I am happy to say that my passion for killing zombies has been rekindled. Sure, the concept is awesome on its own right, but I felt it was getting overplayed, especially post-Zombieland. Not since Age of Zombies last year have I been so into killing zombies. Dead Trigger is a first person shooter by Madfinger Games for the Android and iOS platforms. The main purpose? Survive and thrive after the zombie apocalypse. Madfinger games is not new to the genre, having released the really polished Shadowgun last year. The best part here? The game is totally free! So will something free have the polish we’ve come to expect from Madfinger Games?
First off, let me just say that I am amazed that we can play these types of games on a touchscreen device. It seems so simple once you play it, that you start to wonder why we didn’t do this earlier. You use the left side of the screen to move your character, the top right of the screen to move your sights, and three buttons: shoot, reload, and zoom. That being said, Dead Trigger is an FPS where you must survive after the zombie apocalypse. You do this, by quite simply…killing zombies, getting better guns to deal with tougher zombies, so on and so forth. The biggest thing Dead Trigger does better than other games is keeping the experience fresh and removing the monotony. As soon as you start the game, you get an overview of what’s going on, a basic weapon, and a bunch of missions to complete. As you complete missions, you get cash, which you can use to buy better guns. You also gain XP, which unlocks new guns and perks to buy.
So how does Dead Trigger keep things fresh? You use both cash you earn from regular missions, and gold to make purchases. You gain gold by doing different things, like logging in daily and doing the special missions, by leveling up, etc. Gold is the currency that most games would use as their in-app purchase item. Thankfully, Dead Trigger has no option to spend real money to get gold, the “worst” thing it does is have you like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter to get more of it. That’s it. This is a policy I wish more companies would follow, and I commend Madfinger Games for it. They get a like from me, the gold is just a bonus.
As you progress through the missions and level up, the zombies get tougher and more aggressive. This is where the new weapons really make a difference. There is a real sense of satisfaction from getting a new gun. It just feels more powerful, and you can tell it is by the fact that zombies start dropping faster. It is this sense of accomplishment that pushes you to complete more missions, compete in the arena(which gives you more entries every day you play), and do better in levels(headshots, etc give more cash). You also get items like zombie bait(it’s a freaking music box), saw blades, frag grenades, and more. Your arsenal is certainly not limited, and blasting these undead monsters hasn’t gotten old in the four or so hours I’ve poured into the game.
In case you haven’t noticed, the graphics are pretty damn amazing. I am playing the game on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and I rarely get any slowdown. The gore is realistic, and bodies get mangled with good accuracy thanks to the game’s ragdoll physics engine. You’ll get an even greater graphical treat if you own a Tegra 3 powered device like the Google Nexus 7 Tablet. Even without the extra enhancements, Dead Trigger looks great on my Galaxy Nexus, and the fun of blowing the heads and limbs off these zombies is still as fun as it was when I first picked the game up.
There is a story behind the game, but it’s pretty minor compared to everything else. It’s there to give us a reason to kill zombies, and I’m OK with it. It’s supposed to be an evolving story, and I look forward to seeing it all. For now, I am a rank 16 zombie killer, and I will continue doing my part to make sure the community in this game survives as long as possible. I fully recommend you give Dead Trigger a try, it’s available now in the Google Play app store and iTunes. Go do your part, kill some zombies, and enjoy the gory greatness that comes with it!