Zombie Attack! for the iPhone has kept me happily distracted protecting the beer shack vigorously against the zombie onslaught for more hours than I care to admit. The recent update has seen the game improved immensely with new ways of controlling the dude, cheaper building, a “secret” weapon in the beer shack and the dude and shack healing themselves.
With the upgrade of the game I have started getting to level 30 pretty frequently, and I assuming that that is not too bad seeing as a lot of my friends who play the game struggle to get to level 15. Being eager to help my fellow man during the zombie apocalypse (not a guarantee…) I am posting Rupert’s Guide to Killing Zombies for Zombie Attack!.
Step One – Hurt Zombies are Easier to Pick Off (or, Why the Cannons Don’t Suck)
Hurt zombies in Zombie Attack! suffer huge penalties. For lost limbs, they lose attack strength, for lost legs they start to wander in circles (taking longer to get to the shack) and if they lost their heads they wander aimlessly only attacking if they get to a target by accident.
Using this strategy we do two things. Firstly, use the Cannon to hit the groups of zombies as they arrive through the gate. The area of effect weapon is a good way of hitting lots of zombies with one hit. Flank the cannon with swinging axes as this will definitely remove a limb or two (see above).
If your cannons and axes are doing the job properly, then your zombies will be ready for step two.
Step Two – The Beer Shack Must Be Protected
Once you have your cannons and axes chopping up zombies, its time to clean them up. The Guns are not particularly good at taking out a healthy zombie before it gets to your shack, but they are very good at polishing them off if they are hurt badly.
I place one gun at the corner of the shack first so that it can hit the three areas you need to concentrate on – the direct line to your shack and the right and left flank. Build this gun up to its maximum and be prepared to man it bravely (see Step Three below). Follow this one up with a gun on each flank to protect the sides of the shack and to proved some crossfire (see Step Four below).
Step Three – Be Prepared To Die
One of the new additions to the game is that you get a 20% bonus to any gun that you man. This is extremely useful if you start to get swamped or just haven’t got the money to upgrade yet.
Zombies will also sort of chase your dude for a little while as well which can be very useful in distracting them from breaking into your beer shack.
If you are like me, the death of the dude is not important – he comes back and its not about points, its about killing zombies. Its not unusual for me to go through 3-4 dudes…
Step Four – Crossing Arcs of Fire
After the initial set up of your defences is complete, its time to make sure that your zombies are getting hit by at least 2 weapons at any given time. This is best done by making sure that your weapons at the back of the line are upgraded first so that they can reach the zombies at the front, and also adding new weapons around the central line as soon as is feasible.
If you aren’t playing the game, you probably should be, its not expensive and lots and lots of fun.
Zombie Attack! (iTunes link) USD 0.99 | AUD 1.19
If anyone is getting much past level 30 50, can you let me know how in the comments please?
Update: I am getting past level 45 almost every game now. I am posting the set up that I am using in the hopes that it will aid my fellow zombie hunters…
Sunday, 4. January 2009
Excellent strategy. I have long been counting on the axes near the entrance to give zombies a warm welcome to the arena, but I really like your approach of having a canon backed up by axes – I will give it a try.
One thing that I had developed that I enjoy (I’m a burner, I guess) is setting up a flame thrower at the “corner” of the shack, backed up by guns at top and right sides of the shack. Once upgraded so their arcs overlap, it became a real killing zone, and the flame thrower makes a great place to stand as the “upcharge” on the flame thrower really takes care of most any wounded zombie before it gets to me.
I have had a problem with the quick running zombies getting through though, so I am looking forward to adapting some of your layout into my own. We’ll see about getting to level 40
Keep up the great zombie killing!
Sunday, 4. January 2009
I have to admit, I haven’t used the flame throwers much… I will give your corner thing a try
The fast zombies are a pain in the butt… The only thing that I have found for them is to blow their legs or heads off so that they can’t make a bee-line to the shack. The cannons and guns are good for this – the cannons have a 20-50% chance of removing a limb and the gun likewise with the head. By making them unable to walk a straight line, you can pick them off before they find the shack.
Good luck with it, and let me know how you go
Sunday, 4. January 2009
Well, I have modified my strategy by putting a maxed out gun in the shack “corner’ defense point, and then put a flame thrower on each side to create a true cross-”fire” heh heh. I immediately jumped up about 8-10 levels of survival that way with me “manning the gun” as you recommended. I have to say, it’s pretty incredible to stand at the gun, get attacked by zombies, and have two flamethrowers and usually one or two cannon all zeroing in on the corner. Now, that’s some zombie-munching fun.
Great call on having the cannons and saws soften them up as they come in – I just have a problem getting down there to max out all the weapons.
Now I just have to figure out what to put out in the open field areas, and level 50, here I come (so far, I am hitting about 35 each time right now).
Sunday, 4. January 2009
I tried your flame thrower thing around the shack and put an extra 5 levels on the survival level – level 55!
