11:59am Thursday 9th September 2010
By Colin Miller
Gameloft are certainly no strangers to the handheld market, and they are certainly no strangers to taking inspiration from other established series and putting their own spin on them.
Some may accuse Gameloft of being unoriginal, however, one can’t grumble about the quality of their work and since for the most part, their games are consistently of a good standard, I like to think that they are simply paying a homage to the bigger boys out there.
Zombie HD sees Gameloft tackle the survival horror genre and taking the mechanics that most of us are familiar with in the later Resident Evil games and applying them to the iPad.
Set in Brazil, you start off controlling a character called Damien Sharpe. A journalist, sent to investigate reports of poor working conditions at Umbrella, uh, I mean Auricorp.
Accompanied by a fellow female reporter, the buxom Alexander Rayne, the game switches between both characters as the proceedings unfold.
It’s a deliciously cliched story that sees our protagonists starting things off completely out of their depth and aside from picking off the undead with a shotgun, you also have to fight various other nasties, including a 20ft crocodile, lions and a chainsaw wielding brick shit house.
Naturally, being a touch screen game, the controls rely on two virtual analog sticks in both the left and right bottom corners. The action buttons, including fire, climb and first aid are located on the bottom right corner.
At first, the controls prove a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it plays like that other undead survival horror series that rhymes with “besident schmeival”.
In fact, the similarities to that series are so astounding, they’ve got to be mentioned.
Firstly and most obviously, the aiming mechanic is identical, to the point that a red laser is visible enabling you to see exactly where you bullet will end up.
Secondly, the voice acting is pretty dire, but that is a charm that I have always enjoyed with the Resident Evil series, and on Zombie HD, it only helps endear the game.
Thirdly, like Resident Evil 4 and 5, the game is presented from a third person perspective and for the most part it looks pretty good. Colours are vibrant and the graphics are sharp, which makes the game one of the ideal titles to show off on the iPad.
Sure enough, there are a few bugs, but considering the format, this is to be expected. What Gameloft have achieved with the game is actually quite impressive and they should be commended for what they’ve done here.
Zombie Infection HD may be Resident Evil 5 on a budget, but it’s such familiar territory to fans of the undead, it’s hard not to let the infectious enjoyment spread to your iPad.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
The Good
Cheesy plot
Well paced
The Bad
Sometimes a bit fiddly
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