I’m going to make a bold claim and say Dead Trigger has the best graphics I’ve seen so far on iOS. The game runs on the Unity engine, which should be familiar to many if you’ve been playing iOS games.

Dead Trigger (Universal: $0.99) 

“In 2012 modern civilization is coming to an end. Global economics have been disrupted, money has lost its value. People have risen against the ignorant politicians who were just lining their pockets – and they didn’t spare any of them.”

Presentation

However, Dead Trigger pushes above and beyond any other Unity game we’ve seen. I played most of the game on the new iPad (although I also played some of it on my iPhone 4S), and I was completely blown away. Whether it be the environments, the zombie models, the blood spatters, water, you name it, everything just looks fantastic on that retina display.

Of course, the game also looks great on other devices, but the new iPad maxes it out. Here’s the best part, unlike some games we’ve seen that have problems rendering at retina resolution and maintaining a solid framerate, Dead Trigger never had that issue.

It had a stable framerate all the way, which honestly surprised me. Madfinger Games has a track record of visually appealing games on iOS, and their latest installment takes the cake. I look forward to seeing developers utilizing the latest version of Unity to create similarly stunning games on the platform.

Controls

Madfinger Games isn’t new to shooters, even though this is their first first-person shooter. Not to worry though, the controls work just fine on the touch screen, with controls like we’re used to seeing on the platform. You move around with your left thumb using a joystick, and aim and shoot on the right. You can also take care of reloading and switching weapons on the right side of the screen. Typical shooter controls, you should get it by now, right?

Gameplay

Madfinger Games has a tendency to fall short when it comes to gameplay. Sadly, Dead Trigger is no different. The game feels very much like Call of Duty: Zombies, you’ll be shooting zombies away in a confined space as they come in through barricades.

That being said, there is no survival mode, which was a bit of a let down. The game drops you on a menu of this fictional post-apocalyptic city. From there you can select missions to play, but those missions aren’t very varied. They’ll be something like staying alive for a certain amount of time, protecting something from zombies, finding / bringing packages to the drop zone, etc.

But that’s about it, sadly Dead Trigger lacks variety. Although the missions are shot (perfect for on the go), when you marathon them it can get quite boring. All of this is topped with the fact the game could easily be confused with a freemium game. The game has two types of currency, gold and dollars. The weapons in the game are a mix of gold only or money only weapons, and they’re quiet pricey. In the end, you pretty much either have to buy the IAP, or do things like like their page on Facebook.

Conclusion

In the end, Dead Trigger is a game with a lot of potential that could have (and might still be able to) deliver. The graphics feel like a tech demo for an all new engine, and set it apart from all other zombie shooters on the AppStore. That being said, the gameplay just doesn’t live up to it. Perhaps the addition of some kind of multiplayer, or a survival mode, could help spicen this game up a bit. 5/10