Posted by Ross
Thu, 25th Apr 2013
Hi everyone. While we’ve recently talked about some of the more obvious new features in OMG HD Zombies! for the Vita, there have also been some changes that we’ve been keeping under the radar. One of these is the brand new zombie death animations that we’ve been cooking up.
In both OMG-Z and OMG Zombies, each variety of zombie only had one death sequence. Our fiendishly minded artist, Jake, was sure we could improve on that, so for OMG HD Zombies! he has created three new suitably macabre death sequences for each zombie. Let’s check them out:
So when can you get your hands on this zombie-fest I hear you ask? Well, I’m delighted to say that the finishing line is well and truly in sight and we’re expecting to resubmit OMG HD Zombies! to Sony very soon. If all goes well, you can expect us to announce a release date in the next couple of weeks. Hooray! :)
In Hungry Giraffe related news, the four new calorie packs are now available for purchase on PSN, although at the time of writing you cannot purchase them in-game and have to grab them direct from the Store. You can pick up 45,000 calories for £0.65, 450,000 calories for £2.39, 1,350,000 calories for £5.19 and a massive 3,600,000 calories for £10.99.
Purchasing the 450,000 calorie pack for £2.39 would allow you to max out your hard hat storage slots, increase your resistance to poison, pills and dumbbells as well as increase the benefit you gain from chillies whilst still leaving enough calories left over to purchase the mighty “Mecha Giraffe!” (the most expensive skin in the game.)
Please be aware that these packs do not count towards the ‘Consume 3 Million Calories’ trophy. You’ll still need to get that one the hard way. :)
That’s all for now. I’ll be back next week, but until then you can join us on our Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google+ pages where we will be posting all the news from Laughing Jackal.
Posted by Ross
Thu, 18th Apr 2013
Hi everyone! So who enjoys blowing up the undead? And who would like to know about the brand new zombies that you’ll be able to decimate in OMG HD Zombies? If you do, then this is the blog post for you, because today I’ll be introducing all three of the new zombies-types that you’ll be able to destroy in your goriest of gory chain reactions!
Say hello to the Mortar Zombie, a regular civilian-turned-zombie but in this sad case his brain has reacted adversely to the fungus, building up enormous pressure inside his skull, giving his head a hideous appearance (even for a zombie :)). When killed, this poor Mortar Zombie’s head will fly up off the screen before landing at a random point in the play area of the level, bursting all over the place.
Mortar Zombies can be upgraded to increase the splash radius around their brain on landing, to increase damage caused by the brain’s explosion and lastly to increase their population within the level.
Despite the enormous destruction it has been responsible for, the zombie fungus remains poorly understood. For example, we have recently discovered a unique reaction which can occur in some female victims of the fungus creating the Runner Zombie. When a Runner Zombie is attacked it will run forwards for a limited distance before exploding in a similar way to regular Civilian Zombies.
Runner Zombies can be upgraded to deal more damage when bursting, to increase their blast radius and to have their population increased.
Another example of this can be found in the Taser Zombie. A highly mysterious mutation of the regular fungal infection, Taser Zombies metabolise the fungus in a wholly different way to their undead brethren, where their bodies become charged with huge amounts of barely-contained energy.
When the Taser Zombie is attacked the explosive reaction of the fungus unleashes this energy in a powerful bolt that is automatically launched in a random direction. If the energy bolt connects with another zombie, a bolt of electrified energy extends between the two and remains there for a limited time. The Taser Zombie and its victim remain locked in position as long as the bolt lasts.
While the two zombies are electrified, any zombie coming into contact with the energy bolt is immediately trapped by it and takes chip damage every couple of seconds, effectively setting up a trip wire inside the level.
Taser Zombies can be upgraded to make their energy bolts last longer, have a greater effective radius and to increase their population in a level.
