There are five neighborhoods in the game, ranging from a slum to an outdoor park to a schoolyard. Each is broken up into a number of chapters with parodic titles, such as Desperate Housezombies. At the end of each chapter looms a boss fight against some sort of wacky zombie concoction, such as the zomball, a large writhing Katamari-esque ball of undead that you have to whittle down zombie by zombie. Each section of the neighborhood is well populated with suburban scenery, some of which can be destroyed for points. Your goal, indicated by a handy arrow at the top of the screen, is to sweep the neighborhood of the undead menace. A variety of zombies populate the area, each going about its business. The comic book zombie reads comics, the skater zombie pulls off ollies or grinds, and the mailman zombie delivers the mail. That is, until you arrive on the scene.

The clean, bright, cel-shaded style of Zombie Wranglers is appealing and makes it easy to keep track of onscreen happenings, at least in the third-person view that we saw. Clever bits, such as amusing weapons and funny zombie archetypes, increase the game's charm--a charm that will hopefully hold up as the game continues through development. Zombie Wranglers is slated for release in late summer, so check back soon for wacky undead updates.