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N.Y.Zombies 2 by Foursaken Media is the sort of game that makes you glad that a developer
is willing to listen to their fans. Building upon the original in just about every way,
it's still a flawed experience, but one that manages to exploit the mixed state of realism
and fantasy.
No lengthy story set up is needed - zombies are here and you need to survive. What follows
is a series of missions that follow a fairly basic story filled with protecting survivors
and attempting to escape to better fortified positions. Gone are the tiny and limited environments
where you defend from waves of enemies and in its place are significantly larger ares
you can explore and interact with - be it to set up a barricade or open up more of the
stage.
Defending yourself is where things get a little bit unrealistic (not the least of which is
your seemingly endless supply of ammunition), but it's here where the game's mechanics kick
in to make things challenging. While you could sport a range of high-powered weapons bought
at a not insignificant cost, their reload times may leave you entirely too vulnerable.
As such you'll want to invest in a handful of weapons that suit your style, further backed
up by unlockable skills that augment and provide bonuses to your preferred weapon.
Cash, skill points and gold can be earned throughout the course of the game (with the
latter being more abundant in the occasional unique side-mission), giving you just enough
to ensure each mission remains challenging. Should the game prove to be too easy, there
are higher difficulties to unlock.
In fact, attempting missions too hard for you is probably the best way to play as you
can bring in friends via GameCenter to play the stage in an online co-op mode.
N.Y.Zombies 2 isn't without its flaws though, notably the texturing and environments may
be far more detailed, but the animations and quirky collision detection can make things
awkward - especially if you choose to specialize in melee combat. Also, the somewhat slow pace
of your character can make exploration-based missions a chore.
Still, it's a small price to pay for a solid upgrade to a great zombie-survival title and
while it's not perfect it's easy to recommend if you enjoy a spot of mindless combat.