February is the snowiest month here in the glorious American Midwest. This year has been a particularly crappy winter here and a week after the last blizzard the snow has packed into an impenetrable sheet of ice over the roads thus tripling the suckage factor of life. So since its not safe to go outside what better time to sit in the relative safety of the great indoors and fritter away time playing video games while you wait for the city to thaw. And while you are at it why not belt out a few zingers about how “winter is coming/has come” so we nerds can maintain out insufferable status. I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. The cold is getting to me and I’m lashing out in all directions. So to make good on my pledge to play my steam backlog and to vent some anger with fictional violence, I whipped out Typing of the Dead: Reloaded.

I love stupid. That’s something I’ve frequently stressed in my columns. There’s a true talent in well made stupid which is why Airplane! and The Naked Gun are legendary movies while something like the the endless “____ Movie” abominations that come out every couple months are quickly forgotten. Stupid, and Camp, is something you can’t force, it has to come from earnest.

Typing of the Dead: Reloaded is stupid and campy. It’s a stupid concept: An arcade shooter on rails that you don’t kill enemies by aiming but rather by typing words correctly and quickly. It was stupid back on the Dreamcast and it is now. But it’s also a total blast. I was grinning ear to ear while playing and never stopped. Framed like an exploitation/grindhouse movie, the game cutscenes feature over-the-top stereotype characters and a smooth voice over narrator playing out a story worthy of Tarantino and Rodriguez.

The story I worry is where most people will be turned off as I’m not entirely confident that people will enjoy the often offensive nature of grindhouse. The black cop is a foul-mouthed hothead and the white cop is an unhip square. This simple question should determine if you will be bothered by the story or not:

Did I enjoy the movie “Black Dynamite”?

But really you shouldn’t be playing this for the story. All the joy of Typing of the Dead comes from the game play. And chances are you’ll be laughing a lot more often while playing the game than watching the cutscenes. Zombies dying to the power of complete sentences or a chain attack of adjectives is one of lifes greatest joys. While I’m no fan of DLC, here you can download new word packs so your killing to things like Shakespeare verses, flirtatious comments and profanity.

There are people out there who love a deep and engaging story that features relatable, down-to-earth characters and an original story that subverts old cliches. Then there are people who like shootin’ shit and unadulterated fun. If the you haven’t been sold on the game by now you probably won’t like it.

But if you are sold, the go buy it right now on Steam for $19.99

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