We’ve mentioned Bitejacker twice before on the site. It’s a free browser game based around the Revision3 show Bytejacker and the zombie apocalypse. And ridiculous nods to independent games. It’s rad.
Multiple times now, I’ve unintentionally played Bitejacker for more than an hour. I honestly cannot recall the last time a web game was able to pull me in so easily. Especially ones about zombies, which have in many ways been given a bad rap courtesy of crappy flash games everywhere.
You need to play Bitejacker. Do so immediately, or at the very least, allow me to to explain why it rules.
To be frank, I was sold on Bitejacker within a matter of seconds. Look at that screenshot! You know you’re in for a treat when that’s one of the first things to greet you.
It’s clear going in that this is an excellent-looking game. The sprite work reminds me of Metal Slug, kind of. I can’t quite put my finger on why that is. At any rate, Bitejacker is appealing visually, but it also controls well. Time and time again, flash developers go with bizarre and otherwise nonsensical control schemes. For this, it’s the tried-and-true WASD scheme for movement, and aiming is done with the mouse. Can’t get much better than that.
Here’s where I get to what makes Bitejacker so hard to put down. Shooting zombies and other assorted fiends is fun, sure, but that tends to get old rather quickly. There’s a risk-reward mechanic at play in the form of hidden items. Glimmering background objects contain money, health, and weapons; to get loot, you simply stand next to said object (such as a Super Mario Bros. block) and wait for your “search” meter to fill up.
In and of itself, that likely doesn’t sound thrilling. But when you factor in your inability to move very far away while a search is in progress — and the safety of any survivors you might have tagging along — suddenly your character simply can’t goddamn reload fast enough.
Levels mostly consist of you killing, finding, and protecting. In a glorious reference to Groundhog Day, your life is on a ten-day loop. Breaking this cycle requires the release of monsters and bosses, which is done by satisfying certain conditions. To give you an example, you might have to earn X amount of money, or save Y amount of survivors.
“Monsters” include a certain red lad named “Dead Meat,” and one of the bosses is totally a Xenomorph. You hear that, Jim? Also, you can build up an awesome-o-meter by blasting zombies — it lets you temporarily turn into Bit.Trip‘s Commander Video. Yeah. Bitejacker is absolutely full of references. They even have pop-ups a la Mortal Kombat. Oh, and Mr. Destructoid. Seriously.
Between levels, there’s an item shop. Naturally, it wouldn’t be a zombie-having flash game without some type of item shop. That’s what Bitejacker is, though — a bunch of well-made mechanics you’ve probably seen before that form a strong, cohesive package. The kind of package you wished your parents had sent when you were away at summer camp.
Like I said, I’m a big fan of this game. Since that’s probably enough gushing for one evening, I’ll leave you one last link and hope you give Bitejacker a chance. You know, the full name is actually Bitejacker: Secret Base Horror Series 01 — let’s make 02 possible.
