Mow a Bloody Swath, Organ Trail Director’s Cut

I have mixed feelings about the whole bit-revival thing.  Most of it seems to be nostalgic throwback garbage.  However, Organ Trail Director’s Cut succeeds by going beyond bit-revival, to bit-undead.

Produced by Chicago based indie studio Men Who Wear Many Hats, this old school style game tugs on all the right childish heartstrings while having grown up to maturity.  Don’t worry if you never played Oregon Trail; if you’ve ever enjoyed a zombie movie then there’s something here for you.  If you’ve ever enjoyed more than one zombie movie, then there’s a lot here for you.  The jokes are plentiful and achieve hilarity by being tastefully over-the-top.

You pick a band of survivors and attempt the trek across a nuclear waste of the United States in a beat-up station wagon.  Along the way you have to make it through hoards of zombies, bandits, and all manner of road obstacles.  The real challenge of the game though is in economical resource management.  Do you risk scavenging at night when Zombie levels are high?  Do you trade medkits for car fuel?  Do you put down an incapacitated companion to save food?  Tough times make for tough choices.

I’ve been playing it on my phone but it’s not an ideal mobile game.  It demands more time and attention than spare moments allow, so don’t pick it up unless you can invest more than ten minutes of play at a time.  Also the touch controls can be spotty at times and more than once have had me swearing at them.  Mercifully, it’s also available on Steam.

I recommend this one to anyone with time to kill, and a taste for retro zombies.