Zombie Swarm

The gun fires, the mouse aims

The shooting is automatic and aimed by the mouse from the first wave. The hand that would press fire steers instead, so a run is about where you stand.

One wave follows the last without a walk in between. There is no corridor to cross and no menu to clear, so a run is one continuous fight that gets more crowded. The waves are endless, so a run ends when the hero does rather than when a level is cleared.

What a wave pays for

Zombies leave resources behind, and the resources have 3 destinations: crafted weapons and items, the hero’s own skills, and the perks that are bought between battles. The 3 compete for the same pile, so a run is part fight and part shopping.

Chests sit on the field with rarer things inside, and keys open what the chests cannot. A route that passes a chest is worth more than a route that only passes zombies. Resources come from what the zombies leave behind, so the last wave pays for the next one.

Solo or with a partner

A run can be played alone or with a second player in co-op. A partner changes the fight: one player can hold the crowd while the other takes the ground behind it, and a fallen partner can be brought back rather than waited out.

The buttons on the screen include the revive, the shop, the crafting and the perks, so 2 players keep going without leaving the fight.

Defence is a different game

Defence mode asks for a card deck and a drill to protect. The deck is built before the wave, the zombies attack the drill, and the run is about which card to play rather than which route to walk.

The enemies are the same, but now they have a target. The drill is what the wave is trying to reach, and a deck that stalls the front line buys it the time it needs.

Worlds, heroes, and what chases you

There are several worlds and several heroes, and the zombies come in types. Each type closes distance differently, so a mixed crowd behaves in mixed ways.

Abilities are earned and improved, not handed out at the start. The first minute is the weakest the hero will be; the last minute has everything the waves paid for. The swarm grows with every wave, so the crowd at the end of a run is not the crowd at the start.

How it sits beside Azeroth Survivors

Both games put one fighter in a crowd that arrives on its own, and both let the attack happen without a press. Azeroth Survivors grows spells with levels. Zombie Swarm grows weapons, skills and a bag of crafted things.

It also has a second seat, which the original game has and the rebuild this site ranks does not.

A first run

Spend the first wave’s resources on the hero rather than the crafting bench. A skill keeps working without being used; a crafted item in the bag has not helped yet.

Take the chest on the way rather than after the wave. The crowd keeps growing, and a chest is worth more before the crowd reaches it.

Controls

Questions