Alien Zombie Megadeath Trophy Guide & Road Map

Alien Zombie Megadeath
Alien Zombie Megadeath Trophy Guide

ROAD MAP

Overview:
-Estimated trophy difficulty: 9/10 (personal opinion)
-Offline: 11 (1, 5, 5)
-Online: 0
-Approximate amount of time to core game 100%: 40-50 hours – current estimate
-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: N/A, no story mode
-Missable trophies: None
-Glitched trophies: None
-Cheats: No cheats

Introduction:

Alien Zombie Megadeath is the latest game from developer PomPom Games (Astro Tripper), and is the successor, or perhaps evolution, of the Alien Zombie Death PSP Mini they released in 2010. It's a very simple 2D arcade shooter that's easy to learn, yet challenging and time-consuming if you are trying for 100% trophies. If you like old school arcade gameplay, then this is the game for you.

Step 1: Complete All Adventure Levels
The first thing you'll want to do is complete all 40 adventure levels in the game. Not just unlock, but also complete. These are the blue ones that make the main spiral of the map. You need a total of 100 medals to unlock all adventure levels. On the way you will surely unlock some spacesuits and challenge levels (red ones). Make sure you get the UFO trophy (unlock the UFO upgrade) once you get to level 13 so you can start working on UFO-related medals. This will make unlocking and completing all adventure levels a bit easier.

Step 2: Unlock All Levels
This is done somewhat in tandem with Step 1. There are 71 levels total. You need 180 medals to unlock them all. While doing this, you will more than likely unlock the 30 Million Total Score trophy as well as Wardrobe Complete for unlocking all 9 spacesuits.

Step 3: Get All Medals
If you thought just unlocking all levels was hard, wait until you try to get all of the medals. There are 284 total in the game. All the Medals is a very grueling trophy and may take upwards of 10-20 hours to complete once you have managed to unlock all levels. See that trophy for tips / strategies for all levels and modes.

[PS3T Would Like to Thank Vyrastas for this Roadmap]

Basic Training

Complete the introduction training level.
(1)
You will get this after playing the very first level, which merely consists of putting on your spacesuit, grabbing your gun and grabbing a battery to power up your ship.
My First Spacesuit

Unlock one of the extra Spacesuits.
See Wardrobe Complete for more info.
Galaxy Explorer

Unlock 20 levels.
Self-explanatory, merely unlock any 20 levels, adventure or challenge (blue or red). The beginning levels are pretty easy and are only around 30-60 seconds long each. It shouldn't take you long to do this if you get a couple medals in each of the introductory levels, as the game doesn't get hard until you get past adventure level 20.
3 Million Total Score

Get a combined total score of 3 million on all levels.
See 30 Million Total Score for more info.
UFO

Unlock the UFO upgrade.
Pretty easy. Level 13 is the first level to feature UFOs. They will fly down the left or right side of the screen. They always appear on the side opposite where you are, so you'll have to run over to the other side of the map in order to destroy them. Keep an eye on the enemy indicators on the side of the screen so you can see when they appear.

To unlock the UFO upgrade, destroy 12 UFOs in Level 13. This will give you a medal that unlocks UFOs in all other levels, as well as the UFO spacesuit.
Universe Explorer

Unlock all the levels.
There are a total of 71 levels in the game. You need 180 medals to unlock them all. Unless you