Call of Mini: Zombies Review

By , on June 16, 2011


Call of Mini™ Zombies
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Responsive twin-stick controls; sharp movement and snappy aiming and firing.
  • Moody cartoonish 3D graphics; two relatively large arenas to fight in.
  • Lots of unlockable weapons, characters and zombies to encounter.

CONS

  • Weapon stats discourage purchasing additional weapons; limits variety and encourages grinding for 'cash'.
  • No way to preview character 'traits'; large cash sinks (and thus potential time sinks).

VERDICT

Call of Mini: Zombies is more Minigore and less Call of Duty: Zombies, but the novel over-the-shoulder viewpoint and carefully designed environments gives this game future potential.


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There are no prizes for working out the influences for Triniti Interactive's latest release 'Call of Mini: Zombies', so it should be no surprise to find yourself strapping in to a zombie-themed twin-stick shooter.

After selecting from a handful of characters you're faced with the challenge of shooting, chopping or blowing up a variety of zombies invading one of two different locations. In keeping with the 'Call of Duty' theme, players maneuver and fire their weapons from a third-person over the shoulder perspective, swiping the screen to look in different directions, while two analogue sticks provide access to movement and firing. Aiming is surprisingly easy as the controls swiftly respond whether you're firing or moving around the level, making even the nimblest of foes simple to track.

Cash earned from your spree of violence can be spent on upgrading weapons you already own or go towards armor, weapons and additional characters. Later weapons need to be earned by progress in game before purchasing them with cash (making In App Purchasing of cash somewhat irrelevant), but other than variety there's little incentive to get a new weapon until you max-out the one you currently own. As such the game quickly becomes a repetitive chore of using the same weapon over and over or grinding endlessly to get another weapon 'up to spec'. New zombies add some flavor to later levels, though barring a handful of special creatures player aren't forced to change their tactics.

Despite invoking the appearance of one game and the visual theme of another, Call of Mini: Zombies feels just like any other generic twin-stick shooter. Spending the time to unlock characters and weapons with unique traits does help to mix things up, but getting to that point can take some time.

Call of Mini: Zombies is a fantastic looking game and an easy one to initially enjoy, especially if you love zombie-based shooters, but until updates add more content to deepen the gameplay you'll feel like you're stuck on a never ending zombie-treadmill.

Screenshots

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