The zombie invasion is now at your fingertips. We sure have come a long way from 2012, haven’t we? My Unturned Day is the mobile counterpart to one of Steam’s most popular free to play games. The original game is a sandbox, open world survival game similar to Grand Theft Auto due to its open, free-form nature. The goal is to survive the zombie invasion for as long you can, using everything you have at your disposal. Comparisons between the two games are inevitable, though considering I am yet to play the PC version, I went into my Unturned Day experience totally blind. Coming away from it, I discovered a game with a solid foundation and heaps of unfulfilled potential.
The first thing that caught my eye was the game’s mobile-friendly interface. Movement is easier when you drag your thumb across the left side of the screen in the direction you want to move, while the right side of the screen is organized with all the buttons needed to take out zombies. Your vitals are listed on the bottom left side of the screen. The second thing I noticed was the graphics, which bear a resemblance to Minecraft’s as both games give off a similar, kid-friendly vibe thanks to a voxel graphics.
Once I had my bearings, I headed toward what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse as the time shifted from day to night. It was there that I encountered my first couple of zombies as I spotted one inside the house while one jumped me from behind. It took me three shots with my pistol to blow the first zombie away while I turned my attention to the second one with limited health. It also took three shots to put zombie two away. As a third zombie rushes me, I switched to my axe, which put the third zombie out of his misery with one shot. The sound of my axe connecting with the head of the approaching zombie was not only seemingly lifelike, but also strangely satisfying.
The graphics aren’t the only similarity this game shares with Minecraft. Survival elements also run rampant in My Unturned Day. You can set up camp, replenish your vitals and even craft new items to assist you in your survival. However, I found that there is a learning curve to this that is magnified by the game lacking a tutorial. I had to go online to find out, for example, how to craft a sleeping bag to mark my spawn point. With a tutorial, players could dedicate more of their time to the game itself and less time going to third party sources in search of how to complete these tasks. In fact, there are several guides you can download to your phone from third parties, but these could all be replaced with a simple tutorial mode.
There are graphical and aesthetic differences to be found between the Android and PC versions, though these differences are trivial and have no effect on the gameplay, which is where My Unturned Day really shines. Other than that, both games appear to have few differences. One just happens to fit in your pocket, and let’s face it, that’s pretty cool!
The mobile game also features an online multiplayer mode, though I had a very hard time getting it to work. Live multiplayer over Wi-Fi, in my opinion is often a feature that can elevate a decent game to greatness. Most people will tell you that they buy games like Halo and Call of Duty for its multiplayer modes as opposed to the campaign mode. Multiplayer undoubtedly helped to turn these franchises into moneymaking juggernauts and certainly it would be a huge boon for a winning title like the mobile version of Unturned. As of now, My Unturned Day’s multiplayer is broken, but there is no reason for me to believe that these problems cannot be easily remedied by the developers, AR Gaming in a future patch.
In addition, the game has a dedicated community that seems to be keeping the developer on its toes. The original game has a 9/10 rating on Steam with nearly 130,000 reviews and is being updated on a near-weekly basis as it takes the necessary steps to reach an elite level, which I believe it is fully capable of reaching one day.
Even though violence is the name of the game, My Unturned Day’s overall appearance keeps things fun, as does a its simple, highly functional interface that anybody can figure out. Overall, My Unturned Day makes the most out of a simple concept. This zombie invasion, open world survival game will keep gamers entertained in a number of different ways for hours on end; and if developer, AR Gaming can market it properly, My Unturned Day has a chance to be that rare title that appeals to both hardcore and casual gamers alike.
Hardcore?
Firmly Hardcore..
The depth and number of options that My Unturned Day provides its players really caught me by surprise and while the online multiplayer has a long way to go, this game has a relatively high ceiling.