Damn. What a month of releases it has been. I’ll be honest: just because I’m an indie gamer doesn’t make me exempt from mainstream gaming. I’m sure that’s also the case for a lot — if not most — of you as well. That being said, this month has taken a pretty heavy toll on my wallet; I spent over a couple hundred dollars on my favorite hobby. It’s tough to dish out that much dough, especially during times like these (I hate to sound cliche but not all of us are financially prosperous…or stable, for that matter).

That’s why I’m on a quest to find you some awesome freeware titles, so you can spend your time appreciating the work these developers have put in for you. You might be wondering, Is it really that hard? No, it’s not. You can do it yourself too, you know!

This week we’ll be taking a look at Sonny from Newgrounds user Krinn — Krin Juangbhanich — and Armor Games. In the guise of an excellent Adventure/RPG (which is pretty biased on my part because that’s like…my favorite genre right there), Sonny puts players in control of an (un)familiar role: the zombie.

“Dear Human,

Zombies. You’ve shot them, stabbed them, sliced and diced them. Today I put you in the shoes of a Zombie. Fight for your life in this crazy and twisted world.

After two solid months of production, we present to you this epic interactive tale of Sonny. I hope you like it!”

- Krin

To start with, the player selects from four classes: Destroyer, Guardian, Assassin, or Gunslinger. Much like any other RPG game, these classes have their own (and pretty straightforward) specializations and abilities. I chose to play through Sonny as a Guardian — considering its description referred to it as a “hybrid class” and I dig that sort of balance. After choosing my class and settings, I was wowed by the presentation of the game. Believe it or not, Sonny contains some excellent voice-over work. Just as impressive, the visual style of Sonny — while it may not have the highest of production value — will actually draw you in quite a bit. It’s not that the artwork is particularly eye-popping or incredibly animated, but rather that it’s not and yet I still managed to feel engaged and sentimental.

Sonny doesn’t remember much about his past: he wakes up aboard the White November research ship — zombified — to the face of Louis the Blind (such a creative name, isn’t it?). Louis tends to Sonny for a few moments and the two attempt to get off the ship. As the cutscene comes to an end, Sonny picks up a broken pipe and you are immediately thrust into battle. Battle in Sonny is a turn-based strategy-fest… and that’s a great thing! You’ll start off with a couple of basic abilities (Quick Strike and Suppression), which more or less serve as attack and defend functions, respectively. The first few battles act as an introduction to the gameplay mechanics of Sonny. Post-battle, you’ll be able to look over whatever loot you may have attained and take a look at h0w much EXP you’ve gained.

As you level up throughout Sonny, you’ll unlock Ability Points and Attribute Points — the earlier will help you learn new abilities and strengthen them whereas the latter will increase your attributes (such as Strength, Speed, etc.). One of the coolest things about Sonny is how it makes use of the “Combat Action Bar” which is actually more of a circle of abilities and actions. The CAB will appear as you point your mouse on enemies or yourself (depending on whether you wish to use an offensive or defensive ability). This saves space in the HUD and that’s always appreciated. It’s not hard to figure out and it’s easy to get adjusted to.

Sonny is by no means a perfect title, however. The lack of exploration — which is kept at a minimal stage as you move from zone to zone — is a real bummer and the world map is unfortunately bland. I suppose that’s why the devs describe Sonny as a “combat-strategy” game rather than anything else, because that’s mainly what it concentrates on. Likewise, gameplay feels especially linear with no side quests and only a training ground for developing more EXP. Yet, for all its issues, Sonny is a satisfying RPG. It may be lacking in the adventure department, but the good news is that Sonny 2 addresses a lot of the complaints relative to the first game.

If you’re looking for a good way to kill a few hours (considering that this game is lengthy for a freeware title), Sonny is definitely something to look forward to. However, if you’re not into turn-based combat and RPG elements, then you’ll just have to hope I pick up on a platformer or something next week. Or maybe you can go ahead and find something yourself. Either way, enjoy your week, all!