Corpse Killer

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Corpse Killer
Developer(s) Digital Pictures
Publisher(s) Digital Pictures
Release date(s) 1994
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Mature (M)
Platform(s) Sega CD, Sega CD 32X, 3DO, Saturn, Windows
Input Controller, Menacer lightgun

Corpse Killer is a game released for the Sega CD, Sega CD 32X, 3DO, Sega Saturn and Windows 95 computer that featured full motion video in a format similar to other games developed by Digital Pictures. Each version of the game is identical except for two major differences. First of all, the quality of the full motion video is better on every version other than the Sega CD version. Second, after the release of the Sega CD version, Digital Pictures created an option to have English subtitles during the full motion video as critics had complained that it was difficult to understand what the driver was saying in the Sega CD and Sega 32X versions.

Contents

[edit] Story

In the game you play as a United States marine who is air dropped onto a tropical island on a top secret mission to stop the evil Dr. Hellman who plans to release his army of zombies on the world. In the opening credits you become bitten by a Zombie and meet your friends, an attractive WASPish female reporter and your male driver (a Jamaican Rastafarian).

Most of the game play is similar to other shooting full motion video games such as Lethal Enforcers mixed in with full motion video clips. In the game you moved through the jungle shooting various zombies, collecting better ammo (to prepare for a raid on Hellman's compound) and medicine to help stall your transformation into a zombie.

[edit] Cast and crew

  • Director - John Lafia
  • Bridget Butler .... Julie (as Bridgett Butler)
  • John Cassini .... Magliano
  • Gary Anthony Sturgis .... Fleming
  • Erin Bobo .... Duffy
  • Bill Moseley .... Captain (as Bill Mosley)
  • Charles Kahlenberg .... General
  • Jeremiah Birkett .... Winston
  • Vincent Schiavelli .... Dr. Hellman
  • Buddy Daniels .... Electro-Posse Zombie (uncredited)

[edit] Criticism

Critics wrote mixed reviews about Corpse Killer as by the mid-1990s the novelty of these interactive movie games had started to fade. As the second (and final) generation of full motion video games, Digital Pictures had managed to improve the quality of the video and reduced the loading time for the Sega CD version, but critics felt that format of all these interactive movies was starting to seem too repetitive.

Sega's own Video Game Ratings Council gave the game a MA-17 rating mainly for the zombie and voodoo themes, although the game contains little blood and no real graphic violence. In fact many critics commented on how funny the zombies look up close.

[edit] Trivia

  • Many critics find the name of "Corpse Killer" to be ironic, as a Corpse is already dead and thus cannot be killed. However the game deals with fictional reanimated corpses.
  • The Sega Saturn version of the title was released with the subtitle of "Graveyard Edition". This version features a few exclusives such as a difficulty select (ranging from normal to bloodthirsty to cannibal), a new in-game feature that involves items and power-ups that slowly drop down from the top of the screen that can be shot and collected, and all new "in your face" zombie attacks. These attacks involve a zombie that literally pops up right in front of the "camera" and attacks the player. They can only be killed with AP rounds or Datura rounds.
  • Despite being heavily criticized, the Sega Saturn version has a small box on the cover that reads, "One of the Top 20 Games of the Year!".

[edit] References