Undead Knights
A Hack 'n Slash game developed by Team Tachyon for the PSP in late 2009. Some describe it as "Pikmin with zombies", others as "a Japanese take on Overlord".
It stars Romulus Blood, a dutiful and loyal knight who speaks out against injustices committed by King Gladys (and his domineering new wife) and is unceremoniously murdered, along with his brother Remus and Remus' fiancee Sylvia Gladys (on their wedding night, no less). The event was known as the Marriage of Blood. However, all three make a deal with a demon and are brought back from the dead as Undead Knights. They are given the power to turn living humans into slavering zombies simply by grabbing and holding them for a short period of time, and set off to make the kingdom of Cavalier and all her allies burn.
This turns out to be an incredibly useful ability and the main focus of the gameplay. The Bloods are able to command their minions in a variety of ways; beefy mid-boss that you can't take on your own? Sic your army of minions on him! Something huge coming your way? There isn't a problem that can't be solved by throwing enough zombies at it! Archers have you pinned down in a courtyard killing ground? You can order your zombies to bash down the archer blinds or better yet, get your own hands dirty with a minion as your willing shield!
The entire game takes after schlock horror flicks such as the Evil Dead series in all of their cheesy glory, something the developers cited as their inspiration for making it.
- Big Freaking Sword: Romulus' weapon of choice. It's actually got the top broken off. It used to be even longer!
- Boss Rush: The invasion of Cavalier itself has you fighting all of the previous bosses. Some of the weaker ones are cloned for double the fun!
- Bulletproof Human Shield: Or, more accurately, arrowproof zombie shield.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Ooooooh yes. All three of the Bloods have filthy mouths, compared to the rather formal enemies, possibly to emphasize their tainted nature.
- Corrupt Church: The Knights of the Holy Tree now worship Fatima as a saint and believe she is the Holy Tree incarnate.
- Crowning Moment of Funny: Zombies hurling other zombies into slots on a door so it can be opened.
- Deal with the Devil: well, a devil, not the devil.
- Digital Piracy Is Evil: A downloadable demo of the game was released shortly before the retail version came out...which happened to contain the full game on it, fully functioning features and all. The demo was fixed after about a couple of days or so, but by then, the game was on pretty much every torrenting site one could think of.
- Dual-Wielding: Remus and his twin daggers.
- Excuse Plot: Ah, a classic tale of betrayal and revenge. A tragic romance sacrificed to the fires of politics. Now go make more zombies.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: You can't proceed without using your cannon fodder zombies as blunt instruments, sometimes literally.
- Giant Mook: Executioners and their ilk.
- Oh Crap: The first time you encounter enemy zombies. They're blue, and a lot more agile than your own, able to jump into the air with a shrieking wail. And, of course, you can't zombiefy them, meaning your entire gameplay style up to now is meaningless.
- One-Winged Angel: Almost all the bosses.
- Phlebotinum Rebel: The Bloods eventually decide to throw off the influence of the Beast and go off to die on their own terms as undead knights.
- Press X to Not Die: Or rather, to advance through the game.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: You never see the real appearance of Cult of Orouboros members but they are most certainly snake-like and most certainly evil.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: "They will all die. ALL OF THEM!"
- Shut UP, Hannibal: The Bloods' response to Queen Fatima's speech on how she plans to create a world where humans can live forever can be accurately summed up as "I don't care. You ordered my death. Prepare to die. Bitch."
- Sinister Scythe: Sylvia's.
- Spawn Broodling: The entire point of the game is to kill enemies and turn them into allies at the same time. There's even a bonus if you manage to weaken them enough with regular attacks before hitting them with your zombie hand: they zombiefy instantly and restore a bit of your health.
- Steve Blum[context?]: He voices King Gladys.
- So Bad It's Good: The plot. The gameplay is rather fun.
- Tech Points: Also known as Dark Energy.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can and will order your zombies to make bridges. Across lava.
- Villain Protagonist: Of course.
- X Meets Y: Pikmin meets Dynasty Warriors by way of a Zombie Apocalypse.