Zombies, Run! Day Four

Disappointment seems to be the name of the game with Zombies, Run!  For an app that costs $7.99, the Windows Phone version seems riddled with bugs that quite nearly kill the experience.  From a pace tracker that doesn't work to settings not being retained to the app suddenly stopping during a run to the terrible volume management.  It's a proverbial mess.  What keeps it together is the story and the quality voice acting.

Today's adventure found Runner Five working with Runner Eight leading a group of zombies away from Abel township.  The only gate to the town was stuck open and the motors controlling it have burnt out.  It's up to the team of runners and the armed guards to keep the zombie horde away from the town.

With noise making devices strapped to their backs, Five and Eight lead a pack of zombies away from the town.  While Five has brought good fortune to the town with his arrival, there are some that think it is too convenient.  The last time the military sent someone to a village with only half of the normal supplies ended in a mysterious fire that consumed the village and all inside of it.

Trying her best to suppress a horrendous cough, Eight cuts communication with Sam and Abel township.  Simply put, she doesn't trust Five, and with good reason.  The runner whose shoes I fill could have a sinister ulterior motive for his arrival at Abel.  Time will tell what his plans are.

For this run, I had created a new playlist comprised of much shorter songs.  And since I couldn't hear the alerts of zombies chasing me, I was forced to turn "zombie chase" off.  Because of the shorter songs, the mission progressed much quicker.  It went so fast that it was done before I was halfway finished with my run.

With half of my run left, I decided to start the next mission.  But much like the first and second missions, this one crashed halfway through with the tell tale cue of the audio cutting out.  Instead of starting over, I opted to exit the app.

After returning home, I was able to divide the items gained during my runs among the various buildings of Abel.  After each settlement had gained a level, the towns population had risen to 92.  Leveling up the buildings seems to be a slow affair.  Sometimes it appears that the gauge doesn't fill up at all when applying new items.

At this point, I'm still torn about Zombies, Run!.  The unreliability is definitely the most frustrating aspect and is the biggest deterrent for the $7.99 price tag.  It doesn't matter how good a story is, if the app can't run properly, it isn't worth a dime.