Posts tagged zombies vs sheep

Yesterday, I posted about this game and said I couldn’t offer a full recommendation. Well, now I can. It’s fantastic and you should go and buy it right now. It’s 59p. That’s a can of Coke or a loaf of bread that you’ll have to eat by tomorrow.

I’ve got to the boss a few times now. He only killed me the first time I faced him, so my concerns about the bosses killing the game seem to be unfounded. Yes, a later boss might be a game killer – but it’s going to be a long time before I meet them and the game seems so be well-paced in terms of difficulty. It might be a bit too slow, actually. I wish the game would get going a bit faster, but that’s my only criticism and it’s only minor.

I’m afraid the only picture I’ve got is of another game over screen. Let’s just call it the theme for today, shall we?

That screen shows me dying just after killing the first boss. Again. I keep dying after he does. I don’t think it’s the game getting silly, I think I just relax when I really, really shouldn’t.

So, yes, if I had a little image file that said “INVERTY.COM RECOMMENDED BUY” or something, I’d put it here. I don’t, but I still think you should buy the game. It won’t change your life, it won’t be the most fun you’ve ever had with your iPhone, it might not even be the best game you’ll play today, but it’s charming and fun and well worth the low, low price if you’re after some tapping shooting action.

This is, I think, the best looking game I’ve played on the iPhone. No, it’s not whizzy, newfangled 3D. It’s not throwing particle effects around with gay abandon. It just looks lovely.

You click on the zombies that fall from strings to kill them, you tilt to move your sheep left and right to pick up coins and avoid falling objects of death. Pretty simple, really. It’s great fun, has a nice upgrade system and even sounds great. It uses the Feint system for achievements and high scores. It will even post your new high scores to Twitter, if you want to annoy all your followers and be accused of spamming.

Great.

Except… except I can’t give it a full on recommendation yet. You see, there are bosses. I know this because I’ve read about them online – and because I’ve met one. A flaming sun, I think, who sends fireballs hurtling towards your poor little sheep. He killed me in seconds. And now, to face him again, I’ve got to start over and go through the slow opening sections. Oh, the beginning of the game is fun, don’t get me wrong, but when I know what lies ahead, I just want to get there as soon as I can to see if I can do better.

I’ve got an idea for the developers, in the unlikely event that they read this. How about a practice system where you can do any wave you’ve previously got to? No score, just a practice mode. You could even allow the player to choose their upgrade level so they can practice a wave tooled up, before going back and trying again with less firepower. I’m not sure it’s a good idea, I’m not sure it’s workable, but it might be worth considering.

So, yes, if you go and buy the game I really don’t think you’ll be wasting your money. It might be an idea to hold off for a bit, though, see what I have to say about the game in day or two.