Posted by Ross
Fri, 12th Apr 2013
Hi everyone,
Great news! After months of hard work here at Laughing Jackal we’re ready to unveil our latest Vita project. From my recent Tweets, some of you may have already guessed, and it’s easily our most requested game from our more vocal Twitter and Facebook followers, so I’m genuinely thrilled to reveal that our new game is (drum roll please)… OMG HD Zombies!
The OMG HD Zombies! title screen in all its g(l)ory.
If that name seems familiar it’s because OMG HD Zombies! is a wholly revamped full-blooded Vita homage to our Minis title, OMG-Z, which first reared its badly decomposing head in 2011 and is currently ranked in the Top 10 PSP games of all time on Metacritic. The reviewers loved it, with Eurogamer calling OMG-Z: “...a monstrously addictive quick-fire affair that utterly nails what on-the-go handheld gaming should be about.” and awarding it 9/10.
For those of you who never experienced the simple joys of zombie-horde-popping the first time, the undead infection in OMG HD Zombies! is the result of a scientific experiment on a virulent fungus that causes its zombified victims to explode when attacked. Any infected matter ingested or inhaled by a human victim causes them to become a zombie in turn.
That’s pretty cool in itself, but the best part is that if any infected matter lands on another zombie then that zombie explodes too, causing a rapid chain reaction of gory explosions and maximising the likelihood of nearby victims being infected. Wise to this knowledge, your Riot Cop character is able to take down whole city blocks of the undead with a single well-placed rifle round and a well chosen vantage point.
For example look how some heavily upgraded Civilian Zombies can be made to work for you:
Step 1:
I just shot the zombie that’s beginning to split in half in the left–most part of the horde with my first bullet.
Step 2:
Now you can see that the whole lot of them have died in an unstoppable chain reaction of blood and gibs. Kinda like a fusion reaction, but cooler in both senses. Notice no more bullets have been used (see bottom-centre of the GUI.)
If I had to describe OMG HD Zombies! in a sentence (which I should as I’m trying to sell it to you guys) it’d be this:
“OMG HD Zombies! is kind of like the world’s most satisfying bubble wrap, where – if you pop the right one – the whole sheet bursts, one bubble after another… plus every bubble is full of zombie gibs that literally paint the town red = Win.”
Here’s a list of all the additions we’ve made to OMG HD Zombies! over and above the original game:
- More Graphics! – ALL background, character and menu artwork has been redrawn from scratch. Plus there are a ton of extra zombie death animations.
- More Zombies! – We’ve thrown three new zombie classes into the mix (say hello to the new Runner, Taser & Mortar zombies!)
- More Levels! – We added 19 brand new levels, so now there’s 100 brand new level layouts of zombie-slaying action.
- More Upgrades! – We have 100 upgrades for you to buy at our all-new Upgrades menu.
- Prestige Mode! – Something extra for the completionists out there. Complete the game to 100% Platinum standard and you can Prestige the game and start over again, boosting your leaderboard scores as you go.
- Trophies! – 12 bronze, silver and gold Trophies to unlock.
- Online Leaderboards! – Now you can compare your skills against the best zombie slayers around the world.
- Touch Controls! – Choose between the traditional control method or new touch screen controls.
- New Comics! – As well as 2 new endings, we reveal more of the back story to the zombie outbreak in our specially extended comic book intro.
I’m sure you’ll agree that’s quite the feature list. We have basically given you a sequel to the original game in all but name. Everything’s either brand new or reworked from scratch to provide the ultimate zombie-slaying thinking gamer’s shooter.
We’ll be revealing more about some of those new features over the coming weeks, but for now I hope you’re as excited as we all are about OMG HD Zombies! Like I said earlier, we’ve poured everything into this and I’m sure you’ll see that when you get to play it in a few weeks’ time.
Tune in next week for another update: I guess we can introduce you to our new zombies! Until then, have a great week and spread the word:
OMG! The zombies are back and this time they’re very, very HD! O_o
Thanks,
Al
