Review: Zombie Cannon Carnage

Overview

Zombie Cannon Carnage is a fast paced cannon firing game where the objective is to do as much carnage as possible. Your zombie is shot from a cannon and wreaks as much carnage before self destructing to do even more damage.  Zombie Cannon Carnage has a 1950s alien invader movie feel, and employs the use of some serious ragdoll mechanics. Social score keeping is available through Plus+.

Features

Our zombie superheroes from outer space are Pee-Pee Boy, Z-emo, and Rot Bot. You begin as Pee-Pee Boy and unlock the other two zombies as you progress through the game's achievements. Aim your zombie cannon by sliding your finger across the screen, then fire! As your zombie flies through the air you can activate your jetpack for extra bursts of speed. Tilt to adjust your flight or fall as you bounce your way through a destructible city scape. After your flight through the city destroying air conditioner units, boxes, humans, and much more, you have the self destruct button available allowing you to explode and cause even more carnage. There are also objects to be avoided such as the Police Helicopter in the air, the Ice Cream Truck on the ground, crane hooks that move around, and the Air Force which will destroy you if you get too high above the city. There is a total of 3 rounds per game within which you earn cash for more destruction caused. At the end of the round you are allowed to shop at the Upgrade-O-Matic vending machine where you have the option to buy 4 upgrades, Cannon, Jetpack Fuel increase, Armor, and a Mystery item. The best mystery item is an extra round allowing you to pump up that final score. The controls are tough to learn and tough to master but quite powerful once you get a feel for the game. Tilt to alter your path slightly and tap the screen quickly to increase the regen time on self destruct. After you self destruct and don't have enough self destruction damage done to explode again, just tap as fast as you can when the red light begins to blink. There are two unlockable characters and your overall game progress is clearly displayed each time you end a game. There are 30 achievements that clearly differentiate between Talent, Luck, or Endurance which is what it will take you to earn them respectively.

The Good

The controls in Zombie Cannon Carnage seem clunky at first but as you get the feel for the game you can use them effectively for slight adjustments that will gain you huge amounts of extra points. The graphics in Zombie Cannon Carnage are colorful and engaging. Also featured are two unlockable characters who come with a whole new city scape look when unlocked. This game has a good sense of zombie humor with comic book type excerpts that can be quite hilarious. The violence with which you bounce, impact, fall, and explode with is truly a joy to watch and is reminiscent at times of a pinball machine. There is an option to adjust the amount of blood between 'no thanks' and 'buckets'.

The Bad

At times it is hard to understand exactly what is happening graphically due to fast movement and small objects zooming by. From game start to game over this is a short game. You play for only 3 rounds each of which can be very short making for play times as little as 1 minute for a whole game. There is no music during gameplay but the sound is interesting enough. The city is built the same exact way each time you fire your cannon which allows for getting a feel for what is coming but can also be tedious after a while. The unlockable characters do change the look of the city, but not the positioning of any objects. Zombie Cannon Carnage gets repetitive.

The Verdict

A perfect game to play for a minute or two on the run. This is an enjoyable game but the replay value is pretty low. The learning curve between having no idea how to play, and actually aiming for extra points is pretty steep and will see some players buying this app and giving up immediately. Zombie Cannon Carnage is a lot of fun, and for players willing to keep at it, you will find the fun that you paid for. We suggest you watch a video of actual gameplay before purchasing this one.

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