2013: Infected Wars is a third person over the shoulder zombie shooter from Action Mobile Games. It's a game of survival and character progression, outfitting you with a thin supply of weapons and ammunition and challenging you to stay alive as long as you can. Better hope your touch screen can handle the greasy thumb streaks.
The story behind 2013: Infected Wars is a bit convoluted and honestly doesn't impact the game too much. Also, you most likely won't care, as there's stuff to shoot, and that always takes precedence. There's been some political upheaval in the world, a virus turned people into zombies, mercenaries explore the ruins of Earth in search of food and resources, and so on. The point is you're in the Red Zone, which is where all the bad guys are, and you need to stay alive. Ammo and health pickups are rare, as is just about everything except for zombies looking to gnaw on your face.
The controls are divided into two virtual sections on each side of the screen. The bottom left corner moves your character while the bottom right has buttons for firing and zooming. Tap on the bottom right third of the screen to drag your point of view and aim. Access the pause menu to use items or head back to the main screen. You can also tap your current weapon icon to do a quick reload, something you should do anytime there's a rare and precious lull in the action.
Each small section of the map locks you in with several waves of zombies coming out of the woodworks at set intervals. All you have to do is shoot and survive, which is always easier said than done. Zombies shamble towards you and absorb bullets like they're made of Kevlar. Aim for the head and hope you don't automatically reload when one (or ten) are about to step in for a brain snack.
The more you kill the more experience you gain, slowly leveling up your chosen character. You can choose between four classes, each with their own stat bonuses and weapon proficiency. The marine prefers assault rifles and SMGs, the sapper is all about the explosives, field support is good with shotguns and pistols, while the sniper sits back and stares through the scope until the zombie cows come home.
2013: Infected Wars is quite the difficult game, especially when you consider the platform it's on. You'll die more than once. Probably more than a dozen times. Each death kicks you back to the beginning of the level, stripping you of weapons but letting you keep the loot you picked up. This ensures your character slowly builds even if you suck at the game, but you'll never get too far ahead since you can't stockpile an arsenal of machine guns.
Co-op is a thin but seamless experience in 2013: Infected Wars. By joining up with Game Center folks you can head into the campaign with a little support. There's no friendly fire, thank the gods, and experience you gain carries over to single player mode. Money and weapons aren't shared, however, which both adds to the survival ambience of the game and makes you feel obligated to grab an in-app purchase or two.
The downside is 2013: Infected Wars utilizes an in-app purchasing system to help beef up your character. Gold and cash can be earned through regular play, but the rate at which you amass the stuff is painfully slow. On more than one occasion you'll stare at the store and wonder just how many more times you can get slaughtered by zombies before you cave and spend some real world money. The prices for IAP gold are fair, but the game carries a high price tag on its own, so it sort of feels like overkill to design the game to strongly encourage in-app purchases.
The voiceovers in 2013: Infected Wars are, at best, grating. The fizzy radio effect added to the main narration is annoying, and when it comes in in the middle of a firefight, you can't make out more than a few words in the entire speech. It's best to just head over to the options screen and turn the voice volume all the way down. You'll miss a few interesting story points, but your aspirin budget will thank you.
One thing Action Mobile Games really got right are the controls. 2013: Infected Wars works well on a touch screen. It's easy to move, strafe, aim and attack, and you won't fumble your next move for lack of physical buttons. The "fire" icon seems to be a little too eager to activate, and on more than one occasion we tried adjusting our point of view but ended up letting off a stream of bullets instead. Not the best error to make in a game where every second counts.
2013: Infected Wars has the lofty goal of becoming an honest multiplayer zombie shooting game for mobile devices. It succeeds in most of these areas while making a few stumbles along the way, the largest of which is the upgrade balance tragically shifted to encourage in-app purchases. It's not the only iOS game to feature a currency shop, though, and it isn't the worst offender, either. All in all, 2013: Infected Wars does a respectable job delivering co-op zombie survival action to your iPhone/iPad.