The Last Stand 2

May 2, 2008 10:14 AM

The Last Stand 2is a Flash game in which you play the survivor of a zombie apocalypse. During the day you search for supplies and other survivors; during the night you must fend off the zombies. Make it to Union City in 40 days. (via)
posted by whir (43 comments total)

Last Stand 2 is a really funny name.
posted by Mister_A at 10:21 AM on May 2, 2008 [9 favorites]

Is it more fun than Urban Dead? Cause I tried that one and all I did was look around the whole time, finding nothing (correction: once I found a pipe or something). Oh, and I tried to stab a zombie for 30 consecutive turns, hitting it twice. Then I hid in a heavily barricaded building, and the next time I logged in I had been zombified.

Basically, I sucked at Urban Dead, but am enthusiastic about the prospects of a different free zombie game. I'll try it when I get away from my company's firewall.
posted by joelhunt at 10:23 AM on May 2, 2008

The first Last Stand is now named "Penultimate Stand 1."
posted by Floydd at 10:27 AM on May 2, 2008 [3 favorites]

Yay, zombies! I like zombies. Or at least I like blowing up zombies. I like blowing things up in general really. It just so happens that zombies are especially nice to blow up.
posted by WalterMitty at 10:28 AM on May 2, 2008

First Blood 2: Firstier Blood
posted by Artw at 10:29 AM on May 2, 2008 [3 favorites]

The first Last Stand is now named "Penultimate Stand 1."

The Final Fantasies #2-10 come to mind. "Penultimate Fantasy" doesn't really have the same ring though. Alliteration ftw!

Is there a single word for "third last"?
posted by WalterMitty at 10:30 AM on May 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

Waiting for Final Fantasy tired old joke in 5... wait, WalterMitty before the count even starts.
posted by mephron at 10:32 AM on May 2, 2008

De-Animator was another good zombie game, with pretty similar gameplay to the action portion of The Last Stand 2.
posted by whir at 10:35 AM on May 2, 2008

Waiting for Final Fantasy tired old joke in 5... wait, WalterMitty before the count even starts.

Woah, the tired old joke about tired old joke trick! Got me going there for a moment.
posted by WalterMitty at 10:36 AM on May 2, 2008

Is there a single word for "third last"?

antepenultimate
posted by cardboard at 10:39 AM on May 2, 2008 [4 favorites]

You know what I don't like? When people say "first annual". No, it's not annual yet. "Inaugural" is what you're looking for.
posted by inigo2 at 10:42 AM on May 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

First Comment 12: The Hemidemipenultimate Snarking
posted by Mister_A at 10:44 AM on May 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

Awesome, I loved the first one of these. Nothin' like mowing down zombies! Especially when you get the chainsaw.
posted by Happy Dave at 10:46 AM on May 2, 2008

Wow, this is way better than the first one. The resource allocation bit is now also a travel bit. Sweet. Still lotsa blasting though.
posted by Happy Dave at 10:50 AM on May 2, 2008

Yeah, the first one was really good. NOW KILL ZOMBIES!
posted by klangklangston at 10:51 AM on May 2, 2008

I think it would be more fun if they were lawyers.
posted by peeedro at 10:53 AM on May 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oh man, I *loved* the first one.
posted by the dief at 10:57 AM on May 2, 2008

Your description:

During the day you search for supplies and other survivors; during the night you must fend off the zombies.

Reminds me of my old neighborhood. Did you ever live on Jackson Street?
posted by Mister_A at 11:20 AM on May 2, 2008

Argh I keep getting eaten by zombies, OM NOM NOM NOM, they say, as they chew on my flabby tender flesh.
posted by WalterMitty at 11:26 AM on May 2, 2008

I love zombie movies. But zombie games are too depressing for me to play. I downloaded the demo for Dead Rising on the xbox 360, and couldn't stand playing it knowing the guy was gonna get eaten sooner or later.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 11:27 AM on May 2, 2008

I've lived near Union City. It's not worth making it to.
posted by shmegegge at 11:36 AM on May 2, 2008 [2 favorites]

Arg, hit a bug on night #4. My default pistol won't fire despite having 6 rounds left.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:50 AM on May 2, 2008

Ah, it worked again after I paused and unpaused.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:51 AM on May 2, 2008

That title reminds me of the best sailboat name I have ever seen:

The "Never Again 2".
posted by paddysat at 11:59 AM on May 2, 2008

I downloaded the demo for Dead Rising on the xbox 360, and couldn't stand playing it knowing the guy was gonna get eaten sooner or later.

Ah, but the point is to not let that happen. Fighting the zombies is not futile in Dead Rising, and getting out alive really isn't THAT hard. It's getting out alive while saving plenty of people and figuring out the truth of what happened in the town that makes it challenging - and worthwhile.

I still think it's one of the best Xbox 360 games. I've been playing it again lately.
posted by evilangela at 12:00 PM on May 2, 2008

If you're in range of union city but still having fun, don't go there; arrival ends the game. Ironically enough, Last Stand 2 does not feature a climactic last stand.

It would be a little cooler if there were signs that the dudes used the weapons that you handed them. It looks like they're just plinking away with slightly more force. I see the logic (you can't convince them to hold fire to strategically reload, that would maybe be too much AI), but it would be awesome to have them lobbing grenades as cover fire.

