Curse of the Zombiesaurus – Kefling DLC Review For Xbox 360

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

Halloween may be over, but that’s no reason to stop with the spooky themes – especially in A World of Keflings!  If you want to keep the costumed fun going in your favourite casual XBLA game, you now can with its expansion Curse of the Zombiesaurus!  Is the latest DLC batch a frightening good time or just frightening, period?

As with the previous expansion (Sugar, Spice, and Not So Nice), Curse of the Zombiesaurus has its own independent plot that is separate from that of the main game.  The Princess (who players will remember as the spoiled girl from the original narrative) has been kidnapped by the evil creation: the Zombiesaurus! You (the player), Doug, and Brodie have followed it to a chilling graveyard town – full of zombie Keflings!  It is here that you meet Count Kefula, Wilhelm the Grave Keeper, and the other haunting members of the town.  Before these creatures will help you, you must rebuild their graveyard town – and so begins your quest!  Unfortunately, besides the Halloween theme, there isn’t really a whole lot of new content.  While the addition of an actual plot is a plus, it still boils down to building up the kingdom bit by bit, until you’ve made all that you can.  True, this mechanic is the entire basis of the core gameplay, but it causes the campaign to get a little dull, and a shiny new skin can’t keep our attention this time around.

Thankfully, when looking purely at the gameplay, Curse of the Zombiesaurus isn’t as lifeless as you’d think!  All of the central aspects of play return, along with a few new ones, all of which are wrapped in a haunted aesthetic; for example, instead of gathering normal wood or stone from trees or rock respectively using your regular tools, you harvest bones from graves using a scythe, chop deadwood from scary-faced trees with your katana, and smash brimstone from volcanic rock using a pitchfork.  Even the environment has its own creepiness about it – such as the swirling vortex of souls surrounding the kingdom and the giant bone-monsters – all of which melds both the theme and gameplay very well.

A newer mechanic in the expansion comes when we look at the workers themselves.  Players still create new Keflings by placing hearts within buildings (although, in this case it’s zombie hearts into crypts), but now you have the option of making a single, more productive Scarecrow Kefling instead of several average zombie ones.  To do this, you need to build a corn field and obtain a pumpkin (which can be found randomly throughout the kingdom).  Simply place the plant in the field like you would with any other Kefling Home and, bam, you’ve got a Scarecrow!  These beings move and harvest faster than their zombie brethren, making them invaluable for distant resources – and a great gameplay buff for the title.

Whether you’re bummed out about Halloween’s end or just looking for more A World of Keflings fun, Curse of the Zombiesaurus is sure to give you a few more hours of entertainment.  Sporting a spookily good monster aesthetic and a helpful new Kefling type, the DLC package is only held back by its repetitive narrative.  Chances are, though, you’ll be a fan that’s too busy getting your ghoul on to care.  So slap on those vampire fangs and screw in those neck bolts: this is one expansion you won’t want to miss – it might suck your blood if you do!

Final Score – 4.75 / 5.0 and some very tasty candy corn.