Zombie Virus (Android)

 

WHAT IS IT?

“Zombie Virus” is a FPS featuring both PvE and PvP modes. In the main single-player offline mode, players blast waves of various undead creatures to progress through areas, broken down into several areas and sub-stages.

UI

Navigating “Zombie Virus” can be a rather formidable task, especially for new players. Accessing the main game modes is quite simple, with “Scenarios”, “Defense”, and “PVP” options prominently displayed. But maximizing the “Zombie Virus” experience requires having to constantly pass through several menus, some of which aren’t super obvious.

Main menu/screen.

The main game modes - “Scenario”, “Defense” and “PvP” - are all given large windows on the main screen. These are going to be the ones used most frequently by the vast majority of users, so their prominent display makes sense.

Along the bottom there are separate buttons for “Character”, “Weapons”, “Quest” and “Gacha”. Visiting these sections will be necessary from time-to-time. The first two are where you will upgrade and modify your characters/weapons. The “quest” button grants rewards based on completing daily and long-term tasks. And the “Gacha” system forms the basis for weapon and character upgrades.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just an old man who longs for the days where games were simple. But navigating around “Zombie Virus’s” myriad of menus and submenus feels rather convoluted and unnecessary.

GAME MODES

The game has three main game modes. “Scenario” is an offline mode that pits the player against waves of zombies across several “areas”. “Areas” are broken down into ten smaller “stages”. Passing on to the next area requires getting through each stage.

“PvP”, for the uninitiated, stands for “player vs. player”. It’s an online mode where you square off against another player. I always hate this mode in games, mainly because I suck at them; thankfully, “Zombie Virus” does things a little differently. Instead of hunting down players and killing them directly, you’re both stuck on opposite sides of each other in a single room. The usual waves of zombies attack. Killing a zombie causes an additional one to respawn, and head toward the opposing player. Once certain kill counts are reached (every 24 or so kills between both players), “special” zombies spawn to attack each contestant. These are the additional non-zombie creatures that require more damage to kill.

The game ends when one player’s health has been depleted. I still hate this mode, but at least there’s a little more to it than the typical “hunt the opposing player down and kill them.”

Defense mode is fun, at least for a little while.

The last, and the most promising, is “Defense”. In it, you’re stationed next to an automatic turret that fires single shots at zombies. Meanwhile, you’re given a minigun (aka “chaingun”) with unlimited ammo, while waves of zombies attack. It’s the stuff dreams are made of. Who wouldn’t love the idea of just going to town on massive waves of zombies?

Besides that, there’s not much else. There is a section for “events”, but that just grants a rotating set of rewards based on actions taken during the main game. It’s technically not really another “mode” at all.

GAMEPLAY

“Zombie Virus” is a rather typical mobile action game, pitting the character against seemingly endless waves of creatures. Players are stationary and can look around to aim and fire. Movement beyond that is “on the rails”, meaning it’s automatically controlled by the game itself. Kill one wave, and a cutscene will move your character forward (or backwards, as the case may be) into the next wave. This goes on until all the groups have been defeated (typically three per stage). Once the level is done, the player is taken to the main screen, where they can prepare for the next wave by leveling up/obtaining items/etc. This cycle repeats indefinitely.

This pretty much sums up the base game.

The core game and its mechanics are similar to all the rest. There’s nothing unique or interesting enough to separate it from other games of its ilk. But one area that is different is the “upgrades” system. And it’s also the game’s fatal flaw.

It works like this: You earn “Weapon” and “Character” cards by completing levels, daily tasks, and watching ads. Each card contains a random “weapon” or “character” fragment. You must collect 30 of the same card in order to actually obtain that item (outside of single use things like grenades). Cards can be drawn individually, or in groups of ten if you have the appropriate number of cards.

Weapons are broken down by letter grade, ranging from “D”, to “SS”. The “D” weapons, as expected, are the weakest. “SS” ones are incredibly rare, and nearly impossible to get.

