The Drowning

While The Drowning could've used more variety - and maybe even a multiplayer mode to keep things interesting - it sets a benchmark for mobile first-person shooters.

One of the greatest promises for iOS becomes a repetitive game, where only its control and visual are worth highlighting.

A game that relies on bothersome microtransactions and generally boring action. [Oct 2013, p.78]

Good ideas on controls and atmosphere don't succeed in keeping The Drowning above the surface of an average level.

The Drowning tries to revolutionize the mobile FPS control system, but only gets it half-right.

There is tons of polish on it and its controls are topnotch, but the rest of my experiences with The Drowned were extremely conflicting. If the gameplay mechanics were more in tune with a survival horror experience, Drowned could have been the definitive horror experience for the iOS format. Instead, it is simply an average shooter that gives a great update beyond the overused two thumbstick-style of FPS control; it simply happens to have great looking monsters and backgrounds instead of your run-of-the-mill FPS baddies.

A great looking, but shallow shooter. [Nov 2013, p.79]

The Drowning amazes users for a few minutes, making them breathe a catching atmosphere, crafted and enhanced by first class graphics.

The Drowning is free to play, but the unrelenting focus on upgrades aggressively pushes players to buy virtual currency so they can upgrade faster...Kudos to the new controls, but the overall experience left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Mostly you’ll be firing bullets into people's heads, running around like a moron and then repeating and it feels like a grind a long time before it needs to. You'll need to grind too, as the later enemies can only be killed with specific, unlockable guns. It’s free, but for a game about water zombies, it’s dry.

Its world is bland and uninviting, its free-to-play systems annoying and restrictive, and its gameplay shallow and repetitive.

While certainly enjoyable at times, The Drowning's free-to-play implementation hampers the game to an inexcusable degree.

The scavenging for weapons and upgrades will deliver the fun, but that enjoyment can easily be hampered by the gameplay-limiting timer system.

In the hands of another developer (Infinity Blade's Chair Entertainment or Epic Games, perhaps?), The Drowning would have been something special. Without the energy mechanic and constant drip-fed weapon and item parts, I could easily see myself destroying an entire afternoon blasting apart zombies. But that's not what happened.

The Drowning is a well designed tech demo that delivers extremely basic gameplay that isn’t worth sinking your time into.

Without a strong grasp of the basics to make up for the improvements it tries and fails to implement, The Drowning is simply a boring shooter, with invasive IAPs, and so-so controls.

After plugging away at The Drowning for a few days and pumping money into its ravenous maw, it becomes clear that this is a transaction machine first, a headline-grabbing control scheme second and an actual game a distant third.