Okay, so right up front I'm going to be completely straight with you. I don't get the whole zombie craze. I realize there were a few zombie movies out, and you've got the whole monster genre thing going on with the teens, but zombies? The whole concept of zombies is totally disgusting. Rotting, dripping corpses of dead bodies, reanimated and trudging around at a snail's pace with their limbs practically falling off. Oh, and apparently all they want to do is kill and/or eat anyone that isn't a zombie.

Now that we've got the general idea out of the way, let's move on to the concept of shooting zombies. Again - gross. One bullet can disintegrate a poor, lumbering corpse right in its tracks. And again - we're talking about killing something that's dead. Apparently the idea of double jeopardy doesn't apply to zombies. And we've covered lots of zombie themed topics, like zombie games on iPhone, zombie games on Windows Phone, and we've even covered online zombie games. The zombie theme is here, and it's here to stay.

And then it dawned on me. Maybe that's really what the appeal is all about, at least as far as zombie shooting games go. You've got this beast that was already dead, so it doesn't` feel quite so bad blowing its head in with a rain of bullets from an AK-47. You're not a murderer, because it's already dead! Then there's the whole nuisance in other shooting games of enemies having weapons and shooting back at you. Zombies have no weapons, and wouldn't have brain enough to figure out how to use one even if they did. So you're safe on that front too.

So then, what's left? Well, nothing short of unforgiving gore and mayhem - a license to kill and blow up everything that limps its way toward you wearing tattered clothes and a half-rotted face. There's nothing quite as stress relieving as this - just shooting everything first, and asking questions later.   Don't want zombie cooties? Well then get out your Android phones and tablets, and follow along with me as I explore 6 of the finest zombie shooting games Google Play has to offer.

 Zombie Shooting Games on Android

Again, when I started this project, I didn't know what I would find. I've always been more of a Call of Duty or Metal of Honor kind of guy. Tactical maneuvers. Wit and battlefield prowess. Stealth and infiltration. That's my thing.

The whole concept of just standing in one spot and fending off hordes of oncoming, unarmed former humans didn't seem very appealing to me. However, the whole point was to experience the first person shooter in the zombie genre, and see if it did or didn't successfully release my tension and stress from a long workday.

GunZombie Hellgate

The first game I tried was GunZombie. Highly rated and a high user base of over 100,000 downloads. It must be doing something right. One of my core requirements for every game I wanted to review was that the learning curve would be short - no longer than 5 minutes, or I quit and moved on. GunZombie Hellgate certainly delivered.

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The idea is actually quite simple. Turn your gaze in any direction with your left thumb, and fire with your right. In the case of this game, there's no movement. You're simply holding your ground against the oncoming hordes.

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You've got everything you need on the HUD display - remaining ammo, and special items like grenades. Unlike other zombie games where you start out with a pathetic pistol, the first weapon in this game is at least a fairly decent, rapid-shooter weapon that you can use to easily complete the first few "warm-up" levels.

If you do well and gain points, you'll level up and improve your weaponry in the process.

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And Gun Zombie certainly does that - with an arsenal that Charlton Heston would be proud of.

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This isn't a game for people with slow reflexes. It isn't long before a whole new breed of zombies start coming after you, like the wicked angry female zombies that walk twice as fast as the men and rip your eyes out once they get into clawing distance.

 

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Someone made all of these folks really, really angry - and you're their sole target. In each level, the locale changes, a new breed of zombie gets added to the mix, and the level of skill and nerve required to complete the round increases exponentially.

Needless to say, after playing a few rounds - okay, an hour's worth - of this game, I was already getting sold on the whole blasting-down-zombies thing.

Contract Killer Zombies

So, Contract Killer is definitely my favorite of all of these. This is mostly due to the fact because the storyline of the game draws you in much deeper into the game more than any other zombie game out there. In fact, most others have no plot at all. CK Zombies on the other hand, will let you become one of two major characters in this epic fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world.

Keep in mind though, the game is huge, and the first game screen after you install, is a pretty good sized download - just about 360Mb to be precise.

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And the graphics? Phenomenal - as evidenced by the introduction scenes, right after launching the game.

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You're instantly drawn right into the plot, as the two heroes - one feisty, young red-headed lady and one gun-toting dude in a wheelchair - meet each other and decide to fight their way through this zombie-ridden world together, rather than alone.

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In each scene, you're doing something as a team, such as this level where your job is to blast incoming zombies with a 12-gauge shotgun. The goal is to keep them away from your partner as she tries to load up supplies from an abandoned food store.

 

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If they reach her, they'll tackle her and try to rip her to shreds. You'll see her life dropping. Blast them off of her (don't worry, you magically can't shoot her), and set her free before she dies. If you successfully fend off all zombies with your gun-slinging skills, you get points, game cash, and of course bragging rights.

