Swamp Attack, an explosive game of survival for Windows 10 and Windows Phone
Swamp Attack is a light-hearted arcade game that is available from both the Windows 10 and Windows Phone Stores. You find yourself relaxing on the front porch of your swamp side cottage when you notice Zombie-like animals emerging from the depths of the marsh. You'll have to defend your homestead and show these mutant creatures no mercy.
The game has over 300 levels of gameplay, 30 weapons to unlock and over 35 swamp zombies that include giant alligators, monster turtles and chainsaw toting beavers. Controls are simple, graphics nicely drawn-up and gameplay has a fast pace about it. After taking the Windows Phone version of Swamp Attack out for a test drive, the game comes across as a decent way to pass the time.
As with most games these days, when you first launch Swamp Attack the game will walk you through a brief tutorial on gameplay. You will eventually transition to the game's main menu where you will find options to jump into gameplay, visit the game's shop and access the game's settings.
Settings cover the standard options such as sound, music, vibration and notifications. The gaming store will have options to spend the gold you earn during gameplay on new weapons or to upgrade your existing arsenal. Oh and should the cockroaches roaming the store screen creep you out, you can turn them off by tapping the roach button in the upper left corner of the display.
Swamp Attack's gaming levels are spread out across a map of the swamp and include a few quick missions for the opportunity to earn a little extra coin. Gameplay with Swamp Attack is regulated by requiring an energy unit to play the game. You start out with six energy units that are replenished over time or you can use potions to refill your energy instantly.
The gaming screen layout with Swamp Attack has your health meter and your attack wave meter. Just below these meters, you will find your gold count, ammo count and special weapons icons (dynamite, Molotov cocktails, beehives, etc.). Your character will be sitting on the front porch at the left of the screen and your zombie onslaught will enter from the right.
Tapping the screen will fire your weapon and most monsters will require multiple shots to go down. Reloading is done automatically, but will take a few seconds to complete. If you have any special weapons, you can use them by tapping/dragging on the icon to your target area. A well-placed stick of dynamite can slow down the zombie creatures enough to give your character time to reload safely.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
As you eliminate the swamp creatures, you will earn gold and occasionally gifts will emerge from the swamp that can be collected for bonus gold, dynamite, Molotov cocktails and other special weapons.
While most of the game is simply blasting the swamp creatures into oblivion, there is a bit of strategy involved in playing Swamp Attack. You'll find yourself stuck with a shotgun for a while (until you can gather $15,000 in gold for an UZI), which creates a need time your shots carefully to avoid getting eaten while you are reloading.
A Blast of a Game
Swamp Attack is an entertaining time waster of a game and with over 300 levels of gameplay, it shouldn't get old too quick. The game has nicely drawn-up graphics and animations and the pace of gameplay is fast and challenging.
While I'm not a big fan of requiring energy units or tokens for gameplay, Swamp Attack does afford you plenty of energy to keep you busy for a good bit before things dry up. It only takes about 8 minutes to replenish an energy unit, so you won't have wait long to get back to gameplay.
My only gripe about Swamp Attack (and it is a minor nit) is the price to unlock new weapons is a wee bit on the high side. The game needs to either lower the prices or increase the amount of gold you earn during gameplay to make these weapons more affordable. You earn about 600-700 coins per level and at that rate, it will take you a while before you can afford a better weapon. That is unless you give your gold count a boost by buying gold through an in-app purchase.
Regardless, I still think Swamp Attack is a fun title to have stowed away in your gaming library. At last check, Swamp Attack is rated at 4.3-Stars in the Store with reviews calling the game "awsum", "mindless fun" and "fantastic". We can agree with both the user reviews and Store rating. If you have given Swamp Attack a try, let us know what you think of things in the comments below.
George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.