More than almost any other studio on the App Store, Pikpok seems to understand that less is often more. You don’t need a laundry list of features, hours upon hours of content or an elaborate storyline. All you really need to keep gamers glued to their phone is a simple hook, simple controls, and a boatload of polish. Into the Dead, the company’s first-person zombie endless runner, has all three.
There’s no story. There’s no levels or ending. Your character never speaks. He just runs, ever-forward, into the supernaturally thick fog. The dense mist helps set a very creepy and evocative atmosphere, but it’s also there for a very important gameplay purpose. As players run forward, they must tap (or tilt) left and right to avoid the undead that suddenly emerge from the miasma. At first you have plenty of space, but the longer you run the thicker the undead horde becomes until you eventually slip up and get eaten.
Running over a weapon crate arms you with a pistol – a final line of defense if you can’t quite avoid a walker. More powerful weapons unlock as players complete goals like reaching distance and zombie kill milestones. The shotgun has a scatter fire and the chainsaw can slice through multiple zombies but the weapons are all more or less the same - a temporary “get out of having your brain eaten” card.
The Verdict
Pikpok’s trademark attention to detail elevates Into the Dead from casual time waster into true quality territory. The entire experience is extremely polished. You stumble convincingly in first-person when grazing past trees or hopping fences. There’s no music, just your character’s labored breathing (and of course plenty of zombie snarls). The left/right controls, simple as they are, are perfectly responsive and snappy. Into the Dead's lack of ambition and limited scope help keep the experience focused and fun, but this also means that the title never manages to feel like more than a simple, albeit effective, time killer.
