Genre: Survival Horror, Educational
Year: 2013
Developed by: WOW Entertainment
Published by: Sega
Platforms: PC
#188
Feeling Like: My type
I don’t like to toot my own horn much, mostly because I have no reason to.
I peaked in cricket nearly 20 years ago, and the peak was hardly a mountain to begin with. I can barely get through a pick up game of soccer without hobbling off with an injury. I was an OK student, but hardly in the top echelon. I don’t win much at board games, I’m not particularly fast (anymore) and I keep bumping into stuff as I get older.
I am, however, good at typing.
Very good.
We learned touch typing back in the third grade at GNS. FFF, JJJ, FFF, JJJ, FFF, FFF, JJJ, JJJ, FF, JJ, F. We practiced that opening lesson so much to see who could get the highest Word Per Minute. I don’t think I was the fastest, but it’s one of the few skills in life that I seem to be getting better at.
OK, compared to the best in the world I’m pedestrian. I’m sure the world record holder probably types over 200 WPM, or uses a DVORAK keyboard or they’re a Stenographer. Regardless, when it comes to any kind of challenge involving typing, I want to tackle it.
When I heard that we were getting an updated Typing of the Dead version in 2013, I was ecstatic. There are very instances where I stroll into the game fresh confident I was going to kick its ass.
And I did. I just didn’t expect to have this much fun with it.
The game’s premise is simple – you have to go through levels taking down zombies, demons and other monstrosities from hell by typing in various words. There’s no reloading, ammunition or traditional shooting. You have to type to score kills and defend yourself; the interface is clean and the words are easy to type, but when the impending march of enemies starts to close in, it’s natural to panic. A typo results in a reset attempt of the word. It’s counter-intuitive to be asked to type more quickly than you normally would AND be 100% accurate, but therein lies the challenge.
You can’t make a game like this and not be cheesy, and the developers lean into it. They know what this is – it’s not Shakespeare, you’re blasting away ogres and the undead by typing. It’s as stupidly brilliant as it sounds.
I loved how various sections would have themed groups of words; anything was possible, from Shakespearean plays (hey, it IS Shakespeare!) to types of flowers. I often laughed at the frequent use of inside jokes or internet memes. I think that’s why I played through the entire thing in one session; I was entranced by the spectacle and chuckled often at the word selection.
It also contains one of the best final bosses in gaming history.
As the giant, naked, disgusting witch titan thing looms aggressively, instead of typing various prompts thrown at you, it will give you a particular word, or character from the game. Your job is to type as many words as possible that are associated with that word.
It was the only time in the entire game that I died, mostly because I was laughing so much or just stunned that the game had thrown in this type of switch-up. It was still closely tied to the fundamentals of the game; type, and type quickly. This time, however, you had to be creative.
One prompt in particular is about as childish and immature as you can get; the developers knew EXACTLY what 99% of the gamers would type and all I’ll say is the character in question would get a lot of attention walking down the street. I almost felt guilty typing “TITS!” “BREASTS!” “SULTRY!” “WOMAN!” ….but it worked, so don’t blame me! The game itself is a schlocky B-movie, there’s no room for sophistication or taste here. Better to lean into it than be ashamed of who you are.
It’s not exactly a genre that has many high profile titles and the ones that do come along aren’t automatically beloved by me. Epistory – Typing Chronicles was fairly disappointing, I don’t think movement AND typing is a good combination, the gameplay felt sluggish and nowhere near as satisfying as Typing of the Dead: Overkill. Still, for a niche, silly product that emerged from a fan mod, I absolutely loved it. I’d play a sequel in a heartbeat.
The 500 