Review - INFECTONATOR 3 - APOCALYPSE - The best of the trilogy?
I also remember creating a "BEST" folder, in which I store two gems:
Infectonator 1: World Dominator and Infectonator 2.
You can't imagine how many hours I spent completing them. They might be my favorite flash games ever!
When I saw Infectonator 3: Apocalypse came out, I bought it without even looking. lol
Well... It IS good. Maybe even great. But also quite tedious and frustrating at times.
A CARTOON AND FUN VERSION OF PLAGUE INC.?
First let's take a look at the first games that came out before this one.
Infectonator 1: World Dominator - Terrible graphics, incredibly addictive gameplay (2010)
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Infectonator 2
Like the first one, but everything better! (2012)
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An endless runner spinoff, Infectonator: Hot Chase, maybe the most forgettable of the series.(2013)
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Second spinoff, Infectonator Survivors!
An underrated mix of RTS, Tower Defense, Roguelike, and Management-Simulation!(2016) |
Well, don't you fans worry, this time, the developer has decided to stick to the original formula!
So, eeer... Wait, what genre is this though? lol
Gee, I'm not sure, so I labelled it as "Strategy".
And despite using the old casual formula, it sure has way more strategy than the first two games.
Like the title of this section says, the game is a bit similar to Plague Inc: Evolved, a game where you take over a potentially deadly disease to extinguish humanity.
Except this time, you control a growing army of mutating zombies and spread the virus over the planet to destroy humanity. 😁
Also, the tone of the game is way more fun and cartoonish, which makes the main selling point of Infectonator, watching the chaos unfold, even more satisfying.
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| The world map, on which you can select the country you want to spread your brainless minions to! At least that's what you think. Unfortunately, you HAVE to attack first the areas with research labs! (the ones with the blue flasks!) |
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| There are countless challenges, nicely rewarded with money! |
- Make zombies
- Kill people (and collect the coins they drop!)
- Improve your zombies so that you can do the first two steps more efficiently
😁
Simple and terrifically addictive.
And you'll have to discover over 35 Zombies with unique powers, who can also level up!
As you progress, you'll get to improve your virus' DNA to unlock new powerful mutations, unlocking leaping disgusting aliens or huge zombies built like tanks, among other freaks!
Also, lots of them can be "crafted" only when you already fill some pre-requirements, like owning two of a specific type of zombie, etc.
You just don't have access to zombies right away like in the previous games.
You'll have to EARN them.
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| ALL the zombies are actually super cool! Whether it's the vampires(who can resurrect dead ones), or special zombies, which are based on movie "monsters" like Freddy, they all have lots of character! |
That's one of the most important aspects of the strategy, actually:
You'll have to understand how each zombie's ability works, and what other zombies you should "combine" them with, trying to create your perfect "dream zombie team" to turn humanity into mulch.😅
As I mentioned, the game doesn't take itself seriously, and you'll encounter all sorts of caricatures and parodies, and I assume that the game might even be considered politically incorrect nowadays, WHICH IS GREAT. lol
Whenever a level starts, just admire these obnoxious morons walking around and enjoying life, having intelligent thoughts.
"what if I'm not slutty enough?"
"I slept through my afternoon nap"
"my birthday is in February. I'm an Aquarium!"
Aw man, they all sound like Kelly Bundy! lol
Anyway... You wouldn't want to kill innocent carefree motherless... hey wait!
What's that she's carrying? Oh my god, these girls are using selfie sticks!😱
Oh well, ok, it's dying time then.😋
You self-absorbed parodies of humanity are going down!
*drops poisoned burgers to turn them into zombies*
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| I'll give you coffee. *sends an army of zombie rapists to her place* |
The more you'll spread your zombies everywhere on the planet, the more cops and swat teams you'll encounter, and eventually even worse!
But your WORST enemy will be the research labs. More on this later. lol
If you don't lose the game miserably like I did, you could potentially play over 200 levels!
(not randomly generated though!)
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| Arabs won't be spared either! Funny little mistake though(assuming it's a mistake?): the people speaking Arabic on the picture are tourists, not the people living there... Maybe the developer could mix them up and make the tourists speak several languages, while inhabitants will speak only their native language? |
Another novelty compared to the previous iterations is the limited interactivity.You'll be able to open or lock doors in many levels, blocking any escape route and forcing humans to go back to zombies arms! lol
You can also blow up some walls, but it seems more random though...
Finally, the game will have some randomized events too, which you'll get to see in the breaking news, presented by a very sexy miniskirt-wearing reporter!
