Strong Points:
Good, 3D graphics
Nice change to the regular endless runner gameplay
Lots of varied powerups
Lots of missions
Lots of hats
Changing backgrounds makes the game seem more alive
Weak Points:
Powerup upgrades get very expensive, very quickly
The hats don't do anything except change the aesthetics slightly
Animations aren't as good as the graphics
There is no measurement of how far you've gone
In-depth Review:
Release Dates:
World Wide: 6 November, 2013
Controls:
Tap to jump and press menu buttons
Zombie Tsunami is an endless runner with a difference in that you control not one character but many. It also doesn't have a counter for how far you've run. So how exactly is it an endless runner? Well, you run and it's endless (obviously).
Other than that, it's actually quite different. For one thing, controlling multiple zombie's (as these are the characters you control) changes the gameplay considerably. The reason for this is that the zombies don't jump all at the same time but rather jump in a hill effect (the first one jumps and then the next one, then the next and so on). This means that it is a lot harder to judge jumps than on a normal endless runner. Luckily, it doesn't matter if you lose one zombie as you can keep playing until you've lost them all.
But what's the point? There aren't any distance measurements. While this is true, the game, instead, ranks you on how many people you have converted into zombies or, more specifically, the amount of brains you've eaten. You convert people by either running into them or by destroying their vehicle (a car takes 4 zombies to break, a bus takes 8, a tank 12 and an airplane takes 16). The converted people then join your ever-growing hoard.
As well as people and vehicles, you can also run into powerups. These powerups range from ninja's (who can double jump) to a dragon (that causes your zombies not to split up, therefore making it easier to time jumps as well as being able to glide for a longer period of time) all the way to the titular tsunami (which causes you to be invincible and destroy everything). You can upgrade these powerups in the shop as well as buy hats (such as zombie caps or cowboy hats) and one time powerups (such as a group of people at the beginning or double the zombies). Unfortunately, these upgrades get very expensive, very quickly so you'll be hard pressed to get them all.
One way to get money easily is to complete missions a la Jetpack Joyride. These missions range from turning traffic lights green (by jumping into them of course) to eating ten brains while only having five zombies in your hoard (causing you to purposefully kill some of your zombies). Completing missions, fills up a vial of zombie and brain themed juice which, when full, gives you coins. Another way to get coins (and one use powerups) is to fill up the converted brains shelf (which can hold 100 brains). When filled, the shelf gives you a scratch card which can be used to get two prizes. The other way to get coins is, of course, to run into them in the actual game. By getting all of the coins in one section, you get a 'perfect' flash up on the screen as well as some bonus coins.
The other things to run into in the game are not so beneficial. These are the bombs and moving cars, each of which can kill (can zombies be killed?) one zombie. Other ways to die is to fall into the ever-present gaps in the road or to get stuck behind a stationary vehicle (which is done by not having enough zombies to destroy it). Some powerups prevent you from dying by bombs and vehicles (such as the quaterbacks who can run through them or ninjas who cut them up) while the zombie tsunami prevents you from dying at all.
The graphics are 3D and full of heart (although they do have the side-effect of turning your zombies into frog like creatures with crocodile like mouths). The animations aren't quite as good with the zombie's running on the spot and the people flying when they've been eaten. The animations in the background are much better, though, with zombies painting graffiti or eating the Mount Rushmore monuments.
Overall, this game is a nice change of pace for the tired endless runner genre with bucket-fulls of heart to go with it. If this is how the zombie apocalypses turns out, then I can't wait!
Rating: 73%
Goodbye for now, Harry
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