N.Y.Zombies 2 Review
PROS
- Blends a realistic visual style with an arcade-like gameplay appeal. Rewards players for specialization, while still encouraging diversity.
- Online co-op makes for a great way to take out those hard stages.
CONS
- Lacks detail in animations; visually beautiful, but 'zombies' is no excuse for stiff characters.
- Very easy to get stuck on the environment; collision detection on some levels can be horrifically frustrating.
VERDICT
N.Y.Zombies 2 is exactly what the series needed as it expands its ideas beyond the tiny rooms it used to inhabit and places them in a much larger, and far more terrifying real world.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
N.Y.Zombies 2 by Foursaken Media is the sort of game that makes you glad that a developer is willing to listen to their fans. Building upon the original in just about every way, it's still a flawed experience, but one that manages to exploit the mixed state of realism and fantasy.
No lengthy story set up is needed - zombies are here and you need to survive. What follows is a series of missions that follow a fairly basic story filled with protecting survivors and attempting to escape to better fortified positions. Gone are the tiny and limited environments where you defend from waves of enemies and in its place are significantly larger ares you can explore and interact with - be it to set up a barricade or open up more of the stage.
Defending yourself is where things get a little bit unrealistic (not the least of which is your seemingly endless supply of ammunition), but it's here where the game's mechanics kick in to make things challenging. While you could sport a range of high-powered weapons bought at a not insignificant cost, their reload times may leave you entirely too vulnerable. As such you'll want to invest in a handful of weapons that suit your style, further backed up by unlockable skills that augment and provide bonuses to your preferred weapon.
Cash, skill points and gold can be earned throughout the course of the game (with the latter being more abundant in the occasional unique side-mission), giving you just enough to ensure each mission remains challenging. Should the game prove to be too easy, there are higher difficulties to unlock.
In fact, attempting missions too hard for you is probably the best way to play as you can bring in friends via GameCenter to play the stage in an online co-op mode.
N.Y.Zombies 2 isn't without its flaws though, notably the texturing and environments may be far more detailed, but the animations and quirky collision detection can make things awkward - especially if you choose to specialize in melee combat. Also, the somewhat slow pace of your character can make exploration-based missions a chore.
Still, it's a small price to pay for a solid upgrade to a great zombie-survival title and while it's not perfect it's easy to recommend if you enjoy a spot of mindless combat.
Screenshots
$0.99
