Parents' Guide to LifeAfter

If the current trend in video games, movies, and TV is to be believed, the collapse of society won't come from global war, natural disasters, or even the rise of robotic overlords -- it'll be zombies. LifeAfter is a free-to-play app that follows in the footsteps of larger console releases such as DayZ and State of Decay, challenging players to not only survive, but thrive and rebuild in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. On the positive side, LifeAfter looks phenomenal, and could easily be mistaken for a console game. The world is large and lush, with a lot of sharp detail. The motion is smooth, and the user interface can be customized. There's also a lot to do in the game. When you're not fending off Infected, you're gathering resources to reinforce your home base, making sure you stay well fed and healthy, and occasionally raiding (or being raided by) some nearby survivor.

That all said, the game still suffers from rage inducing flaws. For starters, it's a huge hit in China, but its English language launch has lost something in translation. The dialogue and instructions have been run through a poor version of Google Translate, with words broken up between lines and almost too confusing to decipher. There are even moments where characters' names randomly switch from one to another, leaving you scratching your head while trying to follow the plot. And despite the customization options of the UI, the controls never quite feel comfortable. It's a mess to switch between equipment, accidentally shooting or using an item because the buttons are too cramped. It also gets repetitive quickly, with missions that never seem too varied. It's also irritating to log in only to find your character hurting or even dead due to some random event that happened while you were gone and had no control over. None of this makes it unplayable, and there's fun to be had. But rebuilding society after an actual apocalypse might be a little less frustrating than LifeAfter can be at times.