I love zombies, I really do, at least when I get to kill them. Well kill them again would probably be technically correct as they are already dead. In Z is for Zombie I get to kill lots and lots of them, which is fine for a little while before I get bored. It is a sad day when I get bored from killing zombies, it really is.
In Z is for Zombie you control a stick man protagonist with a grudge against all that is undead. Movement is controlled by tilting up, down, left and right, and you shoot by tapping the screen. I found that the movement controls worked quite well when I calibrated the accelerometer in the options menu. You have a limited supply of ammo, and have to pick up crates on the floor to stand a chance. Health is also available as pickups.
You walk from left with the hordes of zombies attacking from the right. If they pass you by you will loose points, and if the score reaches zero it is game over. Innocent survivors aren’t there for target practise, and killing them also removes vital points. There is also health to worry about, and each time a zombie grabs you it diminishes your will to live.
The graphics in Z is for Zombie is made to look like it is drawn in a students math workbook. All characters are hand drawn stickmen, and the animations are limited to those of stickmen. Bloody effects when you kill them add to the carnage, and looks quite cool. Overall I like the look of the game.
The game has a lot of dark horror ambience instead of music, and quite ok sound effects when you splatter the zombie hordes. You can’t play your own music.
Gamelife is severely lacking due to in part the really repetitive gameplay, and in part due to lack of highscores and achievements. It doesn’t take long for the gameplay to feel old, and as the game doesn’t save your progress you have to restart each time you start the game. It doesn’t save the scores for any of the three game modes making it kind of pointless. A survival mode that doesn’t save your score is more or less unheard of. The survival mode differs slightly from the rest of the game as it is a barricade defense game with you behind a barrier shooting at incoming zombies. Strangely enough the survival never seem to end, and my guy is simply standing there waiting for zombies to show up. I also managed to run off screen, and never managed to come back. Strange bugs like that make the game feel unpolished.
Z is for Zombie is not a game I can recommend at all. Even though I like the graphics it falters in key areas such as gameplay, gamelife and general quality control.
Final Rating
Z is for Zombie $0.99
Version: 1.2
Seller: Jonathan Mulcahy
