Gunfinger is an on-rails zombie shooter with a fresh aiming mechanic that rewards risk takers
Aim for the head
Gunfinger will be tempting to anyone who thought Sega's mobile port of The House of the Dead: Overkill could have been significantly better.
It's a free-to-play on-rails arcade zombie shooter that'll be hitting the App Store this Thursday. We first spotted it at PG Connects, but I've just gone hands-on with it to see how it's turned out.
As you'd hope for a touchscreen shooter, Gunfinger turns your taps into gunshots, and your swipes into reloads and grenade throws. That's how it should be (pay attention, Sega).
Tap it upThe tap-and-hold aiming mechanic is the real USP here, though.
You have to unlock a few levels before being able to purchase the gun sights. After you've unlocked a few levels, though, you can hold your finger down to bring up a reticle. As you do so, the screen zooms in.
This slow and steady aiming process adds additional damage to your shots. But it also lets the zombies shuffle ever closer to you. That's a problem if they're in a big group.
It's this risk-reward dynamic at the heart of Gunfinger that differentiates it from the other tap-a-thon shooting gallery games out there.
Unfortunately, the game's IAPs go some way to undermining that fact. If you're willing to spend cash, you can get powerful weapons unique to IAPs early on. A pistol that shoots fireballs is one example.
Having these is probably going to mitigate the need to involve yourself in the more skilful risk taking. That's hardly unusual for a free-to-play game, though.
As said, Gunfinger will be available to download on the App Store for free on Thursday. If you're in Australia, mind, you can already grab it and start it playing right now.
We've also been told that Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 8 versions of Gunfinger will be out soon.
