History VideoGame / JudgeDreddVsZombies

'''Judge Dredd vs. Zombies''' is a top-down shooter for IOS, made by the [[http://www.rebellion.co.uk/games Rebellion]] game studio using the [[AllegedlyFreeGame Free2Play]] model. It was released in 2011 to promote the then-upcoming [[Film/{{Dredd}} film reboot of the franchise]]. Unlike most licensed games, however, it has nothing to do with the film’s plot, taking place in some unnamed continuity where zombie virus outbreaks have occurred in several sectors and Judge Dredd is the only one capable enough to stop them. The game is frequently updated: at the moment, there are 30 main levels in three groups of 10, three arenas where the goal is to survive as long as possible and the Psi mission mechanic, which allow the player to obtain bonuses by being logged in at the right time.

!! This game features the following tropes:

* AwesomeButImpractical: The grenade launcher. It’s powerful, sure, but it has a very small magazine size, it can damage you at short range and you get it far too late into the game, when you would likely already have a mostly-upgraded shotgun. The pre-upgrade rifle allows you to one-shot zombies, but takes time to lock on and has a low ammo capacity, making it useless when [[ZergRush rushed by groups of zombies.]]

* BoringButPractical: The shotgun. It has good magazine size, can be fired quickly and has great spread, allowing it to hit several zombies at once. Once you've upgraded it, it becomes awesome ''and'' practical, letting you one-shot [[LudicrousGibs entire groups of zombies.]]

* BottomlessMagazines: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. All weapons have limited magazine size and Dredd can only carry 5 ammo clips. It’s entirely possible to run out of ammo if you don’t refill at the ammo dumps.

* ContinuityNod: Even though this has nothing to do with the film’s plot, the game still does a reasonable job at recreating the atmosphere of the universe. The weapons and the locations have all been featured in the comics, you can increase the combo meter by collecting Judge badges and some levels have “Judges Only” written on the floor.
* CrateExpectations: Levels often have crates and/or cardboard boxes scattered around them. These can be broken, either by shooting them or simply walking over them. Sometimes, they’ll have the Judge badges, but they can be empty just as often.
* DeadlyLunge: All zombie types besides the most basic one and the bloat love to do this. Usually they’ll just run up to you, but the last zombie type encountered will jump a fair distance instead.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: The bloated zombies do this at death, dealing extreme damage to Dredd if he’s too close to them. On the bright side, zombies aren’t immune to it either.
* DifficultySpike: The game gets far more difficult once you start the second sector.
* EliteZombie: There are five zombie variants in total: the weak, half-rotten grey zombie, “fresh” zombie with greater health and charge attack, slow, bloated zombie which explodes after one hit, extremely tough dark green zombie and a relatively fragile leaper zombie.
* ExplodingBarrels: The standard red variation. There is a twist on the formula, though: they will only explode outright if targeted directly. If they’re hit by stray shotgun pellets or if a zombie is knocked back into one, they will burn for a few seconds first before exploding regardless.
** Due to the wave combat used, these barrels are something of a strategic asset, best conserved for later waves, especially if you’re fighting in the arena levels.

* FriendlyFireproof: Averted. The explosions from barrels and grenade launcher projectiles will damage you if you’re standing to close. This works both ways, though, and zombies can be damaged or killed if a bloated zombie explodes near them.
* GameplayGrading: At the end of the mission, you will be rated from one to three stars. The rating takes into account whether you have taken any damage, whether you collected all Judge badges and how high your overall score was. If your rating is extremely high, you’ll also obtain a Judge recommendation.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Like in comics, the weapon names. Lawgiver pistol, Widowmaker shotgun and Reaper rifle are nothing to laugh about. Disappointingly, the grenade launcher is “only” Hi-Ex.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The Psi missions and the area sweeps are this. They include Dredd stopping things like gang shoot-outs, catching drug traffickers, etc. but all of it happens offscreen: you only get to see Dredd shoo
* RPGElements: Each of the guns can have its damage, magazine size, reload speed and rate of fire upgraded up to four times for a price. The price is not fixed either, but varies for each gun depending on its stats: pistol has cheap upgrades to reload speed, but expensive ones to damage, sniper rifle’s damage upgrades cost nothing but the magazine size will take a chunk out of your pocket, etc.
** There are also the one-off upgrades you can purchase before each mission. These include increased sight range, improved body armour or instant reloads.

* TimedMission: Inverted with the Psi missions. You’re a shown a range of crimes predicted to occur in the few hours’ time and the rewards expected for them. If you choose to take any of them up, all you have to do is be playing the game at that time (which can be anywhere from 4 to 72 hours) to be able to claim your reward.

* BoringButPractical: The shotgun. It has good magazine size, can be fired quickly and has great spread, allowing it to hit several zombies at once. Once you've upgraded it, it becomes AwesomeYetPractical, letting you one-shot [[LudicrousGibs entire groups of zombies.]]

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Judge Dredd vs. Zombies is a top-down shooter for IOS, made by the [[http://www.rebellion.co.uk/games Rebellion]] game studio using the [[AllegedlyFreeGame Free2Play]] model. It was released in 2011 to promote the then-upcoming [[Film/{{Dredd}} film reboot]]. Unlike most licensed games, however, it has nothing to do with the film’s plot, taking place in some unnamed continuity where zombie virus outbreaks have occured in several sectors and Judge Dredd is the only one capable enough to stop them. The game is frequently updated: at the moment, there are 30 main levels in three groups of 10, three arenas where the goal is to survive as long as possible and the Psi mission mechanic, which allow the player to obtain bonuses by being logged in at the right time.

* Combos: There is a combo meter filled up by killing enemies and collecting Judge badges scattered around the levels and reset once you take damage from any source. The higher the meter, the greater your score multiplier, with the maximum of 4X. This is needed to get more credits from the GameplayGrading system.

* FollowTheMoney: Here, you pick up the Judge badges instead of money to increase the ComboMeter or simply to top it up to counter the decay.

* ShockAndAwe: In the arena levels, there are a few tiles on the floor wh

* StandardFPSGuns: Played with. There is a pistol, a shotgun and a sniper rifle, but instead of the usual submachine gun/assault rifle you get a rarer grenade launcher. Earlier builds of the game did have a submachine guns, but it was dropped after players complained that it was too generic and that the pistol already filled a similar function anyway.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The grenade launcher. It’s powerful, sure, but it has a very small magazine size, it can damage you at short range and you get it far too late into the game, when you would likely already have a mostly-upgraded shotgun.

* BoringButPractical: The shotgun. It has good magazine size, can be fired quickly and has great spread, allowing it to hit several zombies at once.