Z0MB1ES!!1 (on teh ph0ne): Xbox Windows Phone Review

Zombies on the Phone! Lead

Few professionally-made games try to comprehend the punk rock culture. After all, nigh games strive to look and audio equally professional as possible rather than attach to a DIY philosophy. But that'southward just what Ska Studios' I Made a Game with Zombies in It!!! (aka I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!ane) did in 2009. Released as an Xbox Live Indie Game on the Xbox 360 and sold for a mere 80 Microsoft Points ($one), it quickly became a big hit amongst cost-conscious 360 gamers. With the move to Windows Phone, the game received official Xbox Alive status. The mobile version couldn't be sold for a dollar since Alive titles start at $two.99. Thus the developers threw in a couple of new game modes, and Zombies on the Phone (Z0MB1ES!!1 (on teh ph0ne) was born.

Three games in 1

Zombies on the Phone consists of three distinct game modes: I Made a Game with Zombies in It!, 'Countless Zombies!,' and 'Fourth dimension Viking.'

I Made a Game with Zombies In it!

I Made a Game with Zombies In it! Is a faithful port of the Xbox 360 original, lacking only that version's 4 player co-op due to electric current Windows Phone restrictions. At its heart, IMAGWZII! (as I'll now shorten it) is a top-down twin-stick shooter. Players run effectually shooting enemies, collecting powerups, and trying not to die. Adequately standard stuff and so far.

What sets IMAGWZII! apart is the experience. It feels like going to a rock concert, cheers to the matrimony of music and visuals. The entire game is accompanied past a lengthy lyrical rock song; when the song ends, so does the game. Instead of distinct levels, the action takes place entirely in ane large arena with no walls. As the song moves through its various phases, the background changes to match it. You'll see flashing lights, space patterns, and even the Ska Studios logo pop upward equally you lot battle zombie hoards. The crazy, flashy stuff might give an epileptic person a seizure, merely information technology'southward a lot similar the trippy visuals yous might see projected in the groundwork of an bodily concert.

Too looking and sounding similar going to a show, IMAGWZII! proudly looks like information technology was made past a single dude (James Silva, who we interviewed last yr). Neither the player grapheme nor the zombies are very well-drawn, but they get the task done. One enemy is fifty-fifty fabricated of Ascii symbols for some reason, which has e'er undermined the zombie theme a scrap in my optics, but that'southward besides the point. This is a game you play for the silly, non considering you specifically loathe the undead. The theme song is equally silly and DIY. If you can stomach Silva'southward intentionally grating shrieks, you'll hear all about how the game has zombies and costs only a dollar. I am ane of the few who never enjoyed the song, but even I dropped a buck on the Rock Band version for some reason.

I Made a Game with Zombies In it!

If we put aesthetics aside, is IMAGWZII! a good shooter? More often than not. Enemies drop a variety of limited-ammo guns, several of which are quite fun to apply. The rocket and laser are duds in this version due to the slow aiming, only I'll go to that in a chip. On the plus side, ammo stacks, so yous can grab two of the aforementioned weapon and become twice equally many shots off. Enemy variety is also surprisingly decent for such a modest-scale development effort.

On the downwards side, enemies randomly spawn all over the place – sometimes so close that you take no time to react to them. Not cool. Exacerbating the problem, the player character walks also tedious for comfort. Something is wrong when zombies motility faster than the player (28 Days Later not-withstanding). Similarly, the virtual twin-stick controls don't function as responsively as they do in other games similar Rocket Riot and Square Off. Slow motion and slow aiming don't ruin the game, merely they continue it from feeling as skilful every bit the panel version.

'Endless Zombies!' ditches the concert-similar vibe and finite arroyo of the original IMAGWZII! in favor of a more than structured arroyo. The activity now takes identify in a mansion-like setting. Players articulate a room of zombies and and then select which management to head from in that location. Later on making a complete loop around the mansion, the whole matter repeats, and so on. It's not tremendously different from the original game, but the more realistic environments and instrumental song definitely provide a different flavor. It would be squeamish if the possible exits were more clearly marked afterwards the carnage dies downwards, though – arrows, maybe?

Time Viking

'Time Viking' functions equally a spiritual successor to IMAGWZII!. Players take on the office of a fourth dimension-travelling Viking whose helmet shoots bolts of energy. He travels to the future just to be assaulted past robot ninjas, Space Invaders (Don't tell Rafael! He'll take a heart assail!), and fifty-fifty the developer's laser-eyed cat. Defeated enemies pile upwardly below the titular hero, creating a tower that eventually reaches the moon (!). All this insanity takes place from a side-view instead of an overhead i, but otherwise information technology plays quite similarly to its predecessor.

While information technology'southward withal a low-budget affair, 'Time Viking' does expect a lot nicer thanks to graphic symbol art drawn by James Silva's partner, Michelle Juett (or is that Michelle Silva past at present?). The backgrounds feature some choice parallax scrolling with a proficient dose of IMAGWZAII!-mode flashy animations. The new lyrical song matches the action just likewise as before. On the whole, 'Time Viking' rounds out the package nicely.

Photo fun

Time Viking

As if Zombies on the Phone! Wasn't weird enough, it besides allows users to stick photos from their phones in place of standard enemy sprites. Depending on what your photo library looks similar, the effect can be pretty funny. This feature, dubbed 'Mega Games Creator 2000,' doesn't work with 'Time Viking,' presumably because that mode uses larger and more uniquely shaped sprites.

Achievements

Zombies on the Telephone!'due south Achievements range from fun to frustrating. 'So SRS' is either mislabeled or doesn't track properly. It reads "Kill 10,000 things," which would seem to be cumulative. Unfortunately, all 10,000 kills must exist done in ane session, necessitating well-nigh an hour of grinding. Hopefully that gets fixed in an update, but I'm not holding my breath. On the truly challenging terminate, both IMAGWZII! and 'Fourth dimension Viking' have an Achievement for reaching the stop without dying. Because that each mode lasts over 10 minutes and the controls and movement speed aren't upward to par, only defended players (not me!) will be getting those two.

Overall Impression

Zombies on the Phone! is like nix else in the Xbox Live lineup. None of the game modes is particularly tight or polished, and I wish it controlled a fiddling better. But the loudness, humour, and mental attitude more often than not make upwards for its shortcomings. I've seen a few people complain that a i dollar XBLIG title costs 3 times as much on Windows Telephone. Those folks probably shouldn't be gaming on this platform because that mobile Xbox Live titles just about e'er cost more than their iPhone counterparts. Besides, Ska Studios basically tripled the amount of content to make up for the higher price. If y'all require a little shooting action, this game packs plenty of bang for the cadet.

Z0MB1ES!!1 (on teh ph0ne) - Windows Telephone 7 or viii - 54 MB - $two.99 - Store Link

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