Review: ZombieSmash HD - You're Gonna Need A Bigger iOS Device
by Staff Writer
December 17, 2010
Overview
It’s time to smash zombies on your iPad in a game completely redesigned for the bigger device. The zombies are the same size as the iPhone version, but now there is a bigger landscape with more zombies. Not only that, but multi-touch comes into play to let you take advantage of the iPad allowing 11 touches at once. You are stranded in a house in a zombie apocalypse, and you need to try to survive. Zombies come at you from all directions, and there are multiple kinds of zombies. Luckily you have powerful fingers as well as some weaponry at your disposal in this cartoonish zombie massacre game. Game center is also included for online high scores and achievements.
Features
The same 31 day campaign mode is included from the iPhone version, but all have been redesigned for the bigger interface. There is also an unlockable endless mode as well as bonus nights which provide specific challenges. There is also a sandbox to play around with different weapons, and the physics and blood splatter engine. For a comparison, below is the iPhone version and iPad version to see the change in perspective. iPhone:
The Good
If you never played the iPhone version you’re in for a real treat with this castle defense game. Grab the zombies with one finger, all your fingers, or any combination in between, and flick the zombies into the air. You can also grab particular ones, and smash the back down on to the ground.
The heart of the game is a campaign mode where you try to survive for 31 levels with different waves and types of zombies. Smashing zombies could become dull, but what makes the game great is the inclusion of weaponry. You can drop rocks, plant mines, throw grenades, roll big boulders, wrecking balls, and asteroids too as well as using some guns. Every level introduces a new weapon or enemy, and sometimes both and you have to defend the left side of the house then the right side, and then both sides at the same time.
There are certain levels where you can’t grab, and there are big enemies you can’t grab making the weapons that much more important. The game has three difficulties for all types of players whether you’ve never played castle defense or are a veteran. The campaign is quite lengthy, and challenging with plenty of variability from night to night.
Also as you go through it you can unlock the endless mode to try to survive as long as you can. Then you unlock the bonus nights with very specific challenges of a certain type of zombie, or weapon, or sillier. The sandbox is a unique addition which just lets you mess around with zombies like you would pygmies in Pocket God.
Grab them, twirl them in the air, and slam them back down, or use one of the 25 weapons, and watch all the mayhem. ZombieSmash includes an amazing ragdoll physics engine for such realistic reactions of every single zombie limb. Then there is the excellent blood splatter engine which creates a lot of realistic blood squirting, but all in a light hearted cartoonish way.
Stars pop out of the killed zombies, and you tap to collect them as they can be used to buy upgrades to all of your weaponry. Multi-touch can also be used so that you can smash zombies with one hand, and pick stars up with the other so you no longer have to choose between collecting stars and smashing zombies.
If you have played the iPhone version you’ll be utterly shocked by the iPad version which provides a huge canvas for zombie smashing. You have so much room to pick zombies up, and slam them back down, and there are many more zombies on screen at once. Also, you don’t have to only play with two thumbs as you can use both hands to pick up a bunch of zombies at once, which is essential for survival with the larger waves.
Not only that, but all the animations whether it’s the physics engine, blood splatter engine or weapon animations are all beefed up for the iPad. More animations can be handled at once all in more extreme circumstances as well as simply containing more zombies on screen. The game looks simply gorgeous on the iPad so that killing zombies has never looked so good.
Also when you complete a level the camera goes into slow motion for the final kill which is always great to see. There is an absolutely outstanding soundtrack to fit the zombie theme while still providing some humor. The sound effects are great as well with perfect zombie groans and such accurate bone crunching to make you cringe.
