UPDATE: August 23rd, 2010
Tall Chair recently updated their 3D tower defense game Cowboys vs Zombies with OpenFeint integration and a mechanic to speed up the action. Does it make a difference?
Yes and no. While OpenFeint and its online high scores and achievements are always welcome, they're not very well-implemented here. The achievements are all pretty basic, like killing a certain amount of zombies, and don't reward you for playing the game differently. For a great example of achievements that challenge you in different ways, check out Tilt to Live.
Also, the score system in Cowboys vs Zombies doesn't benefit from online high scores like we'd hoped. Currently on the third level, nearly 100 players are tied for first place, since there is an actual highest possible score for each level. An endless survival mode is still needed to take advantage of the OpenFeint support.
Another notable addition is the adjustable game speed. Now you can set the game pace to normal, fast, or fastest. Watching your cowboys fire off pistol rounds like they're shooting machine guns is amusing, and the zombie rush will challenge your reflexes. But on the faster speeds, the animations are spastic and the characters' few catchphrases are repeated every couple of seconds. Plus, playing on a faster speed doesn't affect your score.
Cowboys vs Zombies is slowly rambling towards the game we want it to be. These two additions are a good start, but the game still has some fundamental flaws, like how you can pick up a cowboy to redirect the zombies' attention, that drag down the fun. Plus, we're looking for more levels and modes to keep things interesting. It's a better game than before, but still short of a recommended purchase.
We've decided: If you're going to make the millionth tower defense game, you have to bring something new to the table. On the other hand, a great twist isn't worth much if the basic gameplay doesn't work well. Cowboys vs Zombies brings a unique concept to this familiar genre, but its game engine just isn't up to the task.
The twist is this: Instead of a top-down view, you control a 3D camera set just above an Old West town called Undeadwood. You can place your cowboys, which act as turrets, anywhere on nearby roofs or in the street. Zombies stream in from the end of the street, and as you pick them off you'll earn more bucks to hire additional firepower.
Groan, groan on the range.
So far, so good. But it's apparent after the brief tutorial that the controls are not up to the task. You can pick up and move a cowboy just about anywhere, but the target that shows where they'll land bounces erratically as you move over possible positions.
Swiping up and down the screen will move the camera in and out, but you can't move it up or down, which means some positions will always be out of frame. You can rotate the device to view the action at a slightly different angle, but this isn't a proper replacement for better camera controls. You'll also often try to move a cowboy and accidentally move the camera, which can lead to a lot of extra tombstones on Boot Hill.
Red Undead Redemption.
If you want to avoid having your cowboys die, and effectively break the game, there's a trick to that: Just pick up and move your cowboys constantly. Since you can fly them to any position in town (provided you're able to pick them up and not move the camera), and zombies will always chase the closest cowboy, you can keep moving your cowboys and spare them the indignity of dying.
Cowboys vs Zombies also contains just six short levels, which is not a very good value for the price. We're told that OpenFeint will be added soon in an update, but we'd still have to see more levels, modes, or challenges to recommend this game.
It's too bad that this interesting concept doesn't receive the proper presentation. It's clunky to play, often buggy, and isn't too pretty to look at, either. The Old West is a great setting for a tower defense game, but Cowboys vs Zombies doesn't do it proper justice.
4 Comments
Hello everyone...
I'm the designer for Cowboys vs Zombies at Tall Chair and I wanted to get a quick post out to the community here. First of all - thank you for the write up and your feedback! We have already submitted our next update to CvZ that will include OpenFeint which we are really excited about.
We are currently working on the second update, which will include an auto-save function, the ability to fast forward, and a new level or two. We're testing now so as long as none of these features break the game we should be ready to submit as soon as our OpenFeint submission goes live.
In the meantime, we do have the ability to do some live tuning, and I have just updated the tuning data to effectively speed up when each wave spawns. This should go a long way towards reducing the wait times between waves. I have also increased the reward for killing the Meat Shield zombies, and tweaked some of the numbers around a little to balance the game out after making these changes.
I hope you are all enjoying the game, and stay tuned for future updates!
This is Scott from Tall Chair - I hope you are all enjoying Cowboys vs Zombies, and I have some exciting news:
Our first update for CvZ is going live today, meaning that it is approved for release and we have released it, so it should be up soon. This also means we are submitting our 2nd update tomorrow.
This update includes OpenFeint, which at this point means we are now tracking your scores for each level and have leaderboards that you can use to compare your scores with your friends. The important thing for this first update is getting the system implemented so your scores matter and you can chat with your friends to compare techniques you can use to get the best scores possible.
The 2nd update which we are submitting tomorrow will not only be adding Achievements to OpenFeint, but we are also submitting a save function that will save your progress in the event of interrupts or if you turn your phone off, and a fast forward button to speed things up when you've got a rockin' defense set up and you want to hamburger a few waves more quickly than the default game speed.
We'll be spending the rest of the night and part of tomorrow finishing up our tests on the new features for the 2nd update, then it's right back into the fray for our 3rd update. Stay tuned for what the 3rd update will include (pending our sprint planning meeting after tomorrow's submission)...
Thanks for playing!
We just released version 1.2 - a huge update for us and one that we are really excited about. This update is the result of listening to a lot of the feedback that we have been getting in forums, reviews and the App Store. We sincerely hope you all like it, and we are eagerly awaiting your thoughts.
This update includes:
OpenFeint Achievements
Save Game when exiting the game or on interupt
Fast Forward button
The counter on the upper right corner of the screen counts down how many zombies are left for your current level
Camera Sensitivity adjusted for easier navigation and cowboy placement
Performance Optimization
We have already begun work on our next version, which will be another huge update. The next update will include some more optimization which should go a long way towards helping those people who are using a 3G with iOS4 have a smoother experience, as well as adding a ton of new levels.
Now that we have had a chance to address some of the major gameplay issues we are focusing on adding levels and content with the next update. We have lots more planned - stay informed through our Facebook fan page (just search or cowboys vs zombies on FB and you'll find it).
Thanks for all of the feedback - keep playing, and have fun out there!
Swag.
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