Dead Trigger iPad App Review

As if there wasn’t enough zombie killing games already available to hungry gamers. The zombie genre of games are like those your mom jokes, trite and mindless. Dead Trigger is no exception, yet it does excel as an iPad game for its impressive visuals, and smooth controls. It’s a fun ‘I’m sitting on the couching moaning as my brain melts to the never-ending stream of commercials’ kinda game. Here’s my review:

There isn’t a story inside of Dead Trigger that I saw during my play time; I merely stumbled over it, which is due to terrible writing. The writing lacks a heart beat. It’s there to give Dead Trigger some reason to exist, to establish some goals for the player, but even then the goals are simple: kill zombies, fetch resources, shoot zombies, run around aimlessly as you wait for a timer to expire while killing zombies.

You pick missions from an over-world map. Missions come in four different varieties. Number one being surviving hordes of zombies for a duration. Number two is finding items and bringing them to a waypoint. Three is kill X amount of zombies. Finally, four is defending an object for a X amount of time. Yeah, the missions aren’t inspiring, and feel even more contrived when you realize the same map is re-used, and all are tiny. Another unfortunate fact is the zombie models are also recycled. You got your zombie in the hazmat suit, and then you got your zombie who was once part of military, and then you have the zombie that looks like Alan Wake, sort-of anyways.

The levels are quick, however, and that is what makes Dead Trigger a fun game. You don’t have to feel committed to playing for long periods of time. Jump in, murder (is it still murder if something is already dead?) some zombies, jump out. Brainless fun is brainless, yes, but sometimes necessary.

Speaking of commitment reminds of one concern I have for Dead Trigger. It’s a .99¢ game, but while playing it, I often feel like I am being pressured to spend real money to gain access to better items. Accessing the more powerful weapons and items is difficult without spending real money. Missions and Zombies provide little in-game money to spend on upgrades, and the upgrades are expensive. In the beginning of the game, you are teased by being allowed to use an M4, which is later taken away. And through out the game, the expensive hard-to-get weapons are suggested as the best weapons to complete a mission. I would have rather spend five bucks on this game and have access to everything, instead of being nagged by the game to spend more money.

A detour — this seems to be a dangerous trend in games, spending money for premium content that is. EA is leading the way with their Battlefield 3 premium passes. As gamers, we already are supporting the game by buying it, so why should we have to spend more money to access the better features? Gaming is becoming like theme parks. Spend money to enter the gates, then spend more money for food and rides. To a small degree, I understand studios and developers need to make money, but I feel like these fattening companies are the ones who will be raking in the cash, not the developers, artists, programmers, and so on, who work hard to make games we love — detour over.

Dead Trigger has an impressive armory. There are the classics such as the M4 and the UZI. There is also the Colt 1911, P90, Scorpion, and some machine guns. The stats of the weapon are determined by how expensive they are, not by how the weapon functions. I won’t complain, though, because the actual shooting in this game is better than Modern Combat 3. It’s easy to move around and shoot at the same time. The HUD isn’t encumbered with buttons, and reloading requires a double-tap. My only wish is that their were melee weapons to lop limbs and heads off.

What makes Dead Trigger a worthy purchase is its graphics. Levels are detailed. Blood is smeared on the street from bleeding people being dragged to their demise, no doubt. Steam escapes from busted pipes, and ashes and debris flutterin the air like a swarm of flies. Water covers your face when running through puddles, so does blood when blasting the limbs and heads off of zombies with your shotgun. Honestly, I think Dead Trigger is one of the best looking iPad games yet.

For .99¢, I think Dead Trigger is a worth while purchase. The gameplay is shallow, but killing Zombies is always fun. If you find a loonie (or dollar bill) stuck between sofa cushions, or perhaps inside the washing machine, consider buying Dead Trigger.