Judge Dredd vs Zombies iPad Review
Like many comic book heroes, Judge Dredd doesn't have a long list of quality video games. In fact, it's much shorter than most, with a decent SNES title in 1995 and a weaker GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox effort ten years later, with a couple forgettable appearances in between. Suffice to say, his popularity level doesn't come close to Batman and Superman.
These days, though, there's one surefire way to grab consumer attention: add zombies. Thus, we have Judge Dredd vs Zombies, a third person shooter from Fuse and Rebellion for both iPhone and iPad. The verdict? Not bad.
Actually, we dig it. The game features 30 levels of undead blasting fun, where you, as Judge Dredd, explore Mega-City One blowing zombies to bits with one of four upgradeable weapons, the Lawgiver, Spitgun, Scattergun and the Hi-Ex Launcher, all of which help turn monsters into piles of goop.
The controls, meanwhile, work decently enough, as you guide Dredd with the left virtual thumb stick while rapidly pressing the shoot button to fire, and to make things real easy, the developers smartly included auto aim that locks onto the nearest creature. You can also manually target exploding barrels to take out multiple enemies at once.
The goal is to beat levels within a certain amount of time to earn gold stars. The more stars you have, the more chapters become available.
Doing this, however, takes quite a bit of skill, patience and time. Judge Dredd vs Zombies packs a huge challenge, since it doesn't take long for those flesh eating freaks to destroy Dredd's life bar, forcing you to restart.
The worst part? Cash acquired during play doesn't transfer unless you beat the stage.
It doesn't help that the big lug slowly reloads, or that it takes forever to accumulate enough credits to upgrade his weapons. Of course, that's where in-app purchases come into play. Fuse wants you to spend real world cash to speed things along, coughing up between $1.99 (20,000) and $29.99 (550,000), as well as another $1.99 to unlock the levels automatically. Otherwise, it's a very slow slog to the finish line. At least on the positive side, you can get far on 20,000.
On top of that, you can equip skills that aid Dredd in his zombie slaughtering exploits. These include Body Armor, Instant Reload, Sprint and Backup Magazines, to name a few.
Regardless of whether you choose to pay or grind it out, Judge Dredd vs Zombies provides several hours of shooting fun. Levels are short, but the sheer number of baddies and desire to unlock new boards will keep you interested for quite some time. Best Judge Dredd game ever? Sure seems like it.
Review code provided by Fuse.
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
What's Hot: Lots of zombies to blast, auto aim, blowing up explosive barrels, four unique weapons, universal.
What's Not: Having to restart levels to reacquire lost currency, grinding, unattractive graphics.
4/5
