SG/ZH: School Girl/Zombie Hunter

I spent enough time with SG/ZH to tell you exactly where the ceiling is, and it is low, and that is completely fine if you walk in knowing that. This is a budget third-person shooter set in the Onechanbara universe, built around 50 bite-sized missions spread across five chapters inside a single high school. Tamsoft did not make this to compete with Gears or any other production-value benchmark. They made it because they know their audience and, for once in a niche game, that clarity of purpose actually pays off in places. The shooting itself is a mixed bag. Movement is faster than you would expect, and the run-and-gun rhythm has genuine momentum to it. The problem is the aiming, which feels sluggish and imprecise regardless of sensitivity settings, and the hit registration is inconsistent enough that headshots sometimes feel more like suggestions than inputs. Infinite ammo and the ability to carry five weapons at once mean you are never starved for options, but the stat-comparison UI is non-existent, so figuring out which dropped assault rifle is actually an upgrade involves memorising numbers or taking a screenshot like an animal. Each of the five playable characters has a distinct weapon specialty, with Sayuri leaning into wooden sword and handguns, Enami as the elite sniper, and Rei pairing karate with a shotgun. You can mix loadouts freely, but the spread of mission types, covering elimination runs, base defense, escort, and survival, rarely demands you actually change your approach. Most bosses are sponges rather than challenges, and difficulty scaling is almost entirely a function of zombie count. The clothing mechanic is the thing everyone will ask about, and it earns its place. Stripping a character and throwing her outfit into a horde pulls every male zombie in range toward the distraction, giving you real breathing room to reposition or reload. Female zombies ignore it entirely, so there is a layered decision in whether the tool is even useful for the wave you are fighting. A second version, built from timed underwear use, lasts longer and works as a wider crowd-control tool. It sounds like a gimmick, and it is, but it is a functional one rather than a throwaway one. The 10-mission online co-op mode supports up to five players and runs as a horde-style mode separate from the campaign. Brawlers running shotguns and SMGs can front-line while rifle and support players work range and explosives. The lobby populations are thin now given the game's age, so plan to go in with a premade group or sit in matchmaking for a while. The campaign runs around 8 to 10 hours for a first pass. The story is deliberately lightweight, the cutscenes go on longer than they should, and the level design is constrained to the same school environment throughout. The soundtrack, though, punches noticeably above the budget line, channelling a synth-driven tone that fits the grindhouse premise. If you come at SG/ZH expecting a polished, mechanically tight shooter, it will disappoint. If you come at it as a co-op session filler with some genuine campiness and a solid enough gameplay loop for short runs, it has more to offer than its production values suggest.

Fred · Scout Team

Shooters

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