Zombie Circus

If you take the likes of Dead Rising's Frank West and Resident Evil's Chris Redfield out of the equation, characters in video games who actually stand up to face the zombie threat dead-on don't tend to last all too long.

Limbs are readily ripped off and flesh bitten into with haste akin to lads on a stag night in an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant. Only the characters penned by developers with a penchant for blatant homoeroticism – needlessly big biceps encased in especially tight t-shirts a go-go – manage to survive to live another day.

That said, running away never seems to get people very far, either. In essence, the only way to fight off zombies effectively is to face up to them, but to be invisible at the same time.

Clowning around

That's exactly what Zombie Circus proposes. Here, you're in charge of preventing clusters of zombie clowns making their way into a circus tent, with more and more of the blood-thirsty blighters making their way towards the big event with each round.

To put it crudely, Zombie Circus is tower defence meets typical zombie slayer, your main tool being to use your finger to flick each clown away again and again until each one is so battered and bruised, they give up the will to live.

Call it Windows Phone 7's take on Simon Cowell's hunt for a new star in The X Factor then, albeit somewhat less gruesome.

The great part about Zombie Circus is, you're not actually there. There's no character to control or, as a result, convoluted storyline to fixate on. Instead, it's a simple case of flick until they split into several pieces, with some of the fallen foes releasing coins you can then cash in for upgrades in between stages.

It's a well worn setup, in truth, and in fairness most of the upgrades offer little more than window dressing. While increasing your tent's health – yes, apparently tents need to keep a check on their weight and visit the doctors regularly too – is useful, the gun turrets that can be mounted on top are less so.

Though the intention is for these turrets to pop up and take out groups of clowns in one go, actually aiming them effectively is no easy task.

Superficial slayer?

Given everything else you're doing at the time – constant finger-flicking being Zombie Circus's signature – using the mini-icon that pops up to aim your weapon is too fiddly an exercise to be practical, with choosing to go it alone often offering more reward.

That is until Zombie Circus throws into the mire clowns that can't be flicked, however.

Giga-Tons, for instance, can only be taken out by the aforementioned weapons, or 'ally powers' – characters and weaponry unlocked later on – and are only available once enough standard zombies have been slain.

Still, Zombie Circus isn't really a game of absolutes, or one where players will lose all too much sleep if they let one or two clowns slip through the net. It is, in contrast, a veritable flick-fest that offers much fun, delivered in some style thanks to some smart artwork and music.

Indeed, although it might not be able to call upon much depth, as Messrs West and Redfield have proved, sometimes merely looking the part can go a long way.