Typically, each card contains one gun shard. Since there are over a dozen weapons in each category, it can take a long while before you accrue enough to actually obtain that weapon. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a card with all 30 gun shards on it at once, granting you that weapon immediately. The issue is, the gun levels don’t necessarily “progress” with the character. That means it’s entirely possible (perhaps likely, even) that you will obtain a gun weaker than one you already have. Or that you will obtain “good” guns in only one category, while the other two suffer.

A typical weapon draw, where the gun I acquired is too weak to actually use.

A personal example: I’ve gone through countless draws, and what do I have to show for them? Five shotguns, including a couple “B” graders; four “assault rifles”, including the “A” level M4 carbine; and four machine guns. However, the four machine guns are the four weakest in the game, with my highest one rated as a “C”. 

The solution sounds simple, right? Just use the shotgun and assault rifles for every level, and ignore the machine guns. Well, “Zombie Virus” has another random mechanic in place to further prevent players from having fun. Every level has two weapon slots, and the two available gun types rotate between stages. So in some levels, you can take one machine gun and one assault rifle. In others, one shotgun and one machine gun, etc. While the shotgun is powerful, it also has fewer bullets and longer reload time than its automatic counterparts. This relegates it to more of a “backup” weapon in levels with loads of enemies. And the machine gun can’t step up to the plate to provide a solid first line of defense.

This unfair balance in weaponry is beyond infuriating. For the longest time, I was easily able to pass levels that “allowed” the use of shotguns, but died instantly on ones that didn’t. Even now, I’m stuck on a level rated “common” (the second easiest) because my guns apparently aren’t as strong as they should be. I’ve tried to pass a dozen times, and barely make it to the second wave.

Don't be fooled: The two-star "B" grade shotgun is weaker than the one-star gun next to it.

The only way to “level up” your gun is to acquire 30 more shards. Assuming you manage to do that and apply them to a “D” grade weapon. That means you’ve at least got a “C” grade gun now, right? [Buzzer sound] Wrong answer! Your weapon is now at star level 2. You have to get five stars before your gun goes up an actual letter grade. Oh well, at least you can upgrade your weapon beyond level 50 to make it more powerful, right? [Buzzer sound] Wrong again! You’re still stuck at 50! Your gun gets a slight boost in power from the increased star, but not enough to prevent “insufficient firepower” warnings. That means in order to take a gun from one letter grade to another, you’ll need to “find” at least 150 total shards for that one weapon. It’s seriously the worst possible system imaginable. (And I’m not even going to get into the “mileage shop” where you use “extra” cards to buy other items. It’s confusing and completely unnecessary). 

It’s the same with the “Defense” mode. Remember, this is the only mode where you can actually spend cash to purchase a weapon. Sounds great, right? Except that the cost of the weapons are absurd. The second minigun beyond the default, for example, costs over 2500 gold bars! That takes quite a bit of grinding to achieve. To purchase a better auto turret is even more expensive, coming in at over 3,000 gold bars. Weapon upgrades are a little more doable, as they cost cash rather than gold. But the upgrades start at $10,000 and increase with each successive one.

The cost of upgrades in defense mode are absurd.

This is especially cruel because passing “Defense” levels pays out way less than Scenario stages. On the final stage of Area 9, where I’ve been stuck for days, the payout is $1,360 for successfully completing it. In “Defense” mode, I’m on stage 4 of area 5, and the potential earnings are a measly $520. Five hundred and twenty dollars! For a mode where the upgrades cost twenty times that! Details like this certainly push the game further into “cash grab” territory.

You can also obtain and upgrade characters. This requires the use of “books”, which can be obtained via the “Gacha” system. Each upgrade “costs” a certain amount of books and cash, which boosts their stats. The characters each have certain special abilities and areas of expertise that can boost stats. Using Kate, for example, increases critical assault rifle damage by 10%. However, I didn’t notice much of a change during actual gameplay.

“Earning” new characters works in the same way as acquiring weapons; it’s all luck of the draw. There are four total, and after a month of play, I only have two, including Liam, the default. I’m just a third of the way toward “earning” each of the other two. At this rate, it would take me another three months just to get another player I’d have to keep leveling up. No thanks.

