It’s time to save the world from yet another undead apocalypse in the Zombie Invasion: T-Virus. Will this title stand out from all the other mobile zombie games out there or just get lost in the already saturated market?
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We couldn’t find any information on Zombie Invasion: T-Virus’ developer and it always worries us a bit when they don’t want to put themselves out there. We wanted to learn more about Amphibius Development, seeing as their game has been rated at five stars over 9,000 times on Google Play and received a ton of positive reviews. But they might want to get a better website so fans can see what the developer has up its sleeve next and whether there’s news of further chapters of this zombie title.
Initial impressions were surprisingly good, seeing as most mobile undead games are pretty lacklustre, and Zombie Invasion: T-Virus is actually quite fun. It looks like a classic point-and-click adventure such as the much-loved Myst (review coming soon) but the bloody hallway in which you start sets the tone for the whole title. If it’s a deserted blood-filled place with an arm hanging off a banister, that’s when you know it’s not a game for kids.
The plot is pretty simple to follow: players take on the role of a retired special ops soldier who’s living life carefree in his dingy apartment block. That’s until mad Professor Morgan creates a deadly mutation virus in the basement in a secret lab (I wish I had one of those). Of course, the bug escapes and quickly spreads, leaving you as the last hope for all mankind and having to solve puzzles, kill zombies and collect elements of the anti-virus that have been left all over the building.
Gameplay is as easy as pie (zompie?) because you tap the screen on the spot you want to go to, tap objects to pick them up, and tap on a zombie to kill it with a weapon. This level of simplicity means players get into the action straight away but I use the term ‘action’ quite loosely; the scary-looking zombies just stand there while you figure out where to go to get appropriate defence to knock them over with. This does take some tension out of the game, seeing as the undead are traditionally creatures that will do anything to get their hands on your brains rather than waiting around to be beheaded.
Graphics are great for a mobile title. Characters don’t look too blocky and all surfaces and objects look detailed and are clear to see; but one complaint is that when you kill a zombie, it looks pretty terrible as the theatre of it falling to the floor isn’t shown. Sound is very well done and the undead come across as wild and bloodthirsty. When closely examining an object, a sudden loud moan will randomly occur and make you genuinely jump and want to turn around to see what’s there.
Unfortunately the replay value is non-existent, as it’s a very short game and you can only do things in a linear fashion. This leaves no room for variation and most players will have no desire to go through a second time because they know exactly what to expect. I would have liked to have seen more weapons and an option to use a defence more than once; it was a little frustrating to keep dropping a perfectly good baseball bat after one hit when there’s another creature waiting in the next room. But I guess that adding this functionality would just shorten the game length even further so it’s probably a wish that’s a bit unrealistic.
Final thoughts of Zombie Invasion: T-Virus are that it’s a fairly average title with many good points, along with a couple of negatives that are sadly too big to ignore. A second chapter is promised in the end dialogue of this first one, which is good news because I kind of want to see how the story plays out. Only time will tell whether you stop the evil Professor Morgan and save humanity with your newly created anti-virus?
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