Co-op is a thin but seamless experience in 2013: Infected Wars. By joining up with Game Center folks you can head into the campaign with a little support. There's no friendly fire, thank the gods, and experience you gain carries over to single player mode. Money and weapons aren't shared, however, which both adds to the survival ambience of the game and makes you feel obligated to grab an in-app purchase or two.
The downside is 2013: Infected Wars utilizes an in-app purchasing system to help beef up your character. Gold and cash can be earned through regular play, but the rate at which you amass the stuff is painfully slow. On more than one occasion you'll stare at the store and wonder just how many more times you can get slaughtered by zombies before you cave and spend some real world money. The prices for IAP gold are fair, but the game carries a high price tag on its own, so it sort of feels like overkill to design the game to strongly encourage in-app purchases.
The voiceovers in 2013: Infected Wars are, at best, grating. The fizzy radio effect added to the main narration is annoying, and when it comes in in the middle of a firefight, you can't make out more than a few words in the entire speech. It's best to just head over to the options screen and turn the voice volume all the way down. You'll miss a few interesting story points, but your aspirin budget will thank you.
One thing Action Mobile Games really got right are the controls. 2013: Infected Wars works well on a touch screen. It's easy to move, strafe, aim and attack, and you won't fumble your next move for lack of physical buttons. The "fire" icon seems to be a little too eager to activate, and on more than one occasion we tried adjusting our point of view but ended up letting off a stream of bullets instead. Not the best error to make in a game where every second counts.
2013: Infected Wars has the lofty goal of becoming an honest multiplayer zombie shooting game for mobile devices. It succeeds in most of these areas while making a few stumbles along the way, the largest of which is the upgrade balance tragically shifted to encourage in-app purchases. It's not the only iOS game to feature a currency shop, though, and it isn't the worst offender, either. All in all, 2013: Infected Wars does a respectable job delivering co-op zombie survival action to your iPhone/iPad.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Players will now be able to experience a full multiplayer co-op campaign with their friends enjoying gorgeous visuals and gritty real world environments!
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.