‘Undead: The Last Refuge’ Review
Intro
With obvious inspiration from Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies [REVIEW], Undead: The Last Refuge is a survival zombie shooter with much the same concept. With a mainstream competitor already established in the marketplace can Undead: The Last Refuge bring something new and exciting to the saturated App Store?
Gameplay 7/10
Much like Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies, your character is trapped in a house, constantly being bombarded by waves of zombies. These zombies break and ravage their way in by opening shutters covering the windows. Although it seems a bit odd watching as a zombie struggles to slowly open a wooden shutter, they provide sufficient in the game. You are also able to close shutters to slow down the stream of zombies.
Fight wave after wave of zombie, open rooms and buy weapons.
At first you only have a pistol to arm yourself with and even though this may be adequate for the first few rounds you soon find that the zombies are closing in. Therefore you must use the money you have gained so far to open another room. In here you then have the option to buy a new weapon. One thing that I dearly miss in Undead: The Last Refuge is the lack of a melee weapon for which I was in great need of in closer confrontations. What strikes me is the lack of strategy in the game. There is only one level with 3 rooms and 3 weapons, one in each. There is only a linear route you can take. Even though you could argue that Call Of Duty: Zombies mostly consists of bloody violence and pumping lead, there is still an element of choice and strategy involved when choosing what weapons to buy and what rooms to unlock. Undead: The Last Refuge does not include this and this really lets the game down.
Despite this I still found the gameplay addicting up to the point when I had unlocked all of the rooms and weapons (which, I assure you, will not take very long). After that there is no more variance in the game anymore and instead you just resort to a hit and run tactic which involves shooting, retreating, reloading, buying more ammo and then shooting again till it ends in your inevitable death. The gameplay is very fun at first, but now that I have got to a point where I can’t improve or move forward I see no point in playing.
Graphics 9/10
The graphics are vibrant and very well detailed. The map seems lighter than other competitor games which you could argue lowers the scare factor, but actually makes the game easier to play outside and also makes the scenery around you much more clear. The zombies may not look the best, they were still realistic enough for the developer to get away with it. What I would have liked to see however is the zombies body reacting to where you shot it. Unlike in Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies when you see an arm or a leg blown off when you shoot in a specific spot, Undead: The Last Refuge just has a change in the zombie’s textures which does not look as realistic or satisfying.
I also noticed a delay between shooting a zombie at close range to it actually reacting to the shot. Even though this did not impact the gameplay so much it did look a little odd.
I did come across a few crashes, but not frequently enough to become frustrating. It also helped that the game auto saves at every wave so you won’t have to restart from the beginning.
The zombies aren't the best I have seen, but do the job well.
Controls 8/10
I found the controls in Undead: The Last Refuge to be silky smooth and pretty responsive. Magic Pockets have gone for the Gameloft approach with one stick for moving forward, backward left and right and then you pan around using your right thumb. This works surprisingly well and I instantly got used to it on the first play through.
One thing that I did find a bit of a problem at first was the reloading and shooting buttons. Undead: The Last Refuge has a separate fire button above the joy stick which led to some discomfort. There is also an option to shake your iPhone or iPod Touch to reload. I tried this out and even though it worked I found it too distracting when in a heated battle. Instead I used the reload button. However the reload button is too close to the change weapon button which sometimes led to me accidentally changing weapon when meaning to reload which can be crucial when against lots of zombies.
Also to aim down the sights you need to hold your right thumb for a few seconds, in the same position. I found this frustrating in the beginning, but as time passed I saw sense as it is almost as if you have to steady yourself before you can aim.
Sound 8/10
The music is quiet, but still delivers the same scary atmosphere to what you would expect in a zombie game. A little loader music wouldn’t have hurt as I think then it would have had more of an affect. I quite like the sound effects which range from sharp, punchy gun shots to soft gentle foot steps. Even though the zombies sounded more like aliens with a chest infection, the sound effects were good overall and didn’t let the game down at all.
The menus are great, if not a bit limited.
Menus 9/10
The menus are limited, with no options to change the controls or gameplay, but they are very well designed. They are made to look like a splatter of blood across the screen, making up the options. I love this approach as it combines perfectly with the overall feel of the game. I did feel that the options were a bit too small for my liking, but it was still usable. The options were responsive and easy to navigate.
Longevity 2/10
This is where Undead: The Last Refuge hits the stumbling block. There is only one level, but more importantly 3 rooms and 3 guns. I was really disappointed when I discovered this and I even searched frantically for another door within the last room. As mentioned before the map is very linear and you only have one path to follow. There is no strategy involved (which I am a sucker for) and no variance in gameplay after you have unlocked all levels.This game doesn’t even support online leaderboards, which I would expect to be a must in a highscore game such as this.
Sadly, Undead: The Last Refuge has very bad replayabilty and even though it is very fun at the beginning, it doesn’t last me long at all.
Cost 4/10
It’s a tough one. On one hand Undead: The Last Refuge sports great graphics and good controls. But on the other hand the longevity is rubbish. Despite the great graphics I don’t think it is justifiable for its $2.99/£1.79 price point.
Conclusion 48/70 – 3/5
The core game is fun and sure to be a winner in the future. Nevertheless, more maps, weapons and variety need to be added before I can truly recommend it.
