Zadzooks: Zombie Wonderland 2: Outta Time! review (iPad)

The undead attack a redneck named Chuck once again in Zombie Wonderland 2: Outta Time! (Chillingo and 11 bit studios, reviewed for iPad, rated 9+, 99 cents), an iPad challenge that mixes time management, real-time strategy, combat and deep-cleaning techniques.

This sequel to a popular 2010 game takes our pint-size, bearded, lactose-intolerant hero and his shotgun, Betsy, into various periods in history.

While stopping an adorable-looking flesh-eating menace, his ultimate goal is to help Dr. Kraus collect the parts to build the weapon to eliminate the Zombie King from Niceville.

Battle arenas are situated in roofless rooms, providing a near-over-the-top, three-dimensional perspective of the slaughter.

A player taps on Chuck, his enemies and his surroundings to perform tasks in locales such as a Samurai Dojo in medieval Japan, a vampire’s castle, a local barbershop and a pharaoh’s tomb in ancient Egypt.

A typical encounter involves boarding up and reboarding windows (tap on window and then repeatedly tap the hammer icon), setting up a turret weapon (tap on a window) and using available firepower to hold off waves of ghouls before they kill the hero or damage precious items.

Oh yeah, if you succeed, don’t forget to clean up the green, gooey messes (swipe back and forth on a broom icon or upgrade to an automatic vacuum cleaner) or suffer losing points for your sloppy effort.

Amid the roughly 10 missions (broken in three segments per location), a player encounters more than two dozen enemies, including flaming zombies, witches, gory geisha, rotting Vikings, rampaging bulls, mummies and a grotesque guy named Louie.

Characters, alive and dead, reminded me of the MiniMate versions of Mad Hot Rod drivers. (Remember that sticker trading card set from the 1980s, kiddies?)

Those who succeed collect coins to purchase some outlandish tools of the zombie-killing trade. Chuck will get plenty of use from those flesh-eating bullets, a pocket UFO that abducts zombies, a hungry baby death worm and a special Venus fly trap.

Also, pop in the ear buds to hear a chilling musical score from composer Tapani Siirtola that really sets a lighthearted Halloween mood (with a Scooby-Doo vibe) for the supernatural shenanigans.

I’ll admit things can get a bit repetitive after awhile, but what did you expect, Left 4 Dead 2?

For a quick burst of cartoony distraction from life’s miseries, Zombie Wonderland 2 delivers the gooey goods with a ludicrous price that won’t take a bite out of your iTunes wallet.

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