Review – Dead Trigger 2 is an undead time for all

Dead Trigger 2 is a free-to-play follow-up to Madfinger Games 2012 smash-hit title, Dead Trigger. Upon starting up the game, it is clear that several upgrades in the follow-up allow it to stand on its own merits.

System: Android & iOS
Developer: Madfinger Games
Publisher: Madfinger Games
Release Date: October 23rd, 2013

First, they’ve added a weapon-switching system that allows you to swap from a gun to a melee weapon with a quick push of an on-screen button. They’ve also added a gameplay change-up that allows you to simply target a zombie and the weapon you are carrying will fire on its own, a welcomed feature as it allows the game to flow faster without the worry of hitting the wrong button in the heat of the moment. However, it also tends to cause issues if there is more than one enemy in front of you and you want to switch directions as the weapon will continue to fire.

Thankfully, there is an option to revert back to the manual firing that was found in the first game, and I chose to revert back. It’s best to choose the option that works for you. This isn’t an issue if you use a controller such as a Moga pocket or Pro controller. I’m not lying when I say that I love the Moga Android controller line. I’m not a fan of on-screen/touch-based controls, and the Moga gives me something to hold and is much more responsive, which works great for this game.

A broader story this time around has you working with the Global Resistance, which provides a central hub for missions and helps you along your journey as they provide gear and updates and flesh the story out the further you play. They also introduce several different NPCs you’ll encounter: Medic, Scientist, Smuggler, Engineer, and the Gunsmith.  This time around the game locations switch up from castles, industrial areas, under ground locations and even a desert map that looks like it was pulled straight from Counter Strike.

Did I mention that you’ll also get to blast zombies from a helicopter? Yep, a helicopter! Variety is the spice of life, and in Dead Trigger 2, there’s plenty of variety. With dual sub-machine guns, rifles, sniper rifles, crossbows, Gatling guns, pipe wrenches, axes, rocket launchers, rocket-propelled chickens, and more, you’ll definitely not go for wanting more weapons. And you’ll need them as you fight through new zombies introduced into the game, including some that are several stories tall.

Clearly, the biggest update from the original is the graphics. While the original Dead Trigger looked and felt like it was made for a mobile device, the graphics in Dead Trigger 2 rival games on the Sony Vita.  If you have a recent smartphone/tablet that uses either the Nvidia Tegra 3/4, Samsung Exynos 4/5, Snapdragon 600, or Apple A6, you’ll be able to set the graphics to high and, I kid you not, it will look as good as a console. All isn’t lost for lower-end smartphones/tablets, as the low graphic setting looks as good as the original Dead Trigger or even a bit better.

For this review, I ended up using the updated Nexus 7 tablet as I wasn’t able to get the game to run on my Samsung Galaxy S3, which sports the latest Cyanogenmod rom release and seems to be a common issue with running Dead Trigger 2 on a device that is on a  Cyanogenmod release per the Madfinger Games forum. It will work on stock Android, however, with no issues. Hopefully, something can be done about it, as there are a lot of devices out there that run Cyanogenmod.

Dead Trigger 2 can be found on the Google Play Store and on iTunes for iOS.