Mini-review: Zombie Run 3D fast, fun and... not finished?

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Temple Run was the title that kicked off the first person endless running genre, of course, and the concept has been much copied, not least here in a zombie-themed effort that's somewhat soulless and also somewhat unfinished, as you'll see below. Which is not to say that it's not fun, but possibly more in a 'guilty pleasure' fashion...

From the horrendously over the top(!) and rather badly written Store description:

When your City is overrun by the walking dead, there's only one thing left to do - cut down wave of zombies in this endless Running adventure! Start your survival run for life. Be an extreme runner and beat them like zombie smasher with speedy run and thrilling powers in this zombie dash running saga.

There is great appeal of classic arcade and action games with stunning graphics. In this 3D Zombie Run, Cute boy can get coins, pick up power-ups, exchange scroll for money, and absorb energy circles to collect energy, activate ninja skills, and so on.
There’s only one thing you can do: Run. Forget the city, rail, jungles and subway stations, this is the time for The Zombie land. Watch out for MUMMY and other insane heart-breaking stuff. Simply Jump or move from Left to Right to defend your life.

Enjoy this game with your friends, family and relative and Give global challenge, gain more score and show to the world.

The description goes on to talk about 'Stunning HD graphics' - while the Unity engine is used and the action is fast enough, I think you'll agree that 'stunning' and 'HD' aren't particularly applicable here:

Screenshot, Zombie Run 3DScreenshot, Zombie Run 3D

It all reeks of 'My first Unity game' - though again don't discount the price (zero). The artwork's somewhat chunky and block-filled, though maybe the developer was aiming for this in the first place?

Screenshot, Zombie Run 3DScreenshot, Zombie Run 3D

Gameplay is the time honoured (well, since Temple Run, anyway) swipe up to jump and left and right to change directions at right angled corners. In addition, a swipe while running straight switches your character between each of the three virtual 'lanes' on the road....

Screenshot, Zombie Run 3DScreenshot, Zombie Run 3D

The idea is that you build up coins through both running and collecting, eventually buying power-ups that... all seem to 'increase your strength'. Errr... definitely something unfinished here; (right) a graphical glitch - selecting a different character sees them HUGE in the game!

The pace of Zombie Run 3D is just right, switching lanes and jumping, while keeping an eye on what's coming up and planning your next swipe, requires very fast reactions after a while. You will crash into a zombie or obstacle at some point and then it's game over, but you can add 'lives' to your character by collecting the 'power flowers' along the road, which are collected with fun visual effects.

There's no mention of money changing hands in order to buy coins - but perhaps that will come in (i.e. usual freemium mechanics) when the power-up system is complete and working?

Anyway, it's a free download in the Windows Phone Store anyway, so let's not be too harsh on Zombie Run 3D. I'm sure it will improve!

Source / Credit: Windows Phone Store