By Chase Burgess

Yet Another Zombie Defense is the latest in the tower-defense genre. YAZD, not to be confused with the mobile game of the same title available on the iPad, was developed by indie developer Marcin Draszczuk. Draszczuk also developed the iPad version of this game that came out last year. YAZD rated is T for Teen and is available for download through Steam and the Xbox Live Arcade for $1.99.

This game is simple, you have only one objective in this game and that is to survive. There is no story to keep up with, no love interest to protect, and no evil super power to topple; just you and the endless amount of zombies that want nothing more than to devour your brain.

If you enjoy customization and character development, look elsewhere. The game gives you three characters to choose from, a man, a woman, and a member of the SWAT team. There are no stats to increase or costumes to unlock. The only part of the game that is remotely customizable is the layout of your base, if you can call it a base. Your base consists of either wooden or steel walls that you can purchase and place at your discretion. You have a typical array of weapons to defend your base. These weapons include a pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, rocket launcher, and the Tesla gun. You can purchase turrets to help defend your base as well. The zombies that you slay drop money, ammo, and health packs. The money collected goes towards purchasing ammo, turrets, and walls.

You will not need to face the zombie onslaught alone. Players can jump in and fight by your side at any time. The idea of fighting off hoards of zombies with other people sounds great in theory, but the follow-through is lacking. When I searched for multiplayer games to join I found only four. That’s not four on my server or four in the United States, but four in the entire world. This tells us that not many people play this game, and deservedly so. Even though I served as the host for my game, I still noticed some severe lag issues. This should not have been as issue given the few numbers of players online.

The graphics and sound are both subpar. With the game being so simple, you would think that the developer would have put more time and effort into making the game look and sound good. Unlike many other zombie games, there is only one type of zombie in YAZD. Instead of creating a super strong or unique type of zombie, the developer opted to increase the amount and strength of the zombies as you progress through the levels. The music playing in the background sounds cheap. It’s neither good nor nostalgic. 

I really wish that there was more to this game. This game is as plain as plain gets. Plain doesn’t cut it in the industry anymore, even for indie titles such as this. Most indie games have some sort of unique niche to it, not YAZD. There are better options, although they might cost more, games such as State of Decay and Plants vs. Zombies are worth the extra cost for a much better experience.

Yet Another Zombie Defense is fun for a few minutes, but it quickly becomes repetitive. There just isn’t enough here to warrant a price tag, and I mean any price tag. Had this game been free I could justify giving it a slightly higher score, but with gamers having to actually purchase this game it receives a below average rating. Yet Another Zombie Defense garners the lowest score that I have given a game so far with a 2/5.