Zombie Smashers X3: Ninjastarmageddon! takes the wacky rivalry between zombies and ninjas into outer space. After centuries of conflict, both factions have found a measure of peace while expanding across the galaxy, where they also trade under the watchful eye of a pterodactyl government. However, this calm is fragile: space pirates, cyborgs bent on assimilating everyone, and other conflicts threaten to reignite the war. The result is a deliberately absurd sci-fi adventure featuring the offbeat humor suggested by its title.
Unlike previous installments, this third game abandons the series' side-scrolling action style in favor of a space trading and combat simulation, viewed from a third-person perspective and built on a new 3D engine. Players choose a character, a co-pilot, and a flying vehicle—ranging from modest models resembling SUVs or minivans to others—and travel between points in a galaxy connected by a star map. The co-pilot handles the secondary weapon...
Zombie Smashers X3: Ninjastarmageddon! takes the wacky rivalry between zombies and ninjas into outer space. After centuries of conflict, both factions have found a measure of peace while expanding across the galaxy, where they also trade under the watchful eye of a pterodactyl government. However, this calm is fragile: space pirates, cyborgs bent on assimilating everyone, and other conflicts threaten to reignite the war. The result is a deliberately absurd sci-fi adventure featuring the offbeat humor suggested by its title.
Unlike previous installments, this third game abandons the series' side-scrolling action style in favor of a space trading and combat simulation, viewed from a third-person perspective and built on a new 3D engine. Players choose a character, a co-pilot, and a flying vehicle—ranging from modest models resembling SUVs or minivans to others—and travel between points in a galaxy connected by a star map. The co-pilot handles the secondary weapon, though the player retains control over when those attacks are fired.
Travel involves more than just hunting for enemies. Star systems may host facilities such as shipyards, armories, shops, refueling stations, and mission hubs. There, players can trade goods, upgrade their ship, and progress by completing assignments. During hostile encounters, primary weapons fire forward, while secondary weapons offer various options, such as missiles or rocket launchers. Destroying a ship may leave cargo drifting in space; a tractor beam allows players to retrieve it and sell it at friendly ports.
Progression thus combines exploration, simple management mechanics, and real-time combat. Shipyards offer larger vessels—including ships capable of transporting and deploying smaller craft like fighters—though this added capability comes at the cost of reduced cargo capacity. It is neither a complex space sim nor does it aim for realism; its appeal lies in blending trading and combat with a cast of factions, vehicles, and outlandish situations.
Developed and published by Ska Studios, *Zombie Smashers X3: Ninjastarmageddon!* was released for Windows in 2007 as a downloadable single-player game. Its shift in genre makes it a curious departure for the series: instead of brawling with zombies, it invites players to pilot ships, trade, and survive in a galaxy where ninjas, the undead, and pterodactyls share the same space lanes.
