Sunday, May 29, 2016

Zombies, Run!

Zombies, Run!
     Have you ever wanted to start a morning jogging routine but you just can't seem to work up the motivation?  Well, nothing motivates more than a horde of zombies chasing you!
     Zombies, Run is a fun app game that helps you get that motivation to work out while also entertaining you with a fun radio play style story line where you are 'Runner 5' in Abel township and it is your job to help collect supplies and keep the zombies away from the home base.
     I have been playing with this app for a few months now and I really enjoy it.  Nothing is more dull than walking in complete silence, and music can get dull for me after a while.  I have to walk to school or to the market often enough so this app can really motivate me.  Especially since each time you play you collect supplies for expanding your base.  This means the more you play, the more improvements you can make.  You don't always have to play story mode either.  There are many ways to play.
     You can choose to pay for a membership which gives you access to every story mission right away.  However, I find that playing for free is fine as well.  I have to wait for time to pass before I can unlock new missions but so long as you unlock right away, even if you don't intend to play the mission right away, you can start stacking them up so they are ready when you need them.
     The story missions allow you to listen to music from another app or from your phone's music list.  The audio from the story will come and go as needed through out each mission.  When the characters are speaking it will quiet your music a bit until they are done.  You can also adjust the volume of the audio both for your background music and for the characters speaking.
     The story missions last for roughly a half hour each (If you exceed the mission time you can still keep going and the Abel township radio DJs will just come on and talk to you while you continue your run).  They will tell you directions to run and you can choose to go that way, but as this may not always be possible for you, you don't actually have to turn when they say to.  It will not affect the game, regardless of what direction you go.
     You can use GPS, the step counter or just tell it to not track your distance and play it with no tracking.  The GPS tracking is useful to me because I like to know how far I've gone as well as I have a habit of getting lost.  Because it tracks you on a map, if you get lost you can see what rout you used to get where you are and backtrack.
     There is also a feature called Zombie Chases.  You can turn it on or off.  I like to turn it on if I am walking on a trail but turn it off if I am walking to a shoppe.  I don't want to seem like a mad person if I am close to the store and suddenly start running like mad because I think there is a horde of zombies on my tail.  The way this feature works is that randomly through out your mission there will be chances for a zombie chase.  Sometimes it happens multiple times per mission and other times a mission will pass with no chases.  When zombies are nearby you will get a notification letting you know how close they are.  You will have to increase your speed (This does not work with tracking off) to outrun the zombies.  If they catch you they will steal some of the supplies you have gathered.  They have only caught me once.  I assume that if you have no supplies they may give you a game over, but I really don't know.  Once you have run far enough from the zombies you will get another notification to let you know that it is safe to slow your speed again.
     There are training plans for training for marathons as well.  I have not used these, personally.  I am not a great runner as I have asthma.
     Airdrop is a feature that can only be used if you pay.  It will show you some place on the map where you can obtain supplies for your town.  You will need to make your way to that location (Tracking must be on).
     Supply missions are fun little missions that you can do when you are waiting for story missions to unlock or if you don't want to do a timed mission.  Supply missions are endless and will continue until you stop them.  This is a great way to get extra goodies to upgrade your home base.
     Interval training is another membership only feature.  It allows you to create a plan that includes running, sprinting and walking to get the best workout.
     The app also has races ranging from 5k to 20k.  As I stated earlier, I am not a great runner so I did not take advantage of this option.  It has hidden story scenes that can only be experienced through these missions though.
     The last mission section is Abel radio.  It is the same thing you hear if you exceed your time on story missions, but without the story mission first.  It is fun to listen to the DJs banter about what parts of the area have a lot of zombies today and what politics are going on between different townships.
     You may notice I keep discussing the base and collecting supplies.  You are in charge of upgrading the base using supplies you have gathered.  You can build farms, houses, schools and such.  You can expand the township or upgrade what it has.  You can even add aesthetic features just to keep the population happy.  You need to keep a balance of population, happiness and defence in order to maintain your town, so build carefully.
     Codex is a way to view any artifacts you have obtained through your missions as well and the supplies you have gathered.  Oh the amount of socks and underwear packs I have collected...  You can also view your achievements.  Because who doesn't like achievements?  There are currently 6 possible achievements.  They are as follows:
And So it Begins: Complete the first story mission.
Baby Steps: Complete 5 missions.
Give Me Your Tired: 100 Population in your township/base.
So, That happened: Complete season 1.
...Your Poor...: 350 population in your township/base.
Speed Racer: Complete all race missions.
    The more option lets you look at your account, purchase a membership (Monthly 2.99 USD, Yearly 19.99 USD), check your running statistics (Only with membership), view your run logs, browse your settings and view your downloads (And delete missions you downloaded, but already cleared, so long as you don't want to go back and do them again).
     There are sometimes live events that you can sign up for (You have to pay but they are worth it).  I have never done them but I always sort of want to.  You get to run a marathon with lots of other people at the same time and listen to the story live.  You also get a bunch of goodies shipped to you like a running shirt and a medal for competing.
     CONCLUSION:  The common complaints I have heard are that people don't like the acting in the story and that they can not get zombie chases to work.  This is my response to those concerns.  On Zombie Chases, people need to make sure their tracking is on and know that zombie chases are random.  They may not always happen in every mission.  As for the acting, I thought it was fine.  There is a 'baby' that is slightly annoying but it rarely shows up and it doesn't ruin the entire app just because every now and then an obnoxious baby can be heard.  I really like some of the actors and though it is kind of campy... zombies and campy work for me.
     I really enjoy this app and use it regularly.  I plan to keep using it.  I would recommend it to any fan of zombies or anyone who likes radio plays, books on tape or anyone who needs motivation to get out and move!
Rating: 5/5
  • Free
  • Category: Health & Fitness
  • Updated: 
  • Version: 5.0
  • Size: 250 MB
  • Apple Watch: Yes
  • Language: English
  • Seller: 
Rated 12+ for the following:
  • Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence
  • Frequent/Intense Horror/Fear Themes
  • Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor
  • Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity
  • Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References

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