Ah, zombies; we all know what do in an emergency thanks to great games like Left 4 Dead and comics like The Walking Dead but what if you were in medieval times, no TV, no Internet and no radio, surely it would be a massacre?

Well yes, but for a change you are the one wreaking the havoc; you play as one of three undead characters from the House of Blood, each one having their own fighting style, weapons and looks. The plot of the game is simple enough with the House of Blood (two brothers and a wife) getting slain by order of the King, of course with a family name like Blood all is not what it seems and all three are resurrected and now work their way through the corrupt lands, cutting a path to the King himself.

Coming from Tecmo/Koei you will not be surprised that the game initially plays as a Dynasty game, though this is quickly swept aside to become something quite original for the PSP. Each character has a couple of attack moves plus a few combos to fell baddies, the fun however comes from the ability to create zombies to do your bidding. Damage enemies enough and you can grab them, sucking the very life from them and leaving you with a brainless zombie lackey amassing quite an army of undead. Unleashed on rank and file enemies, your undead posse will literally tear them apart. As you progress you will come across larger boss characters, these guys take a beating and your weapons will do little damage, so instead you can throw your zombies at them who will in turn climb all over the boss, eventually slowing them down and letting you get in close for the final blow.

Each segment of the level requires you to complete objectives, usually killing all of the enemies but occasionally you will have to command your zombies to take down fences and archery posts or create bridges with their bodies.

Each of the characters have a good selection of upgrades to keep the game interesting, by collecting blood from the enemies you can power-up combos, increase health and add more moves to your zombie like faster possessions and a zombie pile driver,

Classically, Koei make rock hard games. However, Undead Knights eases off the pedal a little and on normal mode all the deaths and falls were down to my mistakes and not an unbeatable foe. Fear not though hardcore gamers once completed hard mode is unlocked and will provide hours of mind bending difficult play for you.

Pros

• Some huge boss battles.
• Finding new ways to punish your zombie horde is entertaining.
• Plenty of characters on screen to battle at once.

Cons

• Is a little clumsy at times grabbing the right character to either convert or throw.
• Very little to tempt you to try out all three character in full.
• The usual PSP short-comings to do with cameras and controls.

Undead Knight offers an original take on the Dynasty engine, with plenty of huge battles to get through but it’s let down by finicky controls and a little repetitiveness.

Score: 7/10