Yet Another Zombie Defense HD Review for Xbox One

Since high school, I’ve enjoyed zombie defense games. My earliest memories were flash games that my classmates would play during class. These games weren’t good, but they offered a nice distraction from my stressful school day. Yet Another Zombie Defense HD feels like the games I would play during fifth-period computer class. It’s not great, but the game works as a way to kill time. Is Yet Another Zombie Defense HD from Awesome Games Studio worth the $4.99 asking price? Let’s dive in.

The title says everything you need to know about the game. It’s a generic zombie defense experience that does nothing new for the genre. In fact, it’s an updated title from 2010, and it feels like an eight-year-old game. There’s nothing that exciting about Yet Another Zombie Defense HD. There are three modes; Defense, Deathmatch, and Endless. You’ll spend most of your time in Defense. This mode puts players in an open environment where they must survive night after night against the undead. Most enemies drop money, allowing you to buy new weapons and upgrade defenses. You can save your money for better enhancements or blow through your stash for immediate safety. There is strategy involved when it comes to money, but you don’t really need to worry about it until around day seven.

After each night, enemies get faster, stronger, and take more damage to kill. As the nights progress, different types of enemies are thrown into the mix. My biggest problem with Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is that it can’t find its identity. Look, the game has zombie in the title. Why are there wolves, demons, and vampires trying to attack us as well? At times, it feels like the main enemies players are fighting aren’t even zombies at all. Awesome Games Studio should’ve stuck to its guns and used only zombies as the threat.

Playing alone isn’t that fun. I spent hours in Defense on my own, and it didn’t provide much enjoyment. Eventually, I found a group of three people to join up with. Group play is when I finally had fun with Yet Another Zombie Defense HD. If you don’t change the options, all players can use the money you’ve accumulated. This can be unfortunate when playing with a group of random people that just want to waste hard earned funds. If you plan on playing (where people can join midgame) I’d recommend making restrictions for money management.

There’s also an Endless mode that’s self-explanatory; survive for as long as you can. Powerful weapons and random pickups are easily acquired, and while the zombie hreat can get overwhelming, Endless is just a chaotic arcade-styled mode. I spent a few hours in Endless and had a lot more fun with it than Defense mode. There’s also a Deathmatch mode, which appears to be a competitive mode where players must fight each other while holding off the zombie hordes. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anybody playing this mode, so I couldn’t try it.

Visuals in the game are bland. The “HD” update to this game doesn’t look that great, and the 4K filter often felt too grainy for me. I actually had to play without 4K on because I thought the game looked better that way. The audio is generic with random groans from the enmies and lackluster weapon sounds. From a technical aspect, the game ran slow at times, and when another player would join or leave my game, everything stopped for a while. It ruins the flow of the game, and when you’re overwhelmed from the swarms of zombies, slowdowns are unfortunate.

Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is a game that attempts to provide a fun over-the-top shooter in the zombie genre. It’s fun in short bursts, and there are a few modes to play. Unfortunately, Deathmatch didn’t seem to have any players. It’s not that fun solo, so I recommend finding a group of people to play with. Despite its simple premise, there are so many games in 2018 that do what Yet Another Zombie Defense HD tries to do, but better. For $4.99, you can have some fun, but there are more things I’d recommend doing for that price. Get a burger, watch a matinee at your local theater, or grab a coffee. Yet Another Zombie Defense HD provides some fun, but honestly, you’ll probably forget about it after a few days.