We here at Akroview love zombies and all things horror so it was no surprise that we saw this and thought “yup this could be worthy to grace our sd card!”
But what first seemed to be a dull endless running game turned out to be much more addictive, or should we say infectious, then we could have ever thought.
Into the Dead was developed by Pic Pok and was first released on the iOs some time ago, and it left this android zombie fanatic drooling and foaming at the mouth as he watched other people playing it. But the guys at Pic Pok have done the right thing and brought this gem to the android marketplace and now I spend most of my day evading the living dead.
So let’s start with the plot, although it is not highlighted as to what actually happened we do see a crashed helicopter and you seem to be the sole survivor, of course your first instinct is to turn away from the horde and run, so you do and this is where the game begins.
You get a selection as to how you want the controls to be; tilt, left and right touch, left side thumbstick and right side thumbstick. Having such a varied controller scheme is great because there are times when you don’t want to be tilting your phone left and right in public, personally I choose the left and right touch option, it’s more precise and doesn’t make you look like a fool in public!
The graphics are surprisingly good for a mobile game, even though the overall tone of the game is very dull and grey, it is a zombie apocalypse after all, the grass, bushes and obstacles still look really good, although they are quite stiff at times. The zombies themselves have quite the bit of detail to them, to have so much detail on an enemy you objective is to avoid is quite hilarious in my opinion, but they have given the zombies such a horrific face to just creep you out for a split second before the screen is covered with your guts and blood.
The one thing that the developers focused on to make this game stand out from any other endless running games is the detail in their sound and atmosphere. This game must be played with headphones to get the full effect of the moans and groans of the zombies as they attempt to grab you as you run by. The sound is fantastic and is deeply engrossing, not to mention rather terrifying, even for a zombie hunter such as myself!
The game greatly gets more difficult the longer you run, adding in obstacles, bushes, cornfields and more and more zombies. But the developers didn’t want to make the game seem impossible, they give you the option to find hidden weapons crates strewn throughout the playing field. If you run over one of these you could be granted a weapon or a perk, speaking personally again I love the chainsaw, not having to stop and just tearing through the undead is ever so satisfying.
I’m not 100% sure if it is available but if they had the option to wield an upturned lawnmower and have the character say the immortal words of Timothy Balme “Party’s Over! ” at the start of the game, that would turn this app from awesome to epic!
You can download it now on any android phone via the play store and also on an iPhone via the app store!
We shall award Into the Dead a brain munching, in other words satisfying, 4/5!
Adam Waugh.
Akroview 