List of Zero Punctuation episodes

The first episodes of Zero Punctuation were originally uploaded to YouTube by the series' creator Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, where they quickly drew attention from the video games community. Shortly afterwards, The Escapist contacted Croshaw and employed him to make more videos for their website.

Initially, the episodes featured different music each week during the introduction and credits. However, in July 2008, the title sequence was remade, and featured a new theme tune which has been used on every episode since.

YouTube-released episodes

Airdate

Reviewed subject

Intro and outro songs

2007-07-24

The Darkness demo

  • PS3
  • FPS
  • "Superstition" – Stevie Wonder
  • "Section 12 (Hold Me Now)" – The Polyphonic Spree

2007-07-29

Fable: The Lost Chapters

  • PC / Xbox
  • Action RPG
  • "Götterdämmerung" – Richard Wagner
  • "Heart Full of Black" – Burning Brides

Escapist released episodes

2007

Airdate

Reviewed subject

Intro and outro songs

Notes

2007-08-15

Heavenly Sword demo and Resident Evil 5 trailer

  • PS3 / X360
  • Action (Heavenly Sword)/Third Person Shooter (RE5)
  • "Spirit in the Sky" – Norman Greenbaum
  • "Turning Japanese" – The Vapors

2007-08-22

Psychonauts

  • PS2 / PC / Xbox
  • Platform game
  • "Purple Haze" – Jimi Hendrix
  • "I Believe I Can Fly" – R. Kelly

2007-08-29

Video game console rundown

  • PS3 / X360 / Wii
  • "War" – Edwin Starr
  • "In the Navy" – Village People

Featured a rundown on the seventh generation of gaming consoles

2007-09-05

BioShock

  • PS3 / X360 / PC
  • FPS
  • "Octopus's Garden" – The Beatles
  • ""I Can't Decide" – Scissor Sisters

2007-09-12

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary

  • PS2 / PSP / X360 / Wii / PC
  • Puzzle/Adventure
  • "Going Underground" – The Jam
  • "Fat Bottomed Girls" – Queen

2007-09-19

Manhunt

  • PS2 / Xbox / PC
  • Third Person Shooter
  • "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" – Lesley Gore
  • "Filmstar" – Suede

2007-09-26

Peggle

  • PC / XBLA / iPhone / Java ME / BREW
  • Puzzle
  • "Stay (Just a Little bit Longer)" – The Four Seasons
  • "Free Bird" – Lynyrd Skynyrd

2007-10-03

Halo 3

  • X360
  • First Person Shooter
  • "Hello, Goodbye" – The Beatles
  • "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" – Sarah Brightman

2007-10-10

Tabula Rasa

  • PC
  • MMORPG
  • "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – R.E.M.
  • "Fantasy" – The Levellers

2007-10-17

The Orange Box

  • PS3 / PC / X360
  • First Person Shooter
  • "Itchycoo Park" – Small Faces
  • "Tribute" – Tenacious D

2007-10-24

Super Paper Mario

  • Wii
  • Japanese RPG
  • "Il Canto degli Italiani" – Italian national anthem
  • "Paper Roses" – Anita Bryant

2007-10-31

Medal of Honor: Airborne

  • PS3 / PC / X360
  • First Person Shooter
  • "Civil War" – Guns N' Roses
  • "America, [...] Yeah" – DVDA

2007-11-07

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

  • DS
  • Action-Adventure
  • "(I'd Like to Get You On A) Slow Boat to China" – Benny Goodman
  • "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" – Aerosmith

2007-11-14

Clive Barker's Jericho

  • PS3 / X360
  • First Person Shooter
  • "Monster Mash" – Bobby Pickett
  • "Blood" – My Chemical Romance

2007-11-28

F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate

  • PC
  • First Person Shooter/Horror
  • "Ghostbusters" – Ray Parker, Jr.
  • "Yo Mamma" – Butterfingers

2007-12-05

Assassin's Creed

  • PS3 / PC / X360
  • Stealth Action
  • "I Fought the Law" – The Clash
  • "Yakety Sax" – Boots Randolph

2007-12-12

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

  • PS3 / PS2 / PC / X360 / Wii
  • Musical simulation
  • "I Wanna Be Sedated" – Ramones
  • "Cliffs of Dover" – Eric Johnson

2007-12-19

Mass Effect

  • PC / X360
  • Action RPG
  • "A Little Less Conversation" – Elvis Presley
  • "Spaceman" – Babylon Zoo

