Corpse Killer

Believe it or not, Corpse Killer is a big improvement over most of Digital Picture's full-motion video offerings. Instead of trapping vampires or double switching Deborah Harry, Sega CD owners have a chance to pick up their Menacers and shoot zombies. Although it sounds ambitious on paper, Corpse Killer ultimately suffers from the same problems that plague most light gun games.

The gimmick here is the full-motion video, which is able to weave a pretty interesting story about an island overrun by, you guessed it, zombies. But here's the catch: The player is bitten by zombie right as he starts the dangerous mission. With time not on his side, our hero must defeat the evil Dr. Hellman and find a cure.


Before long, we are introduced to two friendly characters. One is an attractive young reporter looking for a big scoop; the other is a Rastafarian driver. Together, these three travel around the island digging up answers and shooting zombies. Who knows how far up this zombie conspiracy goes? Could the President be involved? These three survivors intend to find out.

When not enjoying the purposely cheesy cinemas, players are spending their time shooting at an island full of zombies. Corpse Killer uses a combination of full-motion video backgrounds and real stunt actors. The result is less than convincing, as it's painfully obvious that these two were not filmed at the same time. Somewhere there is a reel of nothing but zombie actors hamming it up in front of a green screen. Even with the full-motion gimmick, Corpse Killer is just another version of the same old shooting gallery we've seen in Lethal Enforcers, Hogan's Alley and countless other light gun games.


Despite the gameplay limitations, I found myself riveted to the goofy storyline. I was somehow able to overlook the crummy acting, unintelligible accents and questionable zombie rules. I actually cared what happened to these characters, as poorly written as they are. Make no mistake about it, this is not on the level of The Walking Dead. However, it's certainly more interesting than any of those Resident Evil movies.

I found myself almost ready to recommend Corpse Killer for the lengthy narrative, but I can't give a pass to the rote gameplay. At the same time, I'm happy to play another game that supports Sega's Menacer. It may be a terribly flawed game, but Corpse Killer is not without a certain endearing charm.