Zombie Swipeout

Zombie Smash came from the minds of Matthias Hoechsmann and his brother Thomas. The two left behind Ph.D.s in bioinformatics and genome research to pursue game development when the iPhone released. “It changed our lives,” says Matthias Hoechsmann. They started the small company Game Doctors to develop Zombie Smash, and it became a runaway success. As is the story with many mobile hits, they decided to join forces with Zynga, which gave them access to the resources they needed to continue making mobile games. Their newest project is Zombie Swipeout.

Zombie Swipeout has a lot in common with another popular iOS game, Fruit Ninja. The core mechanic is similar to Halfbrick Studios’ breakout title, but there is a lot more going on here than just replacing fruit with the undead. Zombie Swipeout features an RPG system, numerous unlockable weapons, weekly tournaments, and impressive physics.

Players have 75 seconds to swipe zombies as they fly through the air, collect coins, and avoid slashing the living. You have access to weapons like swords, machetes, and baseball bats, with fancier and more powerful versions of each unlockable as you progress. Weapons are actually rendered onscreen, so instead of just seeing a colored line swipe through the zombies, you’ll see your weapon slice through the air.

Each weapon responds to the zombies differently. Swords slice through zombies, easily removing limbs and heads with ease, while a weapon like a bat knocks them around the screen. There are advantages to hitting zombies in the head as opposed to just taking off their limbs. It’s not just about swiping through the zombie; it’s about effectively incapacitating it by removing the brain. The zombie’s arms and legs will flail and move based on the game’s physics, getting in the way of your focused head attacks. If you hit an arm on the way to hitting the head, your score won’t be as high.

Each weapon has a power rating, and its effectiveness will diminish over time. If you run your weapon down, but want to continue using it, you will have to use the in-game currency to charge them back up.

As you play this 75-second match repeatedly in an attempt to beat your high score, you will gain experience levels which will grant you access to unlockable chests with new items. New power-ups will also randomly appear in the game, granting you things like additional time, screen clearing grenades, or freezing bombs if you can hit them when they fly through the air.

Aside from the clock running out, the game can also be ended by hitting one of the living humans that will randomly pop up. If you hit him, the screen will follow his body as it flies off screen, and you can choose to simply let him die (and turn into a zombie), or you can use a life to rewind time and start from right before you accidentally hit the human. The lives are limited and are earned by leveling up, but can also be purchased with in-game currency. There is no reason to use a life if you don’t think you can beat your high score. It’s better to simply let the man die, and try again.

You will be able to add friends through Facebook to have high score competitions with, or you can simply add each other’s code names. Unfortunately, there is no Game Center implementation. Your friends and their high scores will always be highlighted on the main screen, and you can easily send coins to buddies to help them out.

Zombie Swipeout will be free, but you can spend real money on the in-game currency if you want to speed things up a bit. Matthias Hoechsmann promised the game will run at 60 frames per second, even if you’re playing on an older model iPhone 3GS. Zombie Swipeout will come out for the iPhone in the next few weeks, and there is an Android and a dedicated iPad version in the works.