2008

Airdate

Review subject

Intro and outro songs

Notes

2008-01-02

Super Mario Galaxy

  • Wii
  • Platformer
  • "Fly Me to the Moon" – Frank Sinatra
  • "Walkin' on the Sun" – Smash Mouth

2008-01-09

Silent Hill: Origins

  • PSP
  • Survival Horror
  • "It's Oh So Quiet" – Björk
  • "Just" – Radiohead

2008-01-16

Crysis

  • PC
  • First Person Shooter
  • "Island in the Sun" – Weezer
  • "Dance Commander" – Electric Six

2008-01-23

The Witcher

  • PC
  • RPG
  • "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" – The Offspring
  • "Beast and the Harlot" – Avenged Sevenfold

Features a two-minute, dubbed segment from Painkiller at the end.

2008-01-30

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

  • Wii
  • Rail Shooter
  • "Shoot Shoot" – Dio
  • "Runaway Train" – Soul Asylum

2008-02-06

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

  • PS3 / PC / X360
  • First Person Shooter
  • "Seven Nation Army" – The White Stripes
  • "[...] in the Name" – Rage Against the Machine

2008-02-13

SimCity Societies

  • PC
  • God Game
  • "Living for the City" – Stevie Wonder
  • "Highway to Hell" – AC/DC

2008-02-21

Yahtzee goes to GDC

  • "The Entertainer" – Scott Joplin

A selection of short cartoons created for the GDC. This episode was also the only episode to have profane audio censored, although not removed from the on-screen texts.

2008-02-27

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

  • PS3
  • Action-Adventure
  • "Gold" – Spandau Ballet
  • "Ebony and Ivory" – Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney

Contains a live-action criticism on Quick Time Events in the style of a Quick Time Event.

2008-03-05

Devil May Cry 4

  • PS3 / X360
  • Action
  • "Sympathy For The Devil" – The Rolling Stones
  • "Weapon of Choice" – Fatboy Slim

2008-03-12

Burnout Paradise

  • PS3 / X360
  • Sandbox Racing
  • "Crash into Me" – Dave Matthews Band
  • "Live Fast, Die Young" – The Devotchkas

2008-03-19

Turok

  • PS3 / [Xbox 360|X360]]
  • First Person Shooter
  • "Theme From Jurassic Park" – John Williams
  • "Through These Eyes" – Social Distortion

2008-03-26

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

  • Wii
  • Adventure
  • "Captain Pugwash Theme" – Tom Edmundson
  • "Beast of Burden" – The Rolling Stones

2008-04-02

Army of Two

  • PS3 / X360
  • Third-Person Shooter
  • "Two Little Boys" – Rolf Harris
  • "You're My Best Friend" – Queen

2008-04-09

No More Heroes

  • Wii
  • Action-Adventure
  • "No More Heroes" – The Stranglers
  • "Assassin" – Muse

2008-04-16

Condemned 2: Bloodshot

  • PS3 / X360
  • First-Person Horror
  • "Ghost Town" – The Specials
  • "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" – Ian Dury and the Blockheads

2008-04-23

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

  • Wii
  • Fighting Game
  • "Eye of the Tiger" – Survivor
  • "Minority" – Green Day

2008-04-30

God of War: Chains of Olympus

  • PSP
  • Combat Action Game
  • "Kill Everybody" – Stone Sour
  • "Angry" – Matchbox Twenty

2008-05-07

Mailbag Showdown

  • Super Smash Bros. Brawl
  • "Please Mr. Postman" – The Marvelettes
  • "Letter from America" – The Proclaimers

Various emails Croshaw received after the less-than-flattering review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

2008-05-14

Grand Theft Auto IV

  • PS3 / X360
  • Sandbox
  • "Bože pravde" – Serbian national anthem
  • "18 and Life" – Skid Row

2008-05-21

Painkiller

  • PC
  • First-Person Shooter
  • "Stairway to Heaven" – Led Zeppelin
  • "Detachable Penis" – King Missile

2008-05-28

The World Ends with You

  • DS
  • Japanese RPG
  • "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" – The Kinks
  • "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – R.E.M.

