Amazon App of the Day: Age of Zombies

Written by Craig Will Friday, 08 July 2011 13:02

HalfBrick Studios Age of Zombies is free today on the Amazon Appstore. If you haven't played it elsewhere yet then all you need to know is that this time-traveling romp of a twinstick shooter is an excellent game and well worth the free download.

Players control Barry Steakfries, an over-the-top action hero, as he's teleported back in time to the caveman days. There it becomes necessary to destroy zombies in order to survive. There are an abundance of zombie creatures including zombie ninjas, mummies, cavemen, and a Zombie T-Rex to defeat with a plethora of weapon pick-ups such as rocket launchers, flamethrowers, shotguns, and grenades.

The problem with the Android platform for a twinstick shooter is the lack of physical sticks. Instead, the game presents softsticks that appear when you touch either half of the screen; the right side brings up the aiming/firing stick and the left side is the movement stick. To overcome the inconvenience of a non-tactile interface, the virtual sticks will pop up regardless where you touch on the corresponding side. In the screenshot you can see that the sticks position are relative to where the fingers are touching and not set at the lower corners like in other games that utilize virtual stick and button layouts. That said, virtual sticks can't hold a candle to physical sticks and these are pretty inconvenient since part of the screen is covered whenever it's time to move or shoot. Unfortunately, there is not a version of this game that utilizes dual stick action since the PS3 version is a mini and it was designed to be compatible with the single stick layout of the PSP.

The writing is phenomenal, enemies are varied, and dialogue/voice acting is hilarious. Overall this may be the best version of the game because of the ability to change the direction of where you are shooting while moving. This is a must have game for any Android gamer.