Could it be that one of this year's most enjoyable games requires absolutely no skill?

This seems to be what Catherine Vice (aka Indie Gamer Chick) thinks of OMG HD Zombies, Laughing Jackal's newest game for the PS Vita. Despite giving the game a glowing review, the curmudgeonly critic seems to be under the impression that no skill is required. Could it be that your score has more to do with enemy placement and exploding barrels than a well-aimed shot?

Intrigued by her assertion, I set out to determine once and for all if OMG HD Zombies really is about nothing more than dumb luck. Join me as I use math and science to either confirm or debunk Catherine's compelling quandary.


The Rules: In order to be fair to OMG HD Zombies, I chose five levels with entirely different layouts and zombie types. I performed twenty attempts per level; ten blind shots (where I looked away from the screen) and ten aimed (how I would normally play). I counted up each kill and kept a list, averaging the shots together to come to a consensus. All tests were performed under the best conditions possible, which includes a fully leveled-up character.

Level 17: Swimming Pool

This early stage is fairly typical of what you can expect from OMG HD Zombies. There are three large groups of zombies in this stage, but each is separated from one another. The first group is safely trapped in a swimming pool. Just above the pool is a fenced area, which holds a few walkers away from the general population. These three sections hold a total of 122 zombies; a mix of bilous and zappers.


Outcome: I was immediately surprised by how many zombies I was able to kill in a single shot. My bullet ate through 36 zombies the first time, 38 the second and 63 on try three. When I killed 47 walkers on my fourth random shot, I was worried that Catherine was right, OMG HD Zombies really was little more than luck.


It was on my fifth random shot when I realized that not every touch hit a zombie. I poked my PS Vita, but nothing happened. I worried that my finger may have delayed on the screen too long on my first attempt, so I tried touching the same exact spot. Still nothing. This resulted in zero zombie kills, a problem that would show up several more times before I was done.

Despite that big goose egg on the fifth attempt, most of my random shots hit their mark and cleared large chunks of the stage. Ignoring the zero, I had a range of 36 to 64 zombies killed. Not bad for a single bullet. This averages out to 43 zombies killed, which is a third of the total baddies in the level.


As you might have guessed, none of my aimed shots missed. I was able to line up all ten shots and take down exactly who I wanted, leading to a range of 43 to 113. The chart shows that some of the shots were on par with the random attempts, but overall I got more out of my turns when I knew who I aiming at. The average was 68.2 zombies killed per shot, 25 more than the random shots.

Level 42: Redfield A&E Hospital

The second stage we visited was the local hospital, which just happens to be named after a Resident Evil character. Unlike stage 17, the zombies in this location are free to roam the entirety of the screen. It's an especially deadly mix of 63 police, solider and bilious zombies. Nobody is going to make it out of this alive.


Outcome: With the soldier zombies around, I figured I would have no problem taking out most of the horde with my random shots. The first shot seemed to bear this out, as I killed all but 15 flesh-eaters. Unfortunately, the second shot didn't connect. Before my ten shots were up, I had a roller coaster experience that ranged from only 1 death all the way up to 54.

My aimed shots were much more reliable, as I was always able to start a chain reaction. While I had hit the right types of zombies in my blind attempts, many of them were facing the wrong direction to maximize the chain reaction. With the exception of one terrible go, my shots stayed well above the blind test. Unfortunately, with that terrible attempt the range is from 2 up to 62.


Much like level 17, I was able to clear out one-third of the zombies with blind shots. And as you might have guessed, that's not the only statistic that is similar to level 17. In this stage I was able to kill an average of 21.8 zombies per blind shot, significantly lower than my average 39.3 kills when properly aiming. That's a difference of 17.5 walkers, on par with what we saw in the last stage.

Level 70: Military Parking Lot

Our next stage is a lot like level 42, only this time the mob has moved on to a military parking lot. There are a few barriers, but for the most part all 103 zombies are within arm's reach of each other. The horde is made up of a nice mix of soldier, mortar, bloated and zapper zombies. This is a level specifically designed to be completed in one shot.


Outcome: Right off the bat, level 70 did not disappoint. I managed to kill all but 12 in my first blind shot. Unfortunately the next shot was a dud, only scoring a single zombie kill. But I did not let the whiff get the best of me, and I quickly rebounded with 102, 99 and 91 kills. And that's not all, by the end I was regularly killing more than one hundred walkers. After ten shots, I averaged an impressive 78.4 kills. Not bad for somebody with their eyes closed.