It's funny, but you can actually unlock many different clothes for her, and also a male reporter!😅
Seriously though, watch the news, as occasionally, the reports will concern modifier effects on your zombies, or decreased prices for weapons and/or upgrades.
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| She looks like she's enjoying the view... lol "I can eat a peach for hours". |
GAME-BREAKING BALANCING PROBLEMS
The first games might have been too casual and extremely straight-forward, but also instant pure fun. This game is the opposite.
(Get ready for a surprisingly LONG tutorial for a casual game.)
In the previous games, you could do more or less everything on 2 or 3 screens...
Here, it's more like... 10 different screens? 😟
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| I wish they just put the prices next to the stats names... You actually have to click on every one of them to see the price. Annoying and confusing. I actually purchased an upgrade which cost 1400 coins although I thought it was only 700... Anyway... |
Well, it's just my opinion, but I feel that MANY of the new features are overkill.
The game often feels unnecessarily complicated, with dozens of options and possibilities to craft zombies, etc.
Speaking of which, the crafting zombie screen is a nice concept, but the UI is so unintuitive!
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| That burger description... Like in real-life, eh?😝 |
TIP!
- Use grenades or canisters to get rid of annoying cops/soldiers.- Use land mines around exits and entrances.
- Use goop to slow down and passively kill humans.(DO NOT underestimate this! You want to turn soldiers especially into zombies!)
The game has many zombies types, as I said earlier, but most eventually feel useless, as soon as you have access to the "special zombies", which are INFINITE.
No need to craft them!
Eventually, my "dream zombie team" was made of special zombies only, so I didn't spend any resources on crafting any zombies anymore...
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| Everybody turned into a zombie in that fast-food! This reminds me of this article: what happens to your body when you eat a McDonald's hamburger? 😅 |
At this point, you might start thinking that the game is too easy. BIG MISTAKE.
You have to understand that your worst enemy in the game is TIME.
I said earlier that this game is labelled as "strategy". I should have said more specifically "REAL-TIME strategy".
You're racing against a CURE to your virus.
TIP!
Want to progress FAST? Attack the areas which have a very low "continent panic level"!! |
| WHAT THE!!!🤦 |
I was like "wait, what... Everything was going fine!!! how come I lost????"
It was SO frustrating!!! And you know why??
Basically, I skipped ONE little detail in the tutorial...(if only it hasn't been that long!)
YOU HAVE TO ATTACK AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE THE AREAS WHICH HAVE RESEARCH LABS!!!
But here comes the MAIN problem of the game:
By the time you can finally destroy one research lab, TWO more have popped up in other regions!!
At this point, the difficulty will ramp up to a point where no matter how good you've been playing, YOU WILL FAIL. Period.
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| When "world panic" will be too high, this is how it'll look like. Everybody will be armed! Good luck winning this level. lol |
HUGE difference with the previous games:
As you progress in the game, the zones you've visited will passively gain more PANIC!
And more panic = more cops/soldiers!
And once more, don't forget that the game is now real-time!
The ticking clock never stops, and humanity actively tries to cure your virus!
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| When the levels have that many cops, it'll become very difficult for you to win. |
Your zombies will become completely powerless against the EXTREMELY heavily armed humans, who will tear them to shreds, and whatever your upgrades are, you won't even damage them anymore.
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| I actually really like how everybody in the game speaks his own language. Now, I don't speak many languages, but I did notice that usually, it wasn't written by a native speaker though. ha ha |
I know I'm not a great player, so I looked it up. Maybe it's my fault, after all? NOPE.
According to many other reviews I read, I'm far from being the only one.
Lots of people are complaining about this major difficulty balance problem.
Can we actually win this game? I haven't yet as I'm finishing writing this review.
Another thing which is annoying about this is that basically, you're losing the free will which you had in the first games, in which you could attack any region whenever you wanted. (as long as it was unlocked, of course.)
Here, the game tells you where to attack. And like I just told you, you HAVE to follow that order.
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| Maps get larger as you progress in the game! |
THE GAME IS STILL GOOD THOUGH
Now, I know it's weird, but despite EVERYTHING I just wrote, I actually STILL enjoyed it.
The old formula is still insanely addictive, and I feel like going back to the game right now. lol
There are still many zombies(and aliens!) which I haven't unlocked yet, and I can't wait to test their "abilities" on the people! lol
Sometimes, this game can turn any sane person in a mad scientist doing evil experimentation.😅
Have fun finding the best zombies/aliens "synergy"!
