Do you like classic horror movies? No, I'm not talking about Freddy Kruger, Jason Vorhees, Michael Mayers or any of their friends. I'm talking about the 50s and 60s horror movies. The kind of movies with monsters that nowadays make you laugh and turn the TV off. Well, Horror Zombies from the Crypt pays homage to the genre.
Horror Zombies from the Crypt is a typical arcade platformer. You play as Count Frederick Valdemar, a man who lives alone in a remote mansion. You never get to know why he lives alone or what does he do. However, I think he's up to no good, because suddenly the mansion is invaded by an army of monsters. Yes, a whole army of creepy creatures is coming to your mansion and you need to get out of there. Thus the game begins with you trying to find out what's happening...
There are six levels in total. Each level has a diverse set of famous monsters such as zombies, vampires, werewolves, ghouls, rats and other nasties. These monsters have a variety of attacks at their disposal, but if they get you, your fate is always the same: they will scare you to death to the point where your head explodes (literally!!!) and you wet your pants (you cannot see it, but I'm sure it happens). You must collect a certain number of skulls if you want to leave the current level, because if you don't, the exit door won't open. Also, you will find keys to unlock some doors and green keys to unlock chests. There are lots of secret rooms and you can also pick up special items, such as a pair of boots that let you sneak past some creatures.
As for your weapons, you only can trust in your daggers and your jumping ability. This is bad, because your jumping sucks! Every time you finish a level, you'll get the password of the current level (because you can't save your game) and a picture with a little bit of the story. Controlls are easy to learn: you move your character with the arrow keys, fire with ENTER and use your special item with SPACE.
The game’s graphics are nothing spectacular and below the average, but I liked some of the monsters' animations like the vampire one. It supports EGA and VGA graphics as well. I know there are some music in the game, but it didn't work for me running the game in DOSBox, I just got a few sound effects. I think some configuration is needed in order to get the music.
In conclusion, Horror Zombies from the Crypt is a nice game if you are a fan of the genre or if you are in the mood for some senseless horror; otherwise, you should find something else. Thus it deserves a mark of 3.
Horror Zombies from the Crypt works fine in DOSBox, and you can chose between HZEGA.exe (EGA graphics) and HZVGA.exe (VGA graphics). The game also runs in Windows XP, but it did work very slowly on my system.
Dear Abandonia visitors: Help us keep Abandonia free with a small donation. Abandonia is like an old gaming arcade with only original games. Abandonia helps you have fun four hours and years. If Abandonia is useful to you, please help us forget fundraising and get back to Abandonia.