I just need 13 more "pieces" of James to put him together and use him.

In other words, everything about the game feels way too convoluted. It might be great for hardcore gamers looking for a long-term grind (if there is such a niche), but casual gamers will likely end up disillusioned rather quickly.

GRAPHICS

The graphics are somewhat appealing, albeit in an “old school” way that might be lost on some. The visuals remind me a lot of the old “House of the Dead” games on Dreamcast. Since I was a fan of those, I actually found a certain sense of nostalgia playing this.

That being said, that wave of past memories wears off after a few levels, before it just becomes bland. There are only a few textures for “regular” zombies, who all start to look the same after a while. 

Zombie textures end enemy types are limited.

In an attempt to break up the monotony, there are other “monsters” besides zombies looking to kill the player. Jumpers, for example, are large beasts that lunge at the player from great distances, before leaping back and repeating the same cycle until they are killed. There are also weird monsters with split heads that shoot green orbs at you from afar. And large monsters that explode when killed. There’s also…well, I think that’s it. Needless to say, variety is lacking overall.

The violence is nothing noteworthy, either. A quick spatter of blood erupts from each bullet hit, and headshots result in an exploding head. Neither are particularly memorable. Curiously, the blood cannot be turned off in the settings, making this a game squarely aimed toward a more mature crowd. 

I can run this on my Google Pixel 7 Pro at 60fps on the highest graphical setting with no stutters or lag. Obviously, some older devices might not be able to handle it. For those players, there are settings for “medium” and “low” to help it run more smoothly. Additionally, the frame count can be dropped to 30 to further limit system resources (at the expense of reduced graphics, of course).

CONTROLS

Controls are pretty standard, and should be familiar to most players experienced in mobile games. A “movement pad” on the left side of the screen allows the player to aim/look around. The gun is controlled from the right side of the screen, with a large “fire” button placed in the middle. Reloading can be manually controlled via a “reload” button placed to the left of the “fire” button. Guns can also be switched in mid-battle from the right side, via small buttons placed quite a ways above the “fire” button.

There are a couple of things I don’t like. The medkit, grenades and “special ability” are also placed on the left side, but more toward the middle. This makes accessing them in-game - especially during frantic life-or-death moments - rather difficult. Players with smaller hands will have an even harder time, as there’s quite a reach involved. To make matters worse, the buttons are rather small, and require perfect finger placement to activate.

The control interface should be familiar to action gamers

Speaking of small buttons, the “reload” button is small and, in my opinion, illogically placed. So many times I’ve attempted to reload during “down time”, only to discover that I missed the target spot. Sometimes it takes me two or three tries before my character finally reloads their weapon. It’s rather annoying.

The act of firing is pretty responsive, as even a light tap will engage the characters’ firearm. Then again, that’s what you would expect, so that’s not much of a “win”. It should be a (mostly) familiar setup for anyone who’s played this type of game before.

AUDIO

The audio is one area where it seems like the developers decided to cut some corners. The menu music is serviceable, but rather basic. The “battle” tracks are little more than drums and synths; nothing to really add to the mood much. In fact, it quite literally fades into the background. This can be good in some cases - i.e. it doesn’t call attention to itself - but in this case it doesn’t really add to the atmosphere. 

Same with the sound effects. The gun sounds are “tinny” and unconvincing. There is no “reverb” or other audio effects to make it “blend” into the actual locations or gameplay. Getting hit elicits a generic “uh”. Dying elicits the same sound. The menu sounds consist of a “cha-ching” type when earning money, and various similar effects when upgrading weapons, but nothing of note.

I played this game on mute for a month and didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything.

ADS/”GREED”

The basic ad setup of “Zombie Virus” is like most other mobile games: There is a skippable ad after every level. Gaining extra resources requires either paying money, or watching additional promos. There is also a pop-up urging you to spend real-life cash for a “Start Package” every time upon startup. It’s annoying, but nothing egregious compared to similar games.

Get used to being greeted by this.