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| Germany! Oh hey it reminds me of a joke... What do you call a sad German? Deprussian! |
Also, the game is quite big, and diverse enough so that you never get bored!
The sheer amount of stages is impressive, and you'll never really feel that every level is the same!
TIP!
It can be boring to wait for your last zombies to die, so while you play, set the game speed to x2 while you play!Also, there are very strong bosses scattered here and there to spice things up, all having funny names based on real people like Justin Beaver or Rambeau.😂
When you kill a boss, the passive rate of zombie infection doubles in the continent!
It really adds a lot to the already perfectly decent replayability potential.
You'll really want to try one more playthrough, trust me!😉
Fun fact: if you want, these permanent upgrades can also be used to make your future playthroughs even HARDER.
NO THANKS! LOL
GRAPHICS - COZY, VIBRANT, POSITIVE!🤗👍 VERY BADLY OPTIMIZED😓
The retro graphics are really good in my opinion, looking like a mix of Mother 4 for the character design, and Stardew Valley for the colors.
We're dealing with good old classic pixel art, featuring quite expressive humans(You almost feel bad killing the poor bastards. lol) AND zombies, all of them nicely animated in very diverse vibrant and colorful backgrounds!
The dynamically-lit 3D environments are very pleasant to the eyes!
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| It's funny this character says this just now, because it's true the game does have beautiful colors. It's almost as nice as Stardew Valley!🤗 |
One thing though: in order to have this nice lighting effect, you'll have to change the graphic settings to "VERY HIGH"...
And when you do, well... I don't know, maybe it depends on your gear, but as you can imagine, I have a good gaming PC, and the game became VERY slow.
Animation went down to 20fps, I think, and some screens even froze.
Despite being in 2D, this game brings my computer to its knees. Well, to its bolts. lol
I didn't get any bugs, at least.
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| Breaking News illustrations are hilarious!😅 |
MUSIC - NO! NOT 8-BIT MUSIC AGAIN!? AAAAAARGH!!!!
The music is terrible 8-bit Nes-style music, AGAIN.
Yes. Agaaaaain a game using 16-bit style graphics, with 8-bit music. I don't get it.
Megadrive and Super Nintendo had such GREAT sound, why would anybody want to use the vastly inferior Nes sound instead? SO many indie games got butchered because of this...
Well, if you had a Nes in the 80s(I got a Megadrive only in 1990 lol), I guess you'll love this, thanks to the nostalgia factor
There aren't ost videos about it on Youtube, but I found a very nice "No Commentary" gameplay video, in which you'll be able to hear many tracks present in the game!😊
The worst thing for me is that I can recognize that the melodies are GOOD...
But I just can't stand 8-bit sound... lol
As I often do, I preferred to mute the music and I played Return of the Living Dead OST instead (Get it on Amazon!). Fits perfectly.😅 Although Terrorvision isn't bad either.
As for console music, you can try Super Famicom's "Zombies ate my neighbors", it sounds great for this game.😁
A final note about the sounds.
Humans are okay, but apparently, zombies barely make any sounds, except when they die? Overall, the whole game still sounds like a flash game.
Even the explosions seem to be the ones which were used in the flash versions...
RATING BOX
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VERSION TESTED: v1.2.4
Publisher:
Developer:
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| GRAPHICS: 88% | |
| Looking like a B-movie adapted into a 90s pixel art game, the game sure has its charm, featuring vibrant lively levels and charismatic zombies and humans. Illustrations are also very well done and are hilarious. On some computers, the game might slow down because of bad optimization. |
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| MUSIC: 52% | |
| I will PAY the developers so that they stop using 80s Nes-style 8-bit music in games with 90s megadrive/super nes 16-bit graphics. SERIOUSLY. This is heresy. lol | |
| SOUNDS: 55% | |
| I didn't notice much difference with the original sfx of the very first flash game. In a word, it's pretty average and very limited. Zombies are silent, and humans all sound the same, which feel quite repetitive after a while. | |
| GAMEPLAY: 79% | |
| The extremely addictive formula is unfortunately plagued by a terrible difficulty balance problem, so get ready for an intense yet frustrating experience! Also, UI is a bit unintuitive. |
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| OVERALL RATING: 80% | |
| It's very hard to rate this game. It's one of the "best flawed games" cases. Potentially, it could be one of the most addictive casual strategy games released this year. If you liked Infectonator 1 and 2, you should like this game. Just make sure to know what you're getting into. This game isn't as "relaxed" as the two others are. The game doesn't need much to be improved. If the developer makes the research labs progress way slower, then it'll be great! |
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