Shoot the Zombirds (iOs) Review
We liked?
Good For All Age Groups
Not so much?
Shoot the Zombirds is a simple game, with a relatively simple premise and little extras to add to the fun. It is easy to pick up and play, for all different skill levels, and easy to put down if you only have a few minutes to play. You won’t want likely want to put it down though, as it has a bit of an addicting quality to it as you seek to reach your objective, reach that next level of upgrade, and of course, reach your high score.
OH NO! ZOMBIES….er…I mean, ZOMBIRDS!
Mobile gaming is on the rise, and with the bite-sized pieces of gaming we get on our mobile platforms, it seems like we are ever in search of a new game to while away our commutes. To be successful, a mobile game has to be easy to pick up and play, yet also easy to quickly put down when it’s our turn in line. It has to be engaging and fun, yet simple and easy to look at as well. And perhaps most importantly, it has to be cheap. After all, that is one of the major draws of mobile gaming – fun games with low price tags. So how does Infinite Dreams’ newest entry to the mobile market stack up to the competition?
Shoot the Zombirds is an interesting take on the zombie craze that has overtaken gaming of late. These zombies aren’t crawling out of their graves to shuffle towards their doom; they are flying through the air above you, zombirds being zombie birds. Oh, and they don’t want you; they want the children. In an eerily Halloween-like setting, you are a pumpkin headed dude armed with some trusty arrows. Simply pull back on the screen, aim, and fire at the zombirds to take them down. That’s the basic premise, but there’s actually a lot more to this game, and it had me playing “just one more level” for about two hours straight.
You start out with three arrows (at first, although this can be increased with upgrades). If you aim and fire at a zombird and hit them, you get to keep the arrow. But if you miss, you lose one from your stash. The arrows go straight up in the air, so at times you may miss with your first shot, but catch a zombird or two on the way back down. Most of the zombirds just fly through the air, and you can pick them off or not as you like without penalty. However, some of the birds will be clutching little pumpkins in their talons. These are the Pumpkids, and it’s your job to save them by shooting the bird that is carrying them off. You are only allowed to lose two Pumpkids (this can also be upgraded). Your streak ends either when you run out of arrows, or two Pumpkids have been successfully carried off screen.
Dying isn’t a big deal in Zombirds. The object is pick up cash in between shooting all those Zombirds by shooting tiny little floating skulls. You are also given objectives to meet, which result in score multiplier. These are all kinds of different goals, like shooting 10 Zombirds in a row, achieving a high score, purchasing certain upgrades, or hanging on in fury mode. Whether you meet the objective or not, and whether you die in the first wave of the fourth, everything you pick up and achieve stays with you. And your objective will just stay the same until you accomplish.
In the Grave Store, you can use the cash you picked up from those floating skulls to upgrade your game. Upgrades available include starting out with more arrows, starting out with more Pumpkids able to be lost, and have skulls appear more often. Each of these can be leveled up four times, for increasingly more money. You can also purchase one time use power-ups that do things like freezing the Zombirds on-screen for easy shooting, bringing forth a storm of arrows, and increasing the speed of Zombird flight to score points faster. Finally, for lots of cash you can upgrade your character from Farm Boy to Pumpkinstein, Skeleton King, or Mummpkin.
The look of Shoot the Zombirds is appropriately dark and spooky, with haunted houses and spooky trees on a graveyard type background. The music is an ominous, spooky sort of tune that suits the atmosphere. The Zombirds that fly across the screen come in many different variety, from big lumbering guys who are easy to shoot to tiny orbs that flit quickly across the screen. The Zombirds are pretty well done, and offer variety in both looks and style. You really need to get to know each type of Zombird in order to effectively plot the course of those arrows.
Final Thoughts:
Shoot the Zombirds is a simple game, with a relatively simple premise and little extras to add to the fun. It is easy to pick up and play, for all different skill levels, and easy to put down if you only have a few minutes to play. You won’t want likely want to put it down though, as it has a bit of an addicting quality to it as you seek to reach your objective, reach that next level of upgrade, and of course, reach your high score.