Are you ready for some zombie action? Well I sure hope you are because with Infected that is all you are going to get. The game starts off with the lighting of the tree in New York City and sets a nice holiday tone but it doesn’t last long unfortunately. A massive viral infection sweeps across New York infecting all the people in the state and for those who were unlucky to receive the infection from the encounter they get to be eaten by the other infected New Yorkers and get the infection that way. No one is saved not even the elderly, handicap, or even the Santa Clause from the local stores.

You are the only person who can stop the outbreak from getting any further because you can’t be infected by this infection that is spreading because your blood is so powerful that it can single handedly destroy the zombies with just a drop of blood. This opens up the game to a good setting for a fun, fast-pace, action/shooter game. But the game loses the fun along the way.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Infected is simple and easy to pick up and play. You will be given a special mission to complete in a section of New York and you must simply complete it. At times the zombies will hunt the survivors, and one of your main goals is to rescue the citizens before they are attacked and become infected as well. Each one of the game's 40 stages has some differences in saving the people. Some of the stages will have you collecting up people to have them evacuated by helicopter, while others have men on the field that cannot be flown out and must be protected. Sometimes the evacuation zone must be cleared of zombies so that the helicopters can fly in safely, and other zones only allow limited passenger flights in to take a few people away at a time in each zone.
The one main problem with this idea is that it’s always pretty much the same thing. You get the feeling that you’ve done the mission before and that’s not a good feeling. Had the game been more varied in the missions and in the task you will complete it would have added more replay value and fun to the game.

Graphics
The graphics of the game are well done and they do push the PSP into using the 3D engine more than some of the other games out right now. The graphics are comparable to Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and for anyone who has played that game you know that’s a good thing. The levels are bright, colorful, and very detailed. As you go through New York the environments are detailed and full of life. You’ll see cars on the side of the road, papers go across the street from wind and many other little details that just add to the games overall experience.

The character models in the game are also very solid. At the start of the game you will be asked to customize your own character and choose the look you desire. Though the option for this customization isn’t much it does suffice for the purpose of the game and your character. So if you are looking to make an exact replication of yourself in the game you will be out of luck unless you have a Mohawk or other rock type hairstyles. The New Yorker zombies are detailed nicely and you can really appreciate the detail that was put into the characters when you see them up-close to notice all the smaller details. The most impressive character model within in the game is easily the zombified Santa Clause. With the beard, red suit, and his stomach sticking out of the suit with flesh wounds it is easily the most impressive character model within the entire game.


Take them out

Sound
The music of this game is top-notch. It has a solid soundtrack from Slipknot and several other modern day rock bands. The developers also added a few extras like music videos and the complete soundtrack of the game and several songs not from the game by the bands. So if you are into the whole rock music genre then you’ll be heaven with the soundtrack of Infected.

Besides the music the rest of the game sounds very well. The guns are nice and loud and make a different sound corresponding with each gun. The zombies will make the typical moaning sound as they run around the level hunting for fresh meat.


Control
Infected is a game that takes just seconds to pick up and play, but it will take you a long time to fully master the controls of the game. Outside of the two constantly-armed guns there's a button for sprinting and a button for a quick 180-turn. The rest of the buttons are your map and gun choice, and that's pretty much it. The layout is well suited for this type of game Infected is. There are no camera problems within the game. The camera will always be to the back of your character so you can see what is in front of your character at all times. However, be warned. Even though the game controls pretty well and the camera is very solid this doesn’t mean that the action is fun. The action gets old and stale rather quickly. There is no skill involved and there is little to no chance of making the shoot-outs faster or more fun. The single player mode will always feel the same way over and over again.


Closing Comments
Overall the game is solid but has its flaws. Its main flaw it’s the fact that the game never reaches the level of feeling fresh after the first few levels. This was disappointing because the first levels are really fun and you hope that the game will maintain that through the entire game but its falls short in the end.