With inspiration from the survival horror genre, End Night HD tries
to distil the formula into a compact version. You are a scientist,
trying to collect serum samples to create a cure to end the zombie
nightmare that has taken over your neighbourhood. The map is rather
large, and items reasonably randomised upon each game. You will
pick up ammo, health packs, weapons as you break into your
neighbours' houses, church, shops and more, all the while avoiding
zombies coming out from nowhere and everywhere.
With HD in its name, the graphics in End Night HD are slightly
disappointing. The main character's model and animations are pretty
good, but the zombies are overly simple and jerky. The game is also
rather dark, making it difficult to see what is going on and without
a strong storyline, it is difficult to see players persisting. It
does invoke a serious survivalist instinct in the player though,
looking at the edge of the screen for oncoming zombies (the screen
is rather zoomed in, so you need excellent reflexes to make it
through) and running from location to location, wondering what is
around the next corner. Shooting zombies is fun, as ever. The eerie
music and sparse sound increases the atmosphere.
Control is achieved through a virtual joystick on the left, with
shoot and pickup buttons on the right. As zombies come out from all
sides of the screen, the shoot button will shoot at the nearest
enemy without the need to aim. Picking up objects is finicky and
buggy and you will find yourself moving off and on objects, just to
get the pickup button enabled. With limited ammo, the need to wash
wounds, to read bibles (to get rid of remorse) and other necessities
on the side, the game is rather difficult from the outset, and you
will die, a lot. When you die, you accrue points, which eventually
will improve your stats to make the game easier. Despite its
faults, End Night is a decent effort at bringing survival horror to
the mobile word and fans may be able to get a couple of hours of
zombie shooting enjoyment.
