Zombies have invaded the Windows Phone Store once again. This time they are running amuck in the Windows Phone title Dead Hunt.
Dead Hunt has Zombies overwhelming the world, seeking out fresh human brains to dine upon. Your job, as you might guess, is to battle waves of Zombies and survive the apocalypse.
Available for low-memory devices and Windows 8 devices, Dead Hunt is full of character development, weapons and gear upgrades and fast action game play. Graphics are nice but weapons performance could be a bit better. Still, if you like action games Dead Hunt is worth a try.
When you first launch Dead Hunt, the main menu will be rather brief with options to play the game, view more games from the developer and to exit the game. When you jump into game play, you will be greeted by a few instructional screens that walk you through game controls and objectives. From there you will play the first level of play where the goal is to take out all the Zombies that appear.
Once you are successful with this first level of play, the game's main menu will change slightly with the addition of your gaming stats at the top of the screen, an option to view your character's inventory and an option to visit the game's store where you can buy gear with the money you earn during game play.
Gaming stats includes your gold and cash counts and conversion tokens that can be used to convert gold into cash.
The gaming store has everything from more powerful weapons to stronger armor to faster shoes. Pricing is rather unique with Dead Hunt's store in that pricing isn't rounded to the dollar. For example a pair of boots that will increase your speed will set you back $319.70. The pricing points aren't an issue and in a way, they give Dead Hunt a slight real world feel.
Game Play
Gaming controls are simple with Dead Hunt. The left side of your screen controls movement and the right side controls your weapons fire and special weapons deployment. Tapping/holding either side will generate a virtual joystick that will help you visualize the control. There is a small button in the lower right corner that can be used to have your character sprint. This feature comes in handy when you need to create a little distance between you and a hungry hoard of Zombies.
Game play is spread out across several levels of play with various environments to hunt Zombies from. Each level will have an objective to reach (i.e. kill a number of Zombies before time expires, kill all Zombies, etc.). Kill streaks will boost your points and power-ups will appear throughout game play that will increase your firepower or restore health.
There are several types of Zombies roaming the game. Some will be harder to kill, some move faster than others and some will spit toxic slime at you. Each level will have its own strategy for success with some requiring you to be more active in hunting down the Zombies while others will allow you to sit back in more of a defensive position and let the Zombies come to you.
At the conclusion of each successful level of play, you will be rewarded with gold or cash that can be used in the game's store to beef up your inventory and better your chances of survival.
Overall Impression
Dead Hunt is a nice RPG styled game for Windows Phone and Windows 8. Graphics are decent and game play challenging. However, the game could use a little refinement to improve its appeal.
For starters, the graphics and text are way too small. Granted my eyes aren't as young as others but I could see teenagers squinting to read the text with this game. While you can distinguish your character from the Zombies, in many ways they could be confused with over-weight stick figures. Comparing the graphic quality to Dredd vs. Zombies, which I think is the pinnacle of this gaming style, with Dredd being a 10 – Dead Hunt's graphics would be in the neighborhood of a 6 or 7. They aren't bad but could be a lot better.
Next up is the weapons performance. I don't have an issue with the control style but the accuracy of the weapons is dismal. You can point the virtual joystick directly at a Zombie, with the Zombie within arm's reach away and still miss. I don't know if the current control style can be adjusted for better accuracy or if another method needs to be put in place. Regardless, Dead Hunt's weapons needs to be sighted in better.
While there is room for improvement, Dead Hunt has the potential of being a fun time waster of a game for your Windows Phone or Windows 8 device. The game is currently rated at 3 Stars in the Windows Phone Store and … in the Windows Store, which is about right with the game's current state.