To be fair, there are also several opportunities to gain items without spending money. The “Gacha” page has “Daily gift” and “Free gift” options. Each one gives you up to 10 free items each day. That means 20 free items, ranging from cash, to gold, to weapon shards, and anything in between. That’s nice, except that each free gift requires viewing a 30 second ad. To get all of the daily freebies, you’d have to watch at least 10 minutes of ads. You know what? I’m not ashamed to say I’ve done this multiple times, and it’s been nothing but a waste of time. (Okay, I am ashamed to admit that.)

In order to level up quicker, “Zombie Virus” offers several options involving real money, and spread across individual categories. The aforementioned “Start Package” gives users 500 gold, $35,000 cash, and 10 weapon and character draw cards. This costs $4.99 and can only be purchased once. Additionally, players can also remove ads (only in Scenario mode) and get 300 gold for the same price. Again, this is a one-time purchase.

If you're willing to watch 10 minutes of ads, you can get 20 free gifts daily.

Remaining packages all pertain to certain categories, and are offered in numbered tiers. For example, the “Weapon Draw” package gives users 10 weapon draw cards, 150 gold (not much) and $15,000 cash (useless) for $5. For $50, players can earn 200 weapon draw cards, 1200 gold and $120,000 cash. So the user can draw 200 weapons, thus increasing the likelihood of getting “good” weapons. However, it’s still based entirely on chance; the user could also get nothing of great use. I’ve easily drawn over 200 cards total and still have little to show for it.

Looking for character cards instead? Time to pony up another $5 for 10, or $50 for 200. There are other tiers in between, but rise in cost accordingly. And once again, the results are entirely randomized.

For those who don’t want to leave it up to luck, graded weapons can be purchased outright. But the price of these qualify as outright scams. For example, the lowest grade assault rifle will run you $10. Ten bucks! For a base weapon that can’t even hack it beyond the second or third area! Instantly acquiring an “A” grade assault rifle is a whopping $50, while “S” grades come in at an eye-watering $70.

You could buy a real gun for this price.

And keep in mind these prices are for one weapon in a single category. So, to buy one “S” grade weapon in each category (shotgun, assault rifle and machine gun) would set you back $210. Two hundred and ten real-life dollars. If this doesn’t scream “cash grab” to you, then I don’t know what would. 

FUN

As you can probably tell if you’ve made it this far, “Zombie Virus” is far more frustrating than fun. Of course, that’s not the case in the beginning. In the game’s early stages, it was promising. While I hated the weapons system from the get-go, I figured it would result in upgrades that would evolve with the game’s difficulty. That just hasn’t been the case.

I’ve spent more time watching ads in the hopes of acquiring useful items, than I have playing actual missions. And all that time has been nothing but a complete waste. When newly acquired weapons are frequently weaker than the ones you already have, it’s maddening. It’s pointless. The “Gacha” system almost singlehandedly ruins any potential for excitement the game had.

There are a wide variety of guns you'll likely never acquire.

I don’t mind a challenge. That’s not the issue. I don’t expect to breeze through every level. But when it takes an entire clip to dispatch one zombie, leaving twenty others open to attack you, that’s not a “challenge”: that’s suicide. And that’s not something I ever find entertaining. 

IN CONCLUSION

Progress comes rather swiftly at first, but once it stalls, the fun is gone. It got to the point where I was spending more time watching ads than actually playing the game. And where’s the fun in that? The weapon system is absolutely maddening, relying almost entirely on luck (or real cash) to get anything good. And the lack of monster variety only makes things even more dull. 

I wanted to like it. I really did. I played far longer than I wanted to, in the hopes that grinding would eventually lead to a better experience. But it never did.

Unless you have loads of expendable income to blow on weapons, “Zombie Virus” quickly becomes a waste of time. And even if you do, there’s still the matter of its repetitive gameplay and randomized upgrade system. It’s too convoluted for its own good, ultimately collapsing under the weight of its “grand” ideas and poor execution.

OVERALL: 2.5/10.

On a side note: This opening message might be the best thing about the game.