HeroesAndZombies Review

Developer: ChangHun Lee
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.2
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4S

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Overall Rating:

HeroesAndZombies starts off by telling the player they are a hero in a world full of zombies and that their job is to save the world. That paper-thin premise perfectly sets up the shallow action that follows. Across the four worlds and sixty levels the objective remains the same: wipe out all zombies. Sometimes one will have to kill a certain number of zombies or get a certain combo or even kill zombies while doing a dreaded escort mission but the zombie-killing is always the focus. This both helps and hurts. Killing zombies feels great. Players tap the screen to simultaneously move and execute various punches and magic attacks. The combination of speed and responsiveness makes the action feel incredibly visceral and satisfying. Unfortunately, it is also incredibly mindless and it makes up the bulk of the game.

There are a few ways the game tries to get around this. It’s got a charming art style and the sound effects aid the action by making each punch sound as swift and awesome as it should. Then there are the light RPG elements. Players level up and increase their character’s stats like strength and health regeneration. Players can also use coins they earn to buy and improve special skills. Some of these skills, like the projectile attacks, all particularly useful for certain enemies like bomb zombies that explode and damage players bold or dumb enough to punch them. All of these garnishes however cannot distract one from how utterly hollow the game is at its core.

HeroesAndZombies, like the cheapest candies, is at first fun and sweet but almost instantly dissolves into nothing of value for the consumer. In attempt to make the usually deep action-RPG genre more compatible with iPhone-style gaming habits, the game feels boiled down past the essentials leaving only trace amounts of what those games are about. It's appropriately priced and there’s good enough time-wasting fun to be had here but it’s fleeting.