Zone of the Zombies gets you inside a slot machine built with a zombie apocalypse theme in mind. The designer of this slightly unusual game is Cryptologic, and they’ve tried here to take advantage of the popularity of the zombie stories, movies, books and TV series that appeared these last few years. From a scientific point of view, the zombie topic might not be that realistic, but it sure makes for a lot of fun when these stories are well made, so I don’t mind that it’s not a real possibility (I actually have no problem with zombies not being real, I enjoy knowing that).
Zone of the Zombies features a 25 line setup, all of them available on 5 reels. The Frightmare Jackpot is a big attraction, but the slot’s own $120,000 looks even better. You will find that as you play you will be assisted by the scatter and wild symbols.
Features of Zone of the Zombies
A bonus game, or Zombie Feature as they call it, is one of the extras you can expect while playing this slot machine, plus a scatter symbol that triggers it and a wild that gives you the big prize. The game is also a bit unusual because of the way it displays symbols, since not all of the positions on the reels are occupied by them. You can get empty spots on the reels, which takes away some of your chances to form a paying combo.
A Zombie symbol, with a toxic green background and with an ugly monster trying to break out of it, gets to appear on the reels in random positions, and as it does this, it will substitute for the symbols that already have a couple of matching icons on a line. That will get you better combinations, or form some that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. The substitution powers of the wild are well known by now, and this is a classic feature, without extras attached. Multiple Zombies can form their own combo, but of course they need to get on the same active line, like any other symbol.
The Hero on the other hand, is the one that’s surrounded by a river of zombie blood, to the point that you can barely see him. He has the ability to appear in scattered positions in the game, with the number of Hero symbols determining the prize offered (2x to 100x the wager) and whether you can get inside the only bonus game that was added to this title.
Zombie Feature
3+ scattered Heroes will get you in the Zombie Feature, where you will find that the Hero is fighting a Zombie group, trying to reach the Police Station. Five zombies need to be terminated, in order for the objective to be reached. You win a random prize for each zombie that is destroyed, plus a bonus that is obtained if the Hero gets to the objective. The game can also end with our Hero being attacked by zombies before he gets a chance to destroy them.
Betting options and jackpots
Your first decision in the game should be on the number of paylines you want active. It’s a good idea to leave all 25 active, but it will mean using 25 coins. The coins will all have the same value, which you choose from the $0.01 to $20 range. With the coins maxed out, and all the lines selected, the wager goes to $500.
There are 6,000 coins on the line as part of the jackpot that Zone of the Zombies can award, with its value being up to $120,000. If you don’t get that prize, perhaps you will have better luck with the Frightmare progressive jackpot, also included, but offered randomly to a player.
Design and symbols
The design is not the most appealing image you will find, but it’s appropriate for the theme and the message it’s trying to send across. The colors combine an ugly brown with a toxic green and various shades close to one or the other. A sea of zombies is visible in the background image, while on the reels all the symbols are related to blood, zombie killing tools or victims.
Symbols: Zombie (wild, 6,000x), Hero (scatter, 100x bet), Blonde Woman (1,000x), Armored Car (500x), Zombie Dog (250x), Chainsaw (250x), Shotgun (200x), Club with nails (200x), Zombie Hand (150x), Eyeball (150x), Medicine (100x) and Ammo (100x).
Is It Worth Playing?
For the fan of zombie movies, and I know there are many out there, Zone of the Zombies is a game that gives you all the gore you could want, without going overboard. The presence of a progressive jackpot and that of $120,000, which the slot can give out on its own, helps as well.
The Zone of the Zombies slot machine is offered through the Cryptologic platform, so if you want to play it for real or just to practice, look out for casinos that use it.
