It took a little longer than expected, but as promised we’re back with a review of Glu Mobile’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies. There are millions of COD fans around the world, and everyone knows how fickle gamers can be. Trying to put out a ‘good’ Call of Duty: Black Ops mobile game is tricky business as you don’t want to face the fanboy backlash if you don’t do the name justice. Well, after spending a few weeks shooting Zombies to shit I’m happy to report that Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies is one of the better shooters I’ve played on a mobile regardless of the franchise.
If you’ve ever played a shooter on Android you know how tricky the controls can be on a touchscreen device. Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies give you several different ways to switch things up as you can use dual joysticks, touch control or tilt. You can also adjust the X & Y sensitivity, invert the Y axis, turn auto aim on or set things up in southpaw mode if you’re a lefty. You can also adjust the detail level of the game if things bog down on you; I’ve played COD: Black Ops Zombies on my Galaxy s3 and Asus 300 Tab with no lag whatsoever and the game looks great and plays like a champ.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies has 3 modes of play with Single Player, Co-op Multiplayer, and Dead Ops Arcade. Single Player lets you duke it out on one of three maps with Kino, Ascension, and Call of the Dead: Directors Cut. Single player starts you out in a room with your basic pistol and a few grenades. From there you’ll need to try and stay alive for as long as possible by taking out the unrelenting hordes of hungry zombies. You’ll also get 4 different characters to play with as well even though I don’t think it really matters which one you play with as far as strengths and weaknesses go.
I was impressed with the size of the levels and the way you go about getting around as well. Most of the doors in each level are locked, but can be unlocked with cash you win from taking out zombies. You’ll have to walk a fine line between shooting, evading, and unlocking doors though as you’re also going to need that hard earned zombie killing cash to buy new weapons and ammo. Various weapons can be found on the walls throughout each level, and you’re also going to notice lots of broken barricades in need of repair.
Next up is Multiplayer which to be honest is a bit of a disappointment. It’s not disappointed because it has issues; overall it’s works well and does as advertised. It’s just a bit disappointing as a lot of Glu’s games us ‘online multiplayer’ already compared to the local Wi-Fi only play that Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombie brings to the table. Not much else I can say about this mode as none of my friends have the game so I wasn’t able to test Wi-Fi Co-op out.
Last but not least is the mode known as Dead Ops Arcade, and if you dig top-down shooters it’s just the thing for you. This mode is easily unlocked with coins found throughout the menus and it offers 50 levels of intense nonstop zombie killing action. I’ve played Dead Ops Arcade almost as much I have the single player mode and I really think it’s a nice change of pace that compliments the game well and helps to extend your gameplay.
Aside from wanting to have online multiplayer, there’s really nothing bad I can say about Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies as it fires on all cylinders and I’ve had a blast playing it for the past few weeks. From the old-school grindhouse feel of the games menus to the whopping 50 level gauntlet known as Dead Ops Arcade the game looks and plays great, and is a must have for any Call of Duty fan or anyone who loves a good Zombie shoot ‘em up. It is a paid game which is something you normally don’t see from Glu, but you are getting a lot of game for just $6.99. If you’re ready to give it a go crack your knuckles, limber up your fingers, and head on over to Google Play where you can pick up Glu Mobile’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies.