Zombie HQ for Windows Phone 8, keeping the streets and your brains safe

Zombie HQ hit the Windows Phone Store shelves last week and is from the developers of Dredd vs. Zombies and Guns 4-Hire. Zombie HQ is a Windows Phone 8 game where you play the role of a zombie apocalypse survivor determined to save your city from the living dead.

As you work to reclaim your city, you work towards rescuing other survivors, discover bigger and badder guns, and collecting a few bucks that can be used to upgrade your arsenal and buy furniture and apparel to customize your characters and headquarters.

Graphics have that distinctive undead feel, game play challenging and overall Zombie HQ is a nifty addition to the Zombie aisle of our Windows Phone gaming library.

When you first jump into the game you'll have to choose your characters gender. From there you get to view a movie trailer (that can be skipped) and run through a tutorial where you get to blast zombies as you learn the gaming controls.

Once you survive the tutorial, you escape to your Zombie HQ which is your launching point for your city saving missions. While in the HQ you can access the Zombie HQ Store to upgrade your weapons, buy new weapons, buy apparel for your characters, and buy furniture for your headquarters.

Zombie HQ missions are mapped out on a city map that is on a table in your headquarters. Just guide your character to the table (or just tap on the map) and the map will go full screen where you can tap on which mission you want to tackle. Missions progressively unlock based on your character's level (experience earned as you blast zombies into the netherworld) so you'll have to start small and build up to the really aggressive, brain hungry monsters.

The game screen layout has your vital stats running across the top of the screen, a virtual joystick can be fixed or float around the screen to move your character, and your weapons controls rest in the bottom right corner of the screen. The layout is a little cramped for a Windows Phone but not to the point it's detrimental to game play.

As you wipe out the zombies they tend to leave gold and money lying around that can be collected by walking over it or by tapping on it. You'll also have the opportunity to see what's hiding behind closed doors (could be treasure, could be a zombie) as you work your way through the missions.

Need some help earning money? There's a slot machine in your HQ where you can take a chance at winning more bucks and you can make in-game purchases for money and gold.

Windows 8 version

In addition to the Windows Phone 8 version of Zombie HQ there is also a Windows 8 version of the game. Same game play, same zombie infestation, same explosive results. Maybe more so in playing the game on a larger screen.

The game really shines when played on a tablet. The larger screen pulls more detail in the graphics and the on-screen controls are less crowded.  On a laptop, you have the option to control everything via the keyboard or, if your laptop is so equipped, the touch screen.

The downside to the two versions is that they are not linked and progess on one version doesn't carry over to the other.

From exploding graphics to formidable game play, Zombie HQ is a very appealing action game for our Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices. It is a free game so there's really no excuse not to try it out and judge for yourself.

You can find Zombie HQ for Windows Phone 8 here in the Windows Phone Store. Zombie HQ for Windows 8 can be snatched up here in the Windows Store.