Into the Dead 2 is a $35 Switch port of a free-to-play mobile game. It has also not been re-balanced (as far as I can tell) to account for the removal of micro-transactions and bonuses, typically earned through watching ads.
If for some reason you’re still interested, read on.
So, I was sold on reviewing this one cause you don’t see many 18-rated games on Switch really, and there was a convenient gap in my game library for a really good zombie survival shooter. Into the Dead 2 at first glance should slide right into place.
Sadly, the gameplay is rather bare bones. As with most mobile games I’ve played, it’s basic and repetitive. It takes the idea of auto-running and shooting down zombies and auto-runs with it till it’s been stretched extremely thin. Variation between stages is minuscule; if you’re lucky you’ll get a tougher zombie to sidestep.
I was thankful for the vast armoury at your disposal though. There are a lot of weapons to choose from, and they admittedly feel very satisfying to fire. And of course it’s always cathartic to blow a zombie’s head off. Personally, my favourite gun I tried was a rifle – long-range and powerful.
However, new weapons are unlocked very slowly as you complete the main campaign or side-stories. And by “unlocked” I actually mean “become available to purchase with in-game gold.” I can only guess that this was premium currency on mobile, cause the game is incredibly stingy with it. A new gun costs a hundred gold or more. Completing a level earned me a maximum of ten gold.
This is especially sad cause you can also acquire companions to assist you in your zombie-slaughter spree. They seem cool, but once I’ve got one, how can I justify spending my vital gold on a new one, even if it is an actual tiger?
OK I’m kidding. I never made it far enough to “unlock” the tiger. Oh, and gun upgrades require exp to “unlock” as well. And by that I mean, more gold.
I will give credit where it’s due though. I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a fully voice-acted story. The game begins with your main character crashing his car (is this a zombie-game trope yet?) and sprinting to get past the horde of zombies around him. He’s in contact with his family via radio so at the end of every stage you hear a conversation between them. Events unfold around the family and I was genuinely invested in trying to reach them as things slowly fall apart.
Only problem is, every stage between me and them is mostly the same. I can lean to the left or right, shoot, reload, or throw a hand grenade. If I’m lucky I’ll have some side-objectives to use a specific gun or find a secret power-up too. It’s kinda fun, in the way that’ll kill five minutes on a bus journey for you. It’s not fun enough to keep you engrossed for hours on end.
Thank god there aren’t ads between every level though, like you’d encounter on mobile. You just get ten second loading screens instead. And you get to sit through two of them every time you want to retry a level to complete a specific challenge as well…
Presentation-wise, it looks like a mobile game blown up to be on Switch. This is most apparent when you see the character models in cutscenes. Upside is, it runs very smoothly and looks great in handheld mode in particular. The music is nothing special; just your standard slightly spooky affair. However, the gun effects are suitably punchy and the voice-acting I mentioned earlier is crisp and well-acted.
I was also provided with the two DLC packs available for this game to review. These were the George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and the Ghostbusters add-ons. Both of these were unavailable to play unless I completed over forty-five levels of the monotonous main campaign. I have no idea why, but I wasn’t going to subject myself to another half-dozen hours of this mediocre mobile game for the sake of two DLC packs for an already over-priced base game.
Here’s what I’d suggest. Remove gold entirely from the game. Instead, just have things actually unlock when you fulfil the criteria to unlock them. Then, make the DLC campaigns immediately available when you spend money on them as well, thanks. Finally, include the gyro/touch-screen controls from the mobile original as a control option, cause why aren’t they available in the first place? They’d be fun!!
To wrap this review up, I just want to reiterate that this is a free-to-play game being sold to you for $35. The game itself is admittedly, decent. It runs well, has satisfying weapons, and includes an actual plot to get invested in. I personally love that you become disorientated when you run into trees, cause that makes perfect sense. But it’s still a bare-bones affair, stretched as thin as it’ll go to try and drain your wallet. Only this time, you get to pay up front, and then it saps your life away.
A digital copy of Into the Dead 2 for Nintendo Switch was provided by the developer.
Find Into the Dead 2 on Nintendo Switch here: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/into-the-dead-2-switch/