Rock of the Dead Message Board

Our main complaint with Epicenter/Conspiracy's Rock of the Dead was that its zombie-killing, rock-fueled action didn't make the guitar peripheral a central part of the experience. But that's apparently working to its advantage today as Conspiracy has just announced that the game is coming to the very guitar-less Facebook in 2011.

No word on when the game is due exactly, but development is slated to start in Q1 of next year and it's a Facebook game so ... what, a couple of weeks after that?

No, no we kid. It'll be at least a month.

#review Kill zombies. Do it with a guitar controller. The concept behind Rock of the Dead sure sounds like a brilliant idea, but the horrible reality of this tedious "strum or die" game quickly sets in. More »

A portion of a 1up review… There’s a great idea lurking around in Rock Of The Dead’s dumb-fun concept, but instead the game winds up being dumb even when it isn’t trying to be.

Shoot it in the head.

I'm not unsympathetic to the plight of the small developer. You've got to battle time, personnel and cash crunches all while competing on the same console as studios that seem to have nigh-bottomless pockets. Even if you've got something original to say, how do you make your voice heard over the MegaCorp loudspeakers?

So from the opening bars of Epicenter Studios' new zombie rhythm game Rock of the Dead, I was willing to look past the sup-par presentation. The bargain price tag certainly doesn't hurt, but the key thing is this: Behind that haggard face hides a single great idea.

UFO Interactive has responded to our inquiry about the missing Wii version of Rock of the Dead, informing us that it's not been canceled. According to a UFO rep, the Wii game is "on the back burner for the time being."

The publisher wouldn't disclose specific reasons for the delay of the Wii release, but told Joystiq that UFO and developer Epicenter Studios are focusing on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions for now, and they plan to get back to the Wii game "once we have accomplished our goals with these two platforms." Once you've accomplished the goal of releasing a game about killing zombies by playing guitars and drums, anything seems possible.

A fact sheet for Epicenter's zombie-murder/guitar music mashup (why not?) Rock of the Dead now presents the title as coming only to Xbox 360 and PS3, with a date of October 5. A Wii version was previously planned, but seems to have fallen away like the walking dead after a sweet solo. In fact, when it was first announced, the game was for Wii only!

We're checking with UFO about the absent Wii game. You can see what could have been (and, on Xbox and PS3, what will be) in two new trailers after the break.

UFO also announced a set of three apps for various iThings to support the release of the main game. Rock of the Dead: Zombie Pong, a free two-player Pong game with musical and undead themes, is available now for iPad. It'll be followed by Rock of the Dead: Zombie Survival, a miniature, top-down iPhone version of the "real" game, and Rock of the Dead: Whack-a-Zombie, which is exactly what it sounds like, also for iPhone.

Rock of the Dead is unapologetically The Typing of the Dead meets Rock Band. As Bryan Jury, CCO of developer Epicenter Studios and producer on the game, put it, "People already own the plastic. We're just giving them a different type of game to play with it." And an on-rails shooter where one uses the guitar or drum peripheral already in close proximity to their entertainment center is certainly different.

Gameplay is what you'd expect from some cracked out House of the Dead mod: creatures of death come toward the screen constantly as the camera moves on rails and it's your job to fret (or drum) the undead to un-undeath. Epicenter believes that the title is compatible with most major guitar and drum peripherals. It's also in the process of testing beyond the Guitar Hero and Rock Band peripherals that many already own.

Both GameFly and Amazon have added PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Epicenter's Rock of the Dead to their databases. For the uninitiated, Rock of the Dead is essentially a clone of Typing of the Dead, with guitars instead of keyboards. You'll have to strum your way through a zombie horde, in an adventure that promises the same "cheesy/campy" humor found in Sega's original arcade game.

Considering the HD consoles are no strangers to guitar controllers, it makes sense that publisher UFO Interactive would want to target every viable platform. With Dr. Horrible's Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day taking starring roles, Rock of the Dead's sheer nerd power definitely has our interest piqued.

[Via superannuation]

All you really need to know about Rock of the Dead is that it's -- as the developers at Epicenter (Real Heroes: Firefighters) describe -- Typing of the Dead meets Guitar Hero. Judging by the build demonstrated to IGN, the game allows you to use a Rock Band or Guitar Hero ax to chop through the legions of the undead. Obviously, a guitar peripheral will be mandatory, though the developer is preparing contingency plan should Nintendo frown upon the requirement.

There's quite a bit of nerdy star power behind the game, with Neil Patrick Harris voicing the main character and Felicia Day featuring as the love interest. Rock of the Dead, which aims for a "cheesy/campy" feel throughout, will be budget-priced between $30 and $40 when it shambles into retail "late spring or early summer."

[Via 1UP]

Grab your guitar and shred out to the zombie invasion.

Bring the power of rock to your enemies.