As is, it seems like a weapon combo from the first stage (chainsaw + bow) is the best. I also had the pistols, AK, M4, grenades, and hunting rifle, but they seemed to be too slowly reloading or inaccurate given the focus on the randomly appearing fast-runners. You just have to be able to reload fast, take down a dog with one hit, and score headshots.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 12:07 PM on May 2, 2008

you can't win on a laptop
posted by eustatic at 12:12 PM on May 2, 2008

Played just a few minutes, but the sheer presence of chainsaw means I'll be back.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:19 PM on May 2, 2008

I didn't get the bow until level 2, but I liked the hunting rifle more, since a headshot is a kill with the rifle but not the bow.

It is surpassed by the Minimi + Chainsaw combo, which is, in turn, surpassed by the RPG + Chainsaw combo.
posted by Comrade_robot at 12:45 PM on May 2, 2008

Motherfuckers. Every one of you.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:06 PM on May 2, 2008 [3 favorites]

There, there. There's always Sonny, the game where you play a zombie.
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:12 PM on May 2, 2008

It's probably not healthy how the phrase "zombie apocalypse" draws my eye and attention. That said. thanks, this is fun.
posted by honeydew at 4:52 PM on May 2, 2008

It's probably not healthy how the phrase "zombie apocalypse" draws my eye and attention.

I know it's not healthy that almost everyone I know secretly thinks that a zombie apocalypse would be better than the life they live now.
posted by Bookhouse at 4:57 PM on May 2, 2008 [5 favorites]

I know it's not healthy that almost everyone I know secretly thinks that a zombie apocalypse would be better than the life they live now.

I think that.
posted by penduluum at 7:50 PM on May 2, 2008

RPG + Grenades = 444 less zombies in the world.
posted by ND¢ at 7:59 PM on May 2, 2008

RPG + Minigun + Holding out until day 35 before Union City = 1,323 zombies put to rest.

The .357 is your friend (some zombies die on headshot; instant kill for dogs) until you get the bow and then rifle.

My favored route is Whistle Grove (bow) > Aspenwood (rifle) > Jonestown > Fort Tran (RPG and Mini Gun).

The UZI and M4 aren't too shabby, but the rifle is the perfect "pure strategy weapon," it would seem, if you play the game accordingly:

Blast the running, armed zombies first as they will kill your buddies and the strength in numbers ensures that you don't spend a lot of time fixing your barricade.

I love the 2D aspect of the game...there's an "uppermost row" and a "lowermost" row from which the bad guys charge (and many rows in between) -- always quickly annihilate the enemies that come in from the lower and uppermost rows yourself (especially dogs), as your team has trouble dispatching them. You pretty much need to position your character on the same row as the dog in order to do this.

The rifle seems most effective when your character is "below" the enemy (in 2D terms), as if you are trying to shoot them in the chin, especially when taking out the military and SWAT zombies. As your angle of trajectory approaches 180, your accuracy seems to increase. Sharper, smaller angles are less accurate, so if you're in the uppermost row you'll have a hard time shooting a nearby enemy on the lowermost row.

I seem to shoot worse when I put the crosshair directly on target; position it to the right and below of the enemy you wish to kill.

Don't waste your time with the shotguns or MP5 but give 'em to your pals instead for suppressive fire.

The gas cylinders are mostly a joke but the bear traps and mines are helpful.
posted by lordaych at 11:11 PM on May 2, 2008

the fact that you can't reassign keys means the game is mostly unplayable on a non-qwerty keyboard.
posted by vivelame at 2:47 AM on May 3, 2008

ah.. but it's mouse based? i keep getting this bug where i can't shoot dogs on my barricade.. anyone know what i mean / how to fix it?
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 5:56 AM on May 3, 2008

oh, you can move! ahh..
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 6:11 AM on May 3, 2008

the fact that you can't reassign keys means the game is mostly unplayable on a non-qwerty keyboard.

The arrow keys work for movement.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:45 AM on May 3, 2008

So, a sign that perhaps the difficulty needs to be increased: one night in Jonestown I forgot to repair my barricade after it getting knocked down the previous night, so all my dudes fled and there was no barrier. No traps. Still survived using bow+saw.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 8:42 AM on May 3, 2008

a robot made out of meat: I think this game has a lot of potential for future development (I hope it becomes a trilogy, ironic-sequel-titles nonwithstanding) based on how obsessively I played it initially; varying difficulty levels would certainly help, though I think much of the fun lies in the fact that you can get skilled enough with certain weapons to clean house and enter a state of Zen-like asswhoopery.

Luck is a factor in that you can get randomly overwhelmed with an unexpected rush that renders the bow ineffective (and Jonestown is only halfway through the game).

This game needs the "Desktop Tower Defense" treatment where it gets built into something with insane replay value and scoring potential.

After beating it pretty quickly (once I gave up on the RSI challenge of using my laptop's touchpad) the main replay value I found was in holding out as much as possible on repairing the barricades (so as to spend more time looking for weapons and survivors) and in getting to Fort Tran as quickly as possible in order to clean lots of house with the RPG / Minigun.

Also, it's fun getting your team armed to the teeth and then using an automatic weapon to pepper the enemies in broad strokes while allowing your team to get as many final kill-shots as possible. It's a lot of fun basically being the only member of the team that can play strategically and think while taking advantage of your dumb buddies and keeping them alive.

When you hold out on maintaining the barricade, you regularly find yourself in high-adrenaline situations trying to kill the last few zombies after your team has wimped out.
posted by lordaych at 2:58 PM on May 3, 2008

Beat it with a touchpad!
posted by shakespeherian at 7:36 AM on May 6, 2008