Undead Slayer Review

Undead Slayer is a free to play iOS and Android game that puts players in the shoes of Ancient China’s most feared zombie slayer Xiahou Dun. He will fight the undead with nothing more than his oversized sword, his special moves and his...combat pets. More after the jump





 The storyline in Undead Slayer is so ridiculous that it should put a giggle in your heart. All you need to know is that zombies have invaded China and it is your job to kill them all. Beyond that basic premise however the storyline is shallow and never gets interesting. The characters within the game are all forgettable including the player character Xiahou Dun who is either confused about the task at hand or is a whiny crybaby so in many ways he is Ancient China’s answer to Luke Skywalker.

The gameplay in Undead Slayer is simplistic to say the least, the player takes control of Xiahou Dun from a top down perspective. The player moves their character by simply tapping on any location within the mission zone and they attack by tapping on an enemy which launches their character into an attack combo. These attacks are automatic and the only thing that the player needs to really do is lead their character in the general direction of the enemy force. This is the biggest criticism I have with the game which is the lack of interaction between the player and the game, all it takes is one tap on the screen and the computer will automatically do the fighting for the player which is a shame because the combo animations looked so visceral and exciting. The enemy AI in the game is moronic, they will gather in large groups which means the combo attacks are able to hit about ten enemies at once. They do try their best to break through the player's combo through blocks and occasional attacks but even this can be countered by a fast dodging player.

There are four key mission types within the game, one is Annihilation in which the player needs to eliminate all enemy waves, Assassination is much like Annihilation where the player will need to  slaughter all enemies but this time there is a boss character that appears in the final wave, Siege tasks the player with escorting a battering ram to an enemy gate while Escort missions tasks the player to protect a cart along a road littered with enemies. These missions are just variants of one another and therefore overall variety is lacking. There are minigames as well but they add little to the overall game.

The player does have access to special moves and they can even take control of a General which functions like a substitute that can be called in at any time during a mission to replace the player’s main character Xiahou Dun. The player is able to upgrade his weapons and abilities as well as buy items much like any other action adventure game.

The only thing I found that was truly fun in Undead Slayer was the pet mechanic. I loved it when I summoned the eagle because Xiahou Dun will hang by its legs and shoot a crossbow at enemies as it flew around.

I enjoyed the premise of zombies in Ancient China and the pet mechanic was fun and worked real well because it gave the player some degree of autonomy in movement and attack. The game however suffers from oversimplified controls and mechanics, I really wish the developers could have given us an onscreen joystick option so that we as the player can move and attack freely rather than have the computer do all the work for us. The enemy’s sole tactic of swarming the player in one large group felt really cheap and uninspired and their overall intelligence was equivalent to that of a suicidal turkey.

 A huge disappointment.

Editor's Note: So yeah this is the game that was sent in as part of a "test" conducted by IGN Asia Pacific (IGN APAC) for potential future employees. I gave the game a 4 not because it was a mobile game but it felt like it was an automatic game of chess where all I had to do was lead my avatar on the screen. However my opinion differed from that of IGN APAC and needless to say I didn't get the job, I however am not bitter at them just a tad saddened is all...also since this game is now reviewed on my site and it got a 4/10...I am giving this game a Pubic Hair Award to honor its crappiness.