Man has the zombie craze been played out by now. Regardless, we still see all these releases featuring the animated corpses of the recently deceased, and we have to admit, when a game like Tread of the Dead comes out that puts an interesting approach on the whole zombie slaughter kerfuffle, it's time to sit up and take notice. Not to say they knock their concept out of the park, but this game is novel and amusing enough to possibly crack the veneer of veteran zombie gamers everywhere.

The game starts in 'adventure mode', with all other modes locked until you play the game enough or choose to pay to unlock everything. In this mode zombies are slowly sauntering towards your defensive position. You have three weapons to dispatch them with (basically three tries to accomplish this task in). You start off with your chainsaw which is flung like a one way boomerang, and then later on you get weapons like the ninja star which splits into three smaller stars. Your weapon is controlled by tilting back and forth. The zombies in each level are set up in such a way that with a little bit of wrist control and ingenuity, you can dispatch them all quite (as your grade at the end of each level is reflected in how many weapons remain and what your combo multiplier was).

The weapons control quite well, and the tilt mechanic can be adjusted. The game moves along at a zombie like pace however, taking far too many levels for the new weapons and modes to open up, and with modes like vehicular mode and zombified mode waiting behind lock and key, your enthusiasm may quickly drop off before you experience these enjoyable takes on the core concept.

With a couple more modes open from the get go or the criteria needed to see some of the more enjoyable later content reduced, Tread of the Dead would be easier to recommend. It is a clever and fun little title that most players should get some enjoyment out of, but its long lasting appeal is certainly in question.