Game Reviews

Undead Soccer

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| Undead Soccer
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Undead Soccer
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| Undead Soccer

Undead Soccer features a horde of shuffling zombies looking to take chunks out of a talented-but-fragile footballer. It's a bit like watching a Stoke vs Arsenal match.

The zombies keep on appearing, and it's up to you to mow them down with your deadly football-kicking skills.

Think of it as the similarly themed Pro Zombie Soccer, but played from a first-person perspective, with a control system lifted from Flick Kick Football.

Dead shot

Undead Soccer also reminds us a bit of the recent The Bowling Dead, save for one vital difference (other than the title sport) - the simple process of mowing down zombies is really good fun here.

That's thanks to the aforementioned flick system. It's a simple case of flicking your finger through the ball and towards the zombie. After a few minutes of getting used to it, you'll be chaining successive zombie-hits as if you're participating in some kind of ghoulish training exercise.

Ten minutes in, you'll by picking off distant zombies at the edge of your screen without even having to make use of the tilt-to-adjust viewpoint system.

Further experience will allow you to perfect the ability to curve the ball to pick up a power-up (limited-use special balls and handguns) while still hitting your mark. It's not a complex game by any means, but there's a genuine learning curve, and it's never less than fun to master.

Winning promotion

Also aiding the sense of progression is Undead Soccer's well-judged upgrade system. Here you can plough the coins you earn in the game (or purchase through a reasonable IAP) into lengthening your life bar, improving the recharge times in-between shots, and bolstering the power-ups.

These are mostly meaningful additions that will genuinely increase your survival rate - though they're never as effective as improving your own flick-kicking skills.

So far we've been pretty positive about Undead Soccer, but there are a few issues. The adjustable viewpoint system is a little fiddly - especially when playing on an iPad, where it's awkward to tilt and swipe in quick succession. Even worse, the game doesn't notify you when there are zombies off-screen, leading to a couple of nasty ambush moments.

The shield and additional power-up system (purchasable bombs, med-packs, and the like) also feel awkward and poorly implemented, the latter requiring a drag to open up the menu before using.

Ultimately, though, this is a decent example of the ball-flicking genre. It's not particularly clever or innovative, but it's got that vital moreish appeal and just enough depth to keep you playing.

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Undead Soccer

A simple and competent ball-flicking game bolstered by largely satisfying mechanics and a well-judged progression system
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.