Rob Zombie. Felicia Day. Neil Patrick Harris. Guitars. Zombies. Yep, Rock of the Dead was a cult classic the moment it was conceived. The problem is, that’s not always a compliment.

Imagine Dreamcast hit Typing of the Dead with a plastic instrument instead of a keyboard, and that’s Rock: as you move through the world on an invisible rail, zombies — and rats, dogs, and other undead nasties — attack you in a steady stream, and you play a short sequence of notes to kill each one. Sometimes, you’ll play longer sequences, which are either rock-ish riffs on classical music or portions of White Zombie/Rob Zombie tunes — a definite plus if, like us, you’re a Zombie fan.

Much like the rest of the game, though, repetition’s a killer. Over Rock’s several-hour length (if you’re jamming on Normal), you’ll play the same tunes repeatedly, and like the campy-but-rarely-funny voice-overs by Harris (as your character) and Day (as his endangered girlfriend), they start to wear on you a few levels in. Unfortunately, so does the core gameplay. For a while, splatting ghouls with staccato bursts is mildly entertaining — moreso on guitar than with a controller or drum kit, though all three are supported — and playing co-op with a friend, where you compete for points, is fun for a bit. But after an hour, we’d had our fill.

With co-op play, four difficulty levels, and multi-instrument support, Rock’s developers clearly put effort into it. We just wish it were a shorter, cheaper proposition — like a $10 slice on Live Arcade. Even at $40, it’s hard to recommend to anyone besides serious thrashmasters.

On Xbox 360

+ Zombies. Rock.

+ Random objectives (e.g., playing notes to save survivors) add spice.

- Key-smacking gameplay gets old way too fast.

- Voice-overs, enemies, atmosphere are campy but laugh-less.

? Was that really Neil Patrick Harris? We usually love him.

4.5