As good as my blind attempts were, my aimed shots were even better. Out of 10 tries, seven of them scored 100 or more. My lowest scoring round was 93 zombies, leaving only ten behind. When all is said and done, the average for my aimed shots was an incredible 99.6 kills per round. That's a difference of 21.2 zombies.

Level 77: Prison Cell Block

Having experimented with the outdoor stages, it's time to move into a slightly more complicated location. Level 77 is a cramped prison cell, complete with a series of narrow paths and a few explosive barrels scattered around. This level is an ideal test, as only a few zombies are touching. There are 72 walkers in the prison, made up mostly of bloated, zapper and soldier zombies.


Outcome: As I expected, this prison-based stage proved to be challenging when taking blind shots. Of the ten shots, four of them are single digit ... at best. Thankfully there were a few surprisingly good chain reactions, but this was an understandably low scoring stage. After ten tries, the average ended up being a paltry 20.1 kills per round. This is the lowest scoring average yet.


Getting the perfect chain reaction was also difficult with my aimed shots. Because of the corridors and cells, it's tough to get anything going in this level. Thankfully that didn't stop me from scoring a few good rounds with my aimed shots. I never got close to clearing everybody out in a single shot, but planning the right move allowed for more meaningful chain reactions. After ten shots, I managed to kill an average of 37.8 zombies. That's a difference of 17.1.

Level 100: The Final Level

I chose the final stage for a reason. If OMG HD Zombies really is based exclusively on luck, then you should be able to beat all 100 stages. That includes this deceptively difficult final level, featuring only 38 zombies. To make things even more challenging, this stage has a mix of all eight zombie types. And don't look now, because there are huge chunks of this stage that are walled off, making it difficult to hit certain enemies. This is going to be a real challenge.


Outcome: The good news is that I hit more enemies than I expected. With so few zombies on the screen, I prepared for the worst. Somehow I only missed three of the ten shots. But let's not get cocky, because the other seven shots weren't very strong. At my best, I was able to kill 21 of the 38 zombies, slightly more than half. With the exception of a round where I managed to eliminate16, most of the attempts resulted in single digit kills. My average was an abysmal 5.1 zombies per round.


Level 100 proves that you can't simply hit any target, it has to be one that can start a chain reaction. My aimed shots were far from impressive, but not once did I dip into single digit kills. At my best, I was able to kill 26 zombies. On the other hand, my lowest score was 10, a result higher than 80% of my blind attempts. Even on what is arguably the hardest level in the game, I was able to average 16.8 kills per round. That's an increase of 11.7 from the blind shots.

Conclusion

Catherine is certainly right that OMG HD Zombies involves a good helping of luck. Even when I was able to line-up my shots perfectly, my kill count varied based on enemy placement, whether there were flaming barrels and other mitigating factors. Even with a character that has been completely leveled up, there is no way to consistently clear a stage with a single bullet.


On the other hand, there's no denying that I scored more kills when manually aiming my shots. And I don't mean just a few extra zombies; I consistently saw double digit gains. In the five levels I tested, my increase ranged from 11.7 to 25.3 extra kills per round. On average I saw an increase of 18.56 zombie kills every single level.

Getting a big combo out of the gate is good for a number of reasons, none of which have anything to do with the online leaderboard. If you kill twenty extra zombies, that means you'll have a much easier time killing the remaining stragglers and getting 100%. Players may complete a stage with blind shots, but only players who pick their targets carefully will earn the most money.

Final Thoughts

It's important to remember that all of these numbers were obtained using the best possible conditions, which includes owning all of the upgrades. This means that your bullets are even more powerful and the enemy destruction is off-the-charts. Players who are not leveled up will have a much harder time clearing a stage with one bullet. As a result, these numbers will decrease and luck will play less of a role.


Moving away from facts, figures and caveats, it's worth remembering that OMG HD Zombies is one of this year's best games. Even if there really is no skill involved, that doesn't make this PS Vita upgrade any less fun. There's something addictive about the game's level progression and upgrade system. And fake or not, there's nothing more satisfying than gunning down 110 zombies with one well-placed bullet.

I invite you to take the blind test at home and compare findings. Perhaps your luck will take you in a different direction, throwing this entire test into question. But I have a hunch you too will kill more zombies with a carefully aimed bullet. (If you do take the OMG HD Zombies blind test, make sure and left me know how it goes on the Defunct Games Facebook page or Twitter feed.)