Game Reviews

Zombie Puzzle Panic

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iOS
| Zombie Puzzle Panic
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Zombie Puzzle Panic
|
iOS
| Zombie Puzzle Panic

Zombie Puzzle Panic is Candy Crush Saga with the accoutrements of the apocalypse replacing sweets.

There are a few additions here and there, and the odd tweak to the match three formula, but all the bits of King's match-stuff formula are firmly in place.

So there are levels where you need to clear goo from the screen by matching symbols in the right place, and levels that see you trying to clear a set number of objects before you run out of time or moves.

It's all well put together, it's all reasonably entertaining, and it inevitably squelches to a halt when you run out of retries.

Throw a match to it

The objects you're swapping are the bit-and-bobs you might need in a zombie outbreak. There are helmets, bottles of water, cans of petrol, and tins of food.

Popping a chain of three items scores you points, but it can also kill any zombies in adjacent squares. It's here that Zombie Puzzle Panic is at its most innovative.

There are levels that see you trying to keep scientists alive. You need to kill zombies before they get too close, and shift the terrified humans before they get eaten.

You also get bodyguards, who shoot zombies when they're within range. But if they're reloading, they become vulnerable to undead attack.

Power-ups let you snipe squares, drop grenades, or chuck more burly bodyguards in to the mix. You earn these by completing levels with three stars, but when they're gone you need to pay for more.

Not so sweet

There's an energy system that takes lives away from you when you fail levels, and a currency that lets you extend your goes by a few seconds to try and complete a level.

Most of the time it feels like the game is having more fun than you. You'll often set off a big chain and then sit back as more blocks cascade in and burst.

Zombie Puzzle Panic is a solid but unremarkable twist on an old theme. It uses its zombified setting reasonably well, but once the IAPs start barking at you, it's unlikely you'll be interested enough to fork out.

Zombie Puzzle Panic

A reasonably playable twist on a few old ideas. Zombie Puzzle Panic has its moments, but it's not engaging enough to sink its teeth in all that deep
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.