iPhone Review: Call Of Duty: World At War: Zombies

Developer/Publisher: Activision
Genre: FPS
Price: $9.99
Acquired: Purchased by Reviewer
Verdict: Fans of the PC/Console version will be happy, others, not so much.
Pros: Faithful to the original, multiplayer
Cons: Controls are not up to par, one map, single player gets boring, price/content ratio blows

When people started playing Nazi Zombies from Call of Duty: World at War, it quickly became a cult hit, so it was no surprise a lot of people were excited when this was quietly released.  I get the feeling that Activision thought they could get over on the name alone, and gave us a slim offering for a fat price.

Yep, those are Nazi-Zombies.

My gripe with the game is that for 10 bucks there should have been more than one map.  They should have priced the basic game at $4.99 with one map, and then $2.99 for each additional map.  Hell,  I could have even gotten behind the BIC shaver model, where the razor is cheap but the razor-blades are expensive.  Give the game away for free (or $.99 cents) and charge $4.99 for maps.  I have no doubt that Activision is going to milk the fans, and they will be more than happy to squirt it in the bucket, but casual onlookers who want to see what the fuss is all about will feel cheated.

My homeowners insurance doesn't cover Zombie barricade damage...

If the ‘Nacht der Untoten’ level was your favorite from the console version, then you are in luck today, my friend.  This bunker defense level is all you get until you are given the honor of buying more maps.  The layout is very simple: you are in a semi-destroyed compound with barricaded windows that the goose-stepping undead keep ripping down and coming inside to snack on your dome.  An optional tutorial shows you the ropes with a dying soldier that teaches you how to kill the undead before he becomes one and you are forced to put him down like a rabid dog.  After knowing him for about a minute, it really tugs on the heartstrings. Armed with a knife, grenades, and pistol, your only goal is to survive wave after wave of SS Zombies and post your score.  Close quarter kills with the knife are violently animated and come with a satisfying squishy sound effect. Each kill adds to your point total that you can use to purchase new weapons and unlock rooms in the one map.  The weapon store consists of chalk marks on the wall, you simply get close and tap them to buy.   In between taking these ghouls out, you’ll need to fix the barricades that they tear down with the tap of an icon.  Reloading is done with a swipe, and weapon switching a double tap.  Unless you have a few comrades in arms with you, then this is basically it.  “How many waves can you survive” is how you are measured, and without much variation in the zombies or their attack patterns, this gets old quick.  Zombies supports 4 player over Wi-Fi internet and 2 player Bluetooth matches.  Unfortunately, no local ad hoc wireless play for you.  (Damn ‘local-ad-hoc-play-nazi-zombies’.)

Let me know when you find something that works.

Control wise, the game just misses the mark.  There are 3 options: Accelerometer (or Tilt), Dual Analog, or the default: Analog move and touch aim.  The concept is to allow you to use the free  area around the ‘zoom aim’ and ‘fire’ soft key on the right side of the screen to adjust your view.  After fiddling with the sensitivity for a while, I could never find a happy medium where I felt I had adequate control over my gun sights and being able to turn around quickly enough.  Dual analog has a quick turn swipe, but this should have been available across control schemes. A 1.1 point release was dropped in the week since it was released, so there is a good chance that more patches are in the works to adjust the control options.

No, I can't get enough because you didn't GIVE ME ENOUGH!

Only if you must have Nazi Zombies on the go, and you have some Nazi killing buddies who also have 10 bucks, can I recommend this.  I have long been a proponent of getting the App Store economy out of the $0.99 gutter, but this highway robbery goes too far in the other direction.  With a bit of control implementation polish and price adjustment this could be a true global FPS leader, but as it stands now, it’s just going crazy with syphilis in a bunker.