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As the game progresses, new possible areas to explore and exploit open up on the map. Each area represents a goal that the two of you want to accomplish, like raiding food or finding and evacuating survivors throughout the city.

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It's the most addictive zombie game that I found, and the fact that it has a well thought-out plot along the way is 90 percent of the reason this game gets the top rank out of all of the games reviewed here.

Ghost Sniper [No Longer Available]

If you're less of a gung-ho, charge right into the middle of battle kind of person, and more of a shoot-from-a-safe-distance sort of fighter, then this game is for you. Who needs to shoot disgusting zombies from up close when you can peek through your high-powered sniper-rifle scope and take out your targets without having to smell them?

Ghost Sniper lets you step into the shoes of a sniper. It provides a very, very useful training area where you can get accustomed to the aiming process with your device.

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It took me quite a while to master it, but for me, first setting the angle (press the gear icon) to "flat" (0 degrees) and then twisting and turning my tablet in different ways revealed that angling one end of the tablet up and down actually lifts or lowers the scope like it would in real life. Tilting the sides of the tablet left or right moves the scope left or right. The problem I had is that the angle you have to hold the tablet to move the scope up or down makes you have to turn the screen, making the left-right twist very odd. I found that it wasn't at all intuitive to learn how to aim, and even after I did, it took a boatload of practice to get the crosshairs where I needed them to be.

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The goal of this zombie shooting game is to line up on the zombie and take them out before they make it across the battlefield to the innocent survivor who they want to kill and eat. As a zombie sniper, you become the first-line of defense against the creatures, with the ability to save the world (or at least a few people), with your trusty sniper rifle.

Dead Trigger

I almost didn't test Dead Trigger, because it's a game that requires you to move the in-game character around inside of the game environment, not just turning your character's vision. I always had trouble getting this to work right with other FPS games on the tablet, but in this game the learning curve for control really isn't that bad at all. Within 15 minutes or so, I found myself running down hallways and taking down zombies as I ran.

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Accomplish each level and win a mission reward, and of course anything else you've found along the way.

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Don't get complacent though. Each level introduces a new volume of these creepy, glowing-eyed zombies with a thirst for your blood and a hunger for your eyeballs. Don't let them get near you - whatever it takes - or it'll be game over.

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Like CK Zombies, this game also includes a map of the city, where you can click on areas that you want to explore.

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There is also a bit of a plot with this zombie shooting game as well, and you also get to branch away from the main "quest" of the game, and instead go off and run errands or jobs for people that you may meet along the way.

Zombie Frontier 2: Survive

Finally, one game that I thought I wouldn't like - at least until I tried it - was Zombie Frontier 2. This game also includes a map of the area and missions or "next steps" in the game.

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Each area you choose includes a task you need to accomplish to successfully complete the level.  This screen also includes the difficulty level, so if you see anything that's too difficult, just close the window and move on to another area on the map.

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Gameplay is cool as far as just letting out your frustrations and blasting away. There are a few downsides I could spot to this game that didn't allow it to move toward the top of the list though. For example, the zombies look rather goofy. One big guy with his head cocked to the side look like a guy with a bad back that just walked out of the bar after getting totally drunk. The second little guy in the blue shirt dragging a bat looks like a totally normal guy that just got in a car accident.

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My advice to the game makers - redo the zombies. The environment, the FPS shooter experience, and everything else makes this game awesome. The silly-looking zombies kick it back down a notch. If you can't get realistic characters to look scary enough, then turn them into complete monsters. Make them scary.

Zombie Hell [No longer available]

Zombie Hell is a lot of fun. I've never played a first person shooter from the perspective of over-the-shoulder. Other games on the market allow players to switch to that viewpoint if desired, but I've personally never used it. After Zombie Hell - which defaults to that perspective - I'm liking it. Let me warn you though, that this game is for people that are looking for more of a high-paced, arcade style shooting experience.

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I say this because while the first round isn't too bad, with slow-moving buffoons for zombies, the next rounds introduce vicious zombies that charge at you. This gives you only seconds to turn - while the slow-moving-yet-deadly horde continues to inch toward you - to take out this lunatic zombie that will start viscously swiping at you the moment it gets within arm's reach. Here's a shot of one of them lunging at me (the zombie in the grey striped shirt).

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Of all of the games, I think this may be the second favorite. This is not only because it's easy to learn and just jump immediately into game play, but because these fast-moving zombies give the game a whole different nightmare feel.

Now that I've spent so much time playing these zombie shooting games, I do realize the allure. You have full reign without fear of getting shot by an enemy. This means that you can go crazy shooting up anything that moves, which in turn makes each game a huge stress reliever. Angry about being picked on at work? Frustrated with your boss or a coworker? Have exams coming up and need to get your mind on something other than studying? Take out your frustrations on hordes of zombies, and I guarantee you'll feel better after. One word of advice though - just don't play it right before bedtime!

Image Credits: Zombie Aftermath Via Shutterstock