An evil scientist known only as Professor Brains has unleashed an endless horde of the undead in an attempt to destroy mankind. Barry Steakfries is back to save the world in this twin-stick shooter sequel to iOS smash hit, Monster Dash. As Barry, you must travel between five points in time making pit-stops in the prehistoric age and the gangster-ridden 1930s’, before blasting into the future for a final showdown.

Each level you face is packed with not only zombies but a few monsters unique to the time period that you are currently visiting. Expect to be bombarded by mummies, ninjas, cyborgs and even a T-Rex on your travels. The action in this game quickly becomes frantic as hundreds of monsters invade the screen from every possible angle. Unfortunately Barry doesn’t start with his trusty Shotgun in this outing, instead opting for a pistol, so you must rely on pick-ups to boost his arsenal. Shotguns, SMG’s, Mini-guns and Flame Throwers are all on offer with a limited amount of ammunition. Aside from your main firearm, Barry can now carry additional explosives, which are great for when you’re backed into a corner. These range from standard grenades to land mines and everybody’s favorite little friend, the rocket launcher. Although the game doesn’t currently support the iPhones retina display, the graphics are gorgeous and it’s extremely pleasing every time a zombie explodes to the sound of a satisfying pop.

The action doesn’t end with the story mode and there is a Survival mode available for those who enjoy a challenge. Your job is to survive wave after wave of the undead and increase your high score which will eventually be submitted to a global leaderboard. Game Center and OpenFeint are used for this and also brings along twenty-four unlockable achievements that add an extra dimension to the gameplay.

If I had one big issue whilst playing through Age of Zombies, it would be the overall length of the main game. Upon playing through the game for the first time, I was able to complete the story mode and collect a large chunk of the achievements in just over forty-five minutes. Although there is the extra Survival mode available, there is little variation in gameplay and it soon becomes repetitive. The addition of a level select feature or the inclusion of a boss rush mode would definitely go a short way to solving this problem.

In Conclusion

Age of Zombies is a monster filled, action packed, comedy fueled game that manages to cement its place in a market already saturated with many great twin-stick shooters. As with all titles from Halfbrick Studios, more updates are on the way and the developers have promised big plans for the game. If you are a fan of this genre, or just of Barry Steakfries himself, you should definitely take a look at this game.