2008-06-04

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

  • PS3 / PC / X360
  • Role-playing game
  • "The Village Green Preservation Society" – The Kinks
  • "It's Raining Again" – Supertramp

2008-06-11

Video game console rundown

  • PS3 / X360 / Wii
  • "War" – Edwin Starr
  • "In the Navy" – Village People

Repeat of the 2007-08-29 episode

2008-06-18

Haze

  • PS3
  • First-Person Shooter
  • "Because I Got High" – Afroman
  • "Idiot Drugs" – White Rose Movement

2008-06-25

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

  • PS3
  • Stealth game
  • "Confused" – Lenny Kravitz
  • "Old Before I Die" – Robbie Williams

2008-07-02

Webcomics

  • "Centerfold" – The J. Geils Band
  • "Pictures of Matchstick Men" – Status Quo

A review of gaming webcomics, taking several stabs at unnamed web comics, although many believe it was aimed at Ctrl+Alt+Del (a webcomic he claims to have a personal hatred of, having previously called it "the Rubbish King, sitting proudly on a throne of rotting meat" and stating outright "I [...] hate Ctrl+Alt+Del", later noting that "I look at CAD and I see a lot of misdirected potential").

2008-07-09

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

  • PC / PS3 / PSP / PS2 / X360 / Wii / DS
  • Action, Adventure

Ian Dorsch - Zero Punctuation Theme

The first episode to feature the new title sequence and theme music. Also features a live-action, mimed review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

2008-07-16

Alone In the Dark (X360 version)

  • PS3 / PS2 / PC / X360 / Wii
  • Survival Horror/Action Adventure

2008-07-23

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures

  • PC / X360
  • MMORPG

2008-07-30

The E3 Trailer Park

  • E3 2008 trailer reviews.

2008-08-06

Ninja Gaiden II

  • X360
  • Action-adventure, Hack and Slash

2008-08-13

Prince of Persia Trilogy

  • PC / PS2 / GC / Xbox
  • Action-adventure, Platformer

2008-08-20

Soulcalibur IV

  • PS3 / X360
  • Fighting

2008-08-27

Braid

  • XBLA
  • Platformer/Puzzle

2008-09-03

Eve Online

  • PC
  • MMORPG

2008-09-10

Too Human

  • X360
  • Action RPG/Action-adventure

2008-09-17

Spore

  • PC
  • God game/Life simulation/Real-time strategy

2008-09-24

XBLA Double Bill

  • Bionic Commando Rearmed and Castle Crashers
  • PSN / XBLA / PC (Bionic Commando Rearmed), XBLA (Castle Crashers)
  • Platform game (Bionic Commando Rearmed), RPG/Action (Castle Crashers)

2008-10-01

Mercenaries 2: World In Flames

  • PC / PS2 / PS3 / X360
  • Action-adventure/Sandbox

2008-10-08

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii version)

  • Wii / PS2 / PS3 / PSP / X360 / DS / iPhone / N-Gage
  • Action/Fighting

2008-10-15

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

  • PC
  • First-person shooter/Role-playing/Survival horror

2008-10-22

Silent Hill Homecoming

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • Survival horror/Psychological horror

2008-10-29

Saints Row 2

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • Sandbox

2008-11-05

Dead Space

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • Survival horror

2008-11-12

Fable II

  • X360
  • Action RPG

2008-11-19

Fallout 3

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • Action-adventure/Sandbox/FPS

2008-11-26

Guitar Hero: World Tour

  • PS2 / PS3 / Wii / X360
  • Music

This episode contains a version of Deus Ex Title Screen music, where Yahtzee describes the said game with funny lyrics.

2008-12-03

Mirror's Edge

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • Action-adventure (First Person)

2008-12-10

Left 4 Dead

  • PC / X360
  • Survival horror (First Person)

2008-12-17

Sonic Unleashed (X360 / PS3 version)

  • Wii / X360 / PS3 / PS2
  • Platform game

2008-12-24

The Year in Review – 2008

A clip show of the most notable reviews, intended to be used for a quiz that was hosted on "The Escapist."

2008-12-31

Prince of Persia

  • X360 / PS3 / PC
  • Action-Adventure

2009

Airdate

Reviewed subject

Notes

2009-01-07

Awards for 2008

A mock awards show in which Yahtzee presents various humorous awards to games of 2008 and their characters.

