Kids vs. Zombies!
Score: 86% ESRB: Not Rated Publisher: Monkey Wrench Games Developer: Monkey Wrench Games Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Strategy
Graphics & Sound: I am new to the iPhone phenomenon and I just bought my first game for my new tilt-controlled gaming platform: Kids vs. Zombies. It may sound ridiculous, but Kids vs. Zombies is a good strategy defense game where zombies are invading three childrens' fort and they have to defend it at all costs... or else the walking dead feast upon their brains. Being that I am new to the iPhone device, I was actually impressed with how good it looked. Each character model is rendered in 3-D and the art style is used wisely to cover up the shortcomings. The characters look better than something on the DS, but not quite as good as the PSP. The developers get away with making characters look great because the environment is entirely devoid of any sort of life. What is essentially a large square with grass and dirt and a picture of a city behind it, the "field" in which you kill legions of the undead, can be overlooked for not having any detail because honestly, you aren't focused on the ground while you play. Actually, you aren't focused on anything but the unending moans of the flesh-eaters that slowly make their way to your fort. The Menu screen has some ambient B-movie horror music, but the field has no music at all. All that can be heard is the cacophony of weapons fire and zombie death. This is not a game to play in public with the sound on, because you will annoy anyone around you with the sound effects. I wouldn't even recommend headphones because there isn't anything relevant that is passed on through the audio, so feel free to keep this one on mute.
Gameplay: Kids vs. Zombies is a tower defense game from the tower's point of view. There are three children, each with a weapon of choice, in order to defend themselves against a zombie invasion. You control all three kids at once by switching back and forth between them to take aim and shoot any approaching enemies. The three children represent three archetypes. Marcus is a young athletic boy that wields a shotgun for close quarters action. Scarlett is gothy girl that uses her slingshot to snipe from a distance and Dexter who (as his name implies) is a science geek that built a catapult to launch cherry bombs and water balloons filled with acid. Yes.... acid. I think one of the best traits Kids vs. Zombies has going for it is its sense of humor. The enemy types and weapon selection show the developers had fun creating a campy universe to kill in. There are about 40 levels to work through and in between each level, you can earn money to spend on upgrades to your fort or each of the children's weapons. I think the wisest investment is to buy laser sights for everyone as soon as possible to help with precision. The higher stages become too frantic and hectic to accomplish without some sort of aim assist, so it definitely pays off early on.
Difficulty: Kids vs. Zombies adopts a very clever approach to difficulty. As you progress through the stages, more and more zombies are sent your way and sometimes it becomes too much and you die despite your preparations. Other levels take away one or two of the children and force you to defend yourself with one kid. Further still, a few levels are reserved for boss fights where a super-zombie appears and you must figure out his pattern in order to beat him. The gradual pace of the difficulty curve is perfect for an iPhone because it conforms to "pick up and play" ideology perfectly and with over a dozen different types of zombies, you won't soon be bored of it.
Game Mechanics: Maybe I am just not used to controlling everything with my fingers yet, but I think that Kids vs. Zombies has some bugs to work out to make the zombie killfest more smooth. You tap on each kid to select them and their weapon. You hold your finger down and move across the screen to aim and release to shoot. That is all there is to the entire game. The Menu systems have stuff to buy by simply tapping what you want, but the whole fun of the game is dragging and releasing. And since there is only a single mechanic, it should not have two glaring flaws. The aiming is inverted for both axes. This means that when you move your finger left, the reticule moves right. If you move up, it moves down. There should have been an option to choose your aiming style because my brain does not comprehend if you reverse left and right. Also when an aiming system relies on releasing the button to shoot, you have a problem with double shooting. This happens when you have fired a shot and you press the characters again to aim and your finger moves too far and the game mistakes that for a release and fires a shot in whatever direction it was pointed in. There shouldn't be any problems with aiming in a game of this nature and I hope that it gets updated to fix these issues. Overall though, Kids vs. Zombies is a terribly addictive game with enormous replay value. I have been taking breaks throughout this very review to see if I can beat my score and for an iPhone game, I think that is a success. It only costs a few dollars on the app store and it will last you a long time. I could think of worse ways to spend three bucks, but then you don't get to kill any zombies with acid-filled water balloons. Go ahead and buy Kids vs. Zombies, it has a few problems but the overall enjoyment makes up for any faults.
-HanChi, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Hanchey
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