Zombies! - Anniversary

Zombies! - Anniversary is a top-down shooter video game developed by Glu Mobile, released in 2011 for iOS and Android platforms. It is an enhanced version of the original 2009 title Zombies!, commemorating the franchise’s second anniversary. The game places the player in a procedurally generated city overrun by undead, with the objective of surviving as long as possible while rescuing civilians and eliminating zombies. The visual style employs a cartoonish, cel-shaded aesthetic with a dark, comic-book-inspired palette. The game features multiple playable characters, each with unique starting weapons and abilities, and includes a variety of zombie types such as standard shamblers, fast runners, and explosive bloated variants. A scoring system tracks kills, rescues, and survival time, with leaderboards for competitive play. The anniversary edition adds new weapons, levels, and a survival mode with escalating difficulty.

Gameplay is mission-based within a single continuous map, with objectives including rescuing a set number of civilians, surviving a time limit, or eliminating a specific zombie count. The player character moves via a virtual joystick on the left side of the screen, while the right side controls aiming and firing. Tapping the right side fires the equipped weapon; holding it enables continuous fire for automatic weapons. A weapon wheel icon in the lower right allows switching between firearms, melee tools, and grenades. The player can sprint by double-tapping the movement joystick. Tactical techniques include kiting groups of zombies into narrow alleys to funnel them, prioritizing explosive zombies from a distance to avoid chain detonations, and using melee attacks to conserve ammunition against single foes. Rescuing civilians grants temporary invincibility and bonus points. The player must manage health pickups and ammunition crates scattered throughout the map, as resources are finite. In survival mode, the player must hold a position against waves, using barricades that can be repaired by tapping a repair icon when near them.