I am still experimenting with the middle section. I have tried a couple of different tacks – at the moment I am filling it up with more and more cannons, and that’s working out OK. I’m thinking I might just try all cannons at some point and see what happens…
Tuesday, 17. February 2009
hi, im interested in getting zombie attack dice role play game,does everything i need too start playing come in the game edition…or do i have to pay other game piceces…special dice ..ect…???thanks joe
Tuesday, 17. February 2009
Hi Joe,
As I understand it, if it comes in a boxed set, you will have everything you need. If its just a book, then you will probably have to purchase extra pieces, etc…
Tuesday, 17. February 2009
I regularly get to 45-50 now purely based off of using each tower to its maximum potential. First line of defense should be a row of flame throws (4) surrounding the starting point of the zombie intrusion (I get 3 upgrades on each before starting with 2nd defense). This will make quick work of them and leave them on fire causing more damage over time as they enter the second line of defense. Behind the flame throwers set a crescent shape line of cannons to finish off those badly hurt zombies. Max all those out before starting on the luv shack defense. Occasionally a “sprinter” zombie will break free of your initial defenses so you will have to set up a gun a the luv shack.
Now its about setting up your luv shack defense. Ive used both turrets and flame throwers and have found that flame throwers have been more effective in the rear. In front of the flame throwers is where i place the turrets, this has been great since they still have the range to hit zombies on most the screen including those attempting to break into the luv shack. Axes are great for the maiming aspect but ive never really used them in any strategic points, more just placed them randomly and would lure zombies into the spinning blades. Hope this helps GL!
Tuesday, 24. February 2009
I’ve only had this game for a few days, but I think I’ve come up with a pretty solid strategy:
Start by lining the zombie entrance with 4 evenly separated swinging axes and put one gun at the bottom left corner of your shack (to finish off zombies that manage to get through). Max out their upgrades before continuing. This defense alone will speed up your progressive thru the levels.
Next, start constructing your 2nd and 3rd rings of defense. The 2nd ring will consist of Fire turrets and the 3rd should consist of Gun turrets (I advise building the guns first!). Here’s why: the goal of this setup is to de-capitate the highest percentage of zombies possible while they’re still in the bottom-left quadrant of the map. Axes and Guns are the only turrets you have that can de-capitate, so you want those two to have the first shot at every single zombie. Cannon turrets are awesome, but they can only de-arm a zombie, so I prefer to put those turrets in the back. And as for the fire turrets, these serve as roadblocks and do a great job of hosing down the zombies that manage to get thru the axes.
As you climb thru the levels, the zombies get tougher and tougher and you’ll want to maximize their time wandering thru flame throwers and buzz saws with their head cut off. Plus, if you do a good job constructing the rings, your turrets should be as close together as possible, giving the headless zombies a forest of road blocks as they blindly search for the shack.
Try it out and let me know what you think!
Friday, 27. February 2009
How do u get the secret weapon?
Friday, 27. February 2009
When your shack is completely surrounded, you can press on the shack itself to destroy any zombies nearby completely.
Sunday, 8. March 2009
I have a strategy that gets me up to level 70+ regularly. Basically you use nothing but cannons. First set up you surround the gate with 4 cannons as tight as you can get them. Next put one on the corner of the house and two more as tight as you can next to the house and the first cannon. Upgrade the towers at the gate first to the max then just build outward from there, always keeping the cannons in as close to the other ones as you can.
The key when you get to level 40 plus is to run around in circles near the enterance to keep the zombies from even coming close to the shack, only leave the bottom if you have to build another tower then get back as quick as you can so the zombies dont follow you towards the shack.
This is the strategy I’ve been working to improve, hoping to hit the #1 score worldwide…I have the #20 overall right now.
Wednesday, 11. March 2009
Some quick notes: The area effect of the cannons also seem to damage your shack. Anyone seeing this or am I just imagining it?
If you not worried about points one very nice think to remember is that if you die next to a tower your dead body still gives the power boost till you respawn. So if you are close to kicking the can get close to a tower so you can maximize the damage.
Wednesday, 11. March 2009
I hadn’t actually noticed that about the cannons – but I’ll test it out to see…
Also – good observation regarding the dead body still giving a bonus. Definitely worth noting…
Friday, 19. June 2009
Yea I have a strategy that always gets me past lvl 40. I just give the zombies a nice warm welcome with a large axe field with 3-5 axes. As for protecting the shack, I surround it with flame throwers (I like how they do continuous dmg instead of shots fired from a gun). Then have a cannon right in the middle of the field. Then build guns next to the cannon, and add more nothing specific.
Monday, 3. August 2009
I just got 21975 today, putting me at #72 all time high score, but i believe I can get to #1. the most important aspect no matter what you’re layout is to spend as much time as you can near the entry point to get the zombies turned around there so they spend time in whatever death traps you’ve set up. If a rogue gets heading toward the shack, run up behind them and touch them, only from behind of course so as not to incur damage, and they’ll turn around to recieve more punishment before they can reach the shack.
Monday, 3. August 2009
Wow… #72 all time – well done! Your comments about distracting the rogues is quite interesting, I hadn’t thought of that. Also the keeping them at the beginning is a good point – I have tried to stay up near the shack to provide a boost to the guns to pick off any survivors instead…