Stubbs the Zombie chews on gold

For years, zombies have been the piñatas of the gaming world, taking a beating for the simple entertainment of others. The Resident Evil series has made the most profit out of exploiting the undead, but it's not the only one to treat the lumbering maggot-bags like second-class citizens. There are the Hunter: The Reckoning games, there is the upcoming Dead Rising, and there's even Typing of the Dead, which sees gamers eradicating living corpses by typing on a keyboard.

Finally, it appears as though zombies are getting their due. Wideload Games, the Chicago-based developer started by Bungie cofounder Alex Seropian, is digging up Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse for the Xbox. The game just went gold today and will hit stores shelves October 17. Aspyr Media will handle the publishing, and Stubbs will also be available on the PC and Mac platforms.

In Stubbs the Zombie, gamers bring life to a deceased traveling salesman in 1950s America to do what zombies do: eat the brains of hapless citizens and convert them into an undead army. In addition to chowing on some cerebral cereal, Stubbs can detach his hand and use it to possess others, pull out his guts and lob 'em like grenades, and let loose some noxious gas from his bum.

The tongue-in-cheek story (along the lines of THQ's Destroy All Humans!) sees the decaying hero running rampant in Fruitbowl, Pennsylvania, a "city of the future." The Xbox version also has a two-player cooperative mode.

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse is rated M for Mature and will sell for $49.99. For more information on the game, head over to GameSpot's recent preview.