The awards were:

  • The Indiana Jones in a Fridge Award for Franchise [...]: Metal Gear Solid 4
  • The 15-Year-Old School Leaver Award for Biggest Disappointment: "The entire survival horror genre." (Silent Hill Homecoming, Alone in the Dark, Dead Space)
  • The Proximity to Jason Voorhees Award for Stupidest Main Character: Prince of Persia
  • The Turd in a Chocolate Box Award for Surprising Poor Quality: Grand Theft Auto IV
  • The Turd in a Turd Award for Unsurprising Poor Quality: Sonic Unleashed
  • The Copulating Jelly Baby Award for [...] Sweet Game: Saints Row 2
  • The Attention-Deficit Award for Games I Haven't Reviewed Yet: Gears of War 2, Tomb Raider Underworld, Far Cry 2

2009-01-14

Tomb Raider: Underworld

  • PS3 / X360 / PC / PS2
  • Action-Adventure

2009-01-21

Far Cry 2

  • PS3 / X360 / PC
  • Action-Adventure

2009-01-28

Gears of War 2

  • X360
  • Action-Adventure

2009-02-04

LittleBigPlanet

  • PS3
  • Platform/creativity

2009-02-11

Thief: The Dark Project

  • PC
  • First-person stealth

2009-02-18

Skate 2

  • PS3 / X360
  • Skateboarding sports game

2009-02-25

FEAR 2

  • PS3 / X360 / PC
  • First-person shooter, Horror

2009-03-05

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

  • PS3 / X360 / PC / Wii / DS / PS2 / PSP
  • Sandbox, Action

2009-03-11

The House of the Dead: Overkill

  • Wii
  • Rail Shooter, Horror

2009-03-18

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

  • PS3 / X360
  • Third-Person Shooter

2009-03-25

Resident Evil 5

  • PS3 / X360
  • Survival Horror

2009-04-01

X-Blades and Halo Wars

  • Features Graham Stark
  • PS3 / X360
  • Action/Adventure/Real-Time Strategy

Featuring Graham Stark from The Escapist's 'Unskippable' doing the review of X-Blades.

2009-04-08

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

  • DS
  • Sandbox

2009-04-15

MadWorld

  • Wii
  • Beat 'em up

2009-04-22

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.

  • PS3 / X360
  • Flight simulation

2009-04-29

Siren: Blood Curse

  • PlayStation 3
  • Survival horror

2009-05-06

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • First-person shooter/Action/Adventure/Stealth

2009-05-13

Valkyria Chronicles

  • PS3
  • Japanese role-playing game

2009-05-20

Velvet Assassin

  • PC / X360
  • Stealth

2009-05-27

Duke Nukem Forever

  • Game cancelled/status unknown
  • First-Person Shooter

Featured Yahtzee satirically reviewing Duke Nukem Forever, a game which had been announced as cancelled a few weeks before the review. He reviewed it as the best game he had ever played, though implied that the review was satirical in a number of places and during the credits.

2009-06-03

Bionic Commando

  • PS3 / PC / X360
  • Action/Platformer

2009-06-10

inFAMOUS

  • PS3
  • Sandbox

2009-06-17

The Second Annual E3 Hype Massacre A summary of various games shown at E3 2009.

2009-06-24

Prototype

  • PS3 / X360
  • Sandbox

2009-07-01

The Sims 3

  • PC
  • Life Simulation

2009-07-08

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

  • PC / PS3 / X360 / Wii / DS / PSP / PS2
  • Action Game

2009-07-15

Overlord II

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • Action/Adventure

2009-07-22

Red Faction: Guerrilla

  • PS3 / X360
  • Action/Adventure

2009-07-29

Wii Sports Resort

  • Wii
  • Sports

2009-08-05

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

  • X360 / PS3 / PC
  • First Person Shooter

The 100th episode. Yahtzee put together a video montage at the end of the episode featuring clips from all of the episodes leading up to it, using the full length of the theme music.

2009-08-12

The Conduit

  • Wii
  • First Person Shooter

2009-08-19

Silent Hill 2

  • PS2
  • Survival Horror

2009-08-26

2.5D Hoedown

  • 'Splosion Man and Trine
  • XLA / PC / PSN
  • -Action/Platformer and Platform/Puzzle

2009-09-02

Tales of Monkey Island

  • PC, Wii
  • Adventure

Reviewed in both his normal voice as a fan of Monkey Island, and by its own merits in a fake Irish accent.

2009-09-09

Wolfenstein

  • X360 / PS3 / PC
  • First-person Shooter

Yahtzee reviewed the game in limerick form throughout most of the video. This was also the first and currently only time Yahtzee used a score rating (2 out of 5 stars), though this was most likely just to keep rhyming.

2009-09-16

Batman: Arkham Asylum

  • X360 / PS3 / PC
  • Third-person Stealth/Action

2009-09-23

Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band

  • X360 / PS3 / Wii
  • Music

2009-09-30

Darkest of Days

  • PC / X360
  • First-person Shooter

2009-10-07

Scribblenauts

  • DS
  • Emergent puzzle/action

2009-10-14

Wet

  • X360 / PS3
  • Third-person Shooter

2009-10-21

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

  • DS
  • Role-playing game

2009-10-28

Brütal Legend

  • X360 / PS3
  • Action/RTS

2009-11-04

Washington D.C.

Yahtzee takes a break from reviewing video games and takes a tour of Washington D.C in the United States, as well providing commentary for the landmarks within, such as the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.

2009-11-11

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

  • PS3
  • Action-adventure/Third-person shooter

2009-11-18

Dragon Age: Origins

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • RPG

Yahtzee also announces the winner of the "Stonking Great Game Contest."

2009-11-25

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • First-Person Shooter / Third-person shooter

2009-12-02

Assassin's Creed II

  • PC / PS3 / X360
  • Third-person action-adventure

A microphone malfunction caused Yahtzee's voice to sound drastically different, leading fans to believe it was not Yahtzee. Yahtzee later cleared the confusion in his Extra Punctuation segment..

2009-12-09

Left 4 Dead 2

  • PC / X360
  • First-Person Shooter / Survival horror

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

  • Wii
  • Platformer

Yahtzee simultaneously reviews Left 4 Dead 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii in the same video.

2009-16-09

Demon's Souls

  • PS3
  • RPG

2009-12-23

"Holiday 2009"

  • N/A

A short 24-second video in which Yahtzee chastises the viewers for turning up two days before Christmas with expectations of a proper episode having been made.

2009-12-30

The Saboteur

  • PC / X360 / PS3
  • Action/Adventure, Third-person shooter, Stealth, Sandbox

2010

Airdate

Reviewed subject

Notes

2010-01-06

Awards for 2009

Yahtzee looks back at the 2009 season of game reviews and hands out arbitrarily-themed mock awards to the previously reviewed games. The awards were:

  • The Quadruple Amputee Kindergarten Award for Least Necessary Sandbox: Wolfenstein
  • The Greater London One-Way System Award for Biggest Dead-End: A "Preemptive Award" for Microsoft's Project Natal
  • The Concrete Block on a Racecourse Award for Complete Non-starter: Wet
  • The Everything-Proof Shield Award for Most Obstinate Refusal to Die: Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson
  • The Razorblade-Filled Vagina Award for Fastest Reversal of Fortunes: Resident Evil 5
  • The Golden Dog Biscuit Award for Genuinely Best Game: Batman: Arkham Asylum

2010-01-13

Torchlight

  • PC / Mac
  • Action RPG

2010-01-20

Darksiders

  • PS3 / X360
  • Action-adventure

2010-01-27

Bayonetta

  • PS3 / X360
  • Action

This is the first Zero Punctuation episode to be shown in 16:9 format.

2010-02-03

Dark Void

  • PS3 / X360 / PC
  • Action / Third person shooter / Platform

2010-02-10

Borderlands

  • PS3 / X360 / PC
  • First-person shooter / Action RPG

2010-02-17

Mass Effect 2

  • X360 / PC
  • Action RPG

2010-02-24

Dante's Inferno

  • X360 / PS3 / PSP
  • Third-person Hack and Slash / Action-adventure

2010-03-03

Bioshock 2

  • X360 / PS3 / PC
  • First-person Shooter

2010-03-10

Aliens vs. Predator

  • X360 / PS3 / PC
  • First-person Shooter / Survival Horror / Action

The "Prototype vs. inFAMOUS" challenge

As a review of Prototype, Croshaw decided to compare the game to inFAMOUS, a similar game that came out around the same time, using a simple point-based score based on various aspects. The end score became a tie, and Croshaw suggested that the winner would be the game whose developers can best depict the rival game's main character in women's lingerie. While this call for action was admittedly not meant to be serious, the two developer studios apparently did pick up the glove and produced the required images, much to Croshaw's admitted surprise. The winner of the additional contest was declared to be Sucker Punch Productions, the makers of inFAMOUS. In August, when Croshaw reviewed Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, he mentioned that with another upcoming Western-themed game produced by Rockstar, he might do a similar contest.