Arizona Sunshine: Review

“Blood is really warm, it’s like drinking hot chocolate but with more screaming.” ― Ryan Mecum, Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your…Brains

Growing up, I was scared of everything, and I mean everything. Somewhere between being 9 and terrified of the movie Tremors and now, I've gained a love of all things horror. I like to think that nothing really scares me anymore or that it does take a lot to make me scared. So doing my entire thesis based around playing horror games, I'd thought this would be a breeze. I held that thought even when I decided to give VR (virtual reality) horror games a try when I've never used an Oculus. Since I had never really played VR before, I let my sister's boyfriend, who was letting me borrow his equipment, pick the games I played. That was probably the biggest mistake I made that day.

Let me start off by saying that even though I love all things horror, I hate zombies. I don't know what it is about them, but zombies make me uncomfortable all the way around. After the first game, Don't Knock Twice, was a failure, Brendan decided on a different game. I should have picked up on what he was planning when he wouldn't tell me what game he was loading. When it first loaded, I thought I was playing Phasmophobia because that was the vibe I was getting from the loading screen. Granted, I have never played that game either so what do I know. It was then that I actually read the game title, Arizona Sunshine. I still didn't have a damn clue what I was playing, hell, I could still hardly use the controllers.

Once I figured out how to load the level selection, definitely picking up on the fact that it was a zombie game, Brendan insisted that I start with the mine level. Cue my heart rate spiking when the level loads and it's me in a dark hole with no weapons. Brendan had to help me find the weapon and show me some of the controls, then left me to my own devices. I shot the sign at the top of the screen and so the game began, much to my dismay. What made this whole experience worse was the noises in noise cancelling headphones amping up the creepy vibes. All I could see and hear was the mine and the sounds of the undead.

Remember, Brendan didn't tell me anything about this game aside from some controls. I didn't know what was going to happen, what the goal was, or how I was really supposed to play. When it started, I thought the zombies would just come single file up a walkway to the mine shaft I started in. I could handle that. I was able to maybe shoot one before I realized that Brendan had screwed me over so hard. I turned my head to a zombie sound, and low and behold, there's a zombie crawling up the mineshaft stairs at me. Cue absolute panic from me. I had screamed so loud Brendan's dad heard it outside in the garage. I forgot how to move and was just jumping in place, flailing, trying to shoot and melee at the same time. Getting eaten and having the level end was a blessing at that moments.

Now Brendan and my sister found my panic hilarious, I on the other hand was contemplating strangling them. I didn't want to play that level anymore and was determined to get some usable footage of me playing. So I hunted down a level that was in the daylight, and above ground for that matter. The only one that seemed to be the least daunting was the trailer park level so that's what I went with. I found that I panic a lot less when I can see the zombies coming for me instead of them suddenly appearing behind me. I was vaguely catching on to the controls at this point, so I was able to move around the map a bit to explore. What I quickly learned was that reloading my guns was not a control that I had managed to grasp. At all.

To make matters worse, was that even though this level was during the day time, I still panicked if any of the zombies got within a foot of me. I don't know what it was, but the moment an animated zombie shuffled near me, I went into to survival mode and started swinging. I also couldn't seem to grasp the concept that there was no melee in this game, not matter how many times I got killed trying to do so. I think playing a game with a monster that actually scares me overrode any logical thinking I had during the gameplay. I wouldn't switch the level either, determined to actually do well on one of them. I never did do well on at any level which just frustrated me more while playing.

If it wasn't for the fact that we somehow managed to break the cord to the Oculus, I would want to play Arizona Sunshine again. It's not an overly difficult game and when I finally did get an idea of how to play, it was frustratingly fun. It had been a while since I played any sort of horror game, so the fact that this one absolutely frazzled me makes it addicting. I only stuck to the one level I felt safe playing, but there's at least 4-5 other levels that I could try. I want to go back and see if I have any better luck with one of them, or maybe conquer the mineshaft. I didn't care if I looked ridiculous being scared of fake zombies, that's what made the whole experience even better. I will beat at least one level, even if it kills me.