrower or a machine gun, but always against hordes of faceless Russians (it was the Cold War, which meant that was totally cool that Russians were bad guys and even cooler to come up with a pun-tastic name for the game). And as we approached the 25th anniversary of Rush’N Attack, we realized it might be nice to revisit an old friend.

But bringing a game like this back into something accessible and interesting to a modern audience presented some unique challenges. After all, the primary attack mechanic from the original 1985 game was quite literally a “stab-stab-stab” motion from side to side across the screen, which you can see from some gameplay footage here:

So how did we update this? The answer we found was Systema.

Systema (“The System”) is a form of martial arts practiced by the Russian secret service (Spetznaz). It is characterized by hand-to-hand combat and knife fighting with a goal toward merciless takedowns that are brutal and brief. Incidentally, the developer for this game is Vatra, a studio based in the Czech Republic, a former Eastern Bloc country, and they just so happened to have some people in-house who were intimately acquainted with “The System.”

In the photos and screenshot above, you can see Alex Sila, Senior Producer at Vatra, and Marek Berka, one of the designers of the game, showing off a few of the moves you’ll see in Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot. Their instructors, Jan Sedláček and David Sýkora, are Systema masters, and functioned as consultants and motion capture performers for this game. So yes, these are actual moves.

Now for how it all fits together. In Rush’N Atttack: Ex-Patriot – now available on PSN – you’ll play as Sid Morrow, a CIA operative proficient in Systema, infiltrating a Russian prison to uncover its secrets. You can play in several ways: dash through the game and shank everything in your path, or stealthily make your way through levels, sneaking up on enemies and taking them out with one of your vicious attacks. As you progress through the game, you’ll unlock more and more combos to add to the ferocity of your take downs and the deadliness of your attacks. You’ll pick up a few classic items along the way – a flamethrower here, a machine gun there. But make no mistake: Your knife is your best friend, your most trusted servant and savior as you rush and attack your way through the game.

Just like it was in 1985. With a little something extra this time around.

Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot is available now for $9.99. Be sure to check out our Konami Facebook page. Hope you guys enjoy the game!