MobiPress: iPhone Apps

Contrary to popular belief, COD Zombies is not a game about zombie fish, but rather zombie Nazis. You see, there’s a clubhouse of the living, of which you are the sole surviving member. The titular hordes of undead are not members of this club, so it’s up to you to dis-member them because they do not belong…and because they’re trying to eat you. Thankfully, the fortified building you’re in is filled with something else they can eat instead: hot freaking lead.

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies was released for $9.99 a few days ago and I’m delighted to say that it’s a blast. Sure, the game really only features one level (more to come as DLC), but consumers and developers please take note: THIS is how you can make a first person shooter work on the iPhone.

Nacht der Untoten..
COD Zombies is based on an extra multiplayer mode in Call of Duty: World at War (released on PC and consoles) where you and a couple of friends are left to fight off wave after wave of Nazi zombies. You shoot zombies to score cash, upgrade your weapons, and then shoot zombies with bigger guns.
This game starts you off with a pistol, half a moment to breathe, and then throws zombies at you from every direction until you inevitably slip up and die. Trust me, though, you’ve never had so much fun literally staring death in the face and then shooting it.

Every room you go into has a barricade on the windows that can be destroyed by the undead, and repaired by you, the not-dead-yet. Keeping the barricades in place means that you can slow zombie progress and fire on them as they tear the barriers apart. However, you can also play the game a little more recklessly: let the barricades go down, allow the horde in, kill everything in sight, and then make a little money by repairing the defenses. Zombies come in waves, so there’s always at least a few seconds to catch a breath before you ventilate more undead.

As I mentioned earlier, you can use the cash you earn from repairing barricades and killing zombies to upgrade your weapons, but you can also use it to unlock other areas of the level. There are two other areas to unlock in “Nacht der Untoten”, and opening them allows you access to other weapons and gives the zombies more windows to climb through. It’s a necessary sacrifice, though, since the zombies get faster and tougher with every wave, and you’ll need bigger guns like the BAR and Trench Gun to dispatch them.

Ich liebe dich Headshot…
The zombies in COD Zombies aren’t really all that scary until you’re surrounded by them or until they start screaming (they’ve got ridiculously scary screams!). But then again, you’re no fluffy pushover yourself: you’ve got a great set of controls and a variety of weapons to punch hurty holes in the enemy.

There are three control sets in COD Zombies: the first two are pretty similar implementations of digital analog sticks, but the third, the tilt control option, offered me the best gameplay experience. You still use a left analog stick to move and strafe and two buttons on the right to activate iron sights and pull the trigger, but all of the looking is done by tilting the device (and you can recalibrate the default tilt and sensitivity at will). I dare say that COD’s controls are actually better than those of Eliminate Pro.

The trickiest part after mastering aiming and movement is finding a weapon that suits your play style. I love the shotgun since I can shoot it from the hip while running circles around zombies, but most other weapons require liberal use of the iron sights for any semblance of accuracy. There are also grenades for when you find yourself surrounded, and a combat knife for particularly personal encounters — both of which are satisfying extra ways to paint your enemies all over the walls.

That’s the thing about fighting zombies: it’s messy business, and the weapons and effects are pretty fantastic at showing you how true this is. Headshots are gorgeously gory, limbs can be blown off, and there were quite a few times I stopped before shooting because I actually couldn’t register *what* was coming at me…it certainly didn’t look human any more. You’re going to be fighting a lot of zombies in this game, so thank goodness it’s so much bloody fun.

Besser mit Freunden…
It’s a real blast going out in a blaze of glory and taking as many zombies as you can with you, but the whole experience gets even better if you can trick your friends into fighting alongside you. You’re essentially asking your friends to join you as dinner, but if they’re real friends, they’ll say yes.
COD Zombies features easy ad-hoc wifi multiplayer with up to three pals or a Bluetooth pairing for two people. I wasn’t able to gather a full squad, but I did get to try a bit of two-player co-op out. My partner’s movement didn’t look quite as smooth as my own, but the action felt much the same as in single player. I could also swear there were more zombies, but it was hard to tell, since we were gunning them down so quickly 

Extra…
There’s only one level in COD Zombies right now, but there should be more coming soon as paid downloads. However, there are some other things to work towards while you wait for extra content. There are online leaderboards that are tied to your global Call of Duty account, as well as a huge list of global and map-specific achievements. They don’t seem to earn you anything (as far as I can tell), but they’re something else to gun for besides headshots.

Gut Game…
Call of Duty: World at War Zombies is a long title for a game with only one level, but all of the action packed into that claustrophobic space more than makes up for the lack of variety. The inclusion of auto-save, orientation changes (just flip the iPhone), and a smooth playing experience are also greatly appreciated. I did experience a few crashes here and there, but that was likely because I was too lazy to restart the device to clear my RAM before playing. Otherwise, the game flies on my 3GS and even the iPod Touch 2G (iPhone 2G didn’t fare as well).

COD Zombies is another “premium” game on the App Store, but it’s one of the rare ones to actually earn its $9.99 price point. It’s a fantastic new way to rip zombies apart on your iPhone, and it’s a kickass shooter to boot. Go on, now, duty calls!
—
Call of Duty: World at War Zombies is available for $9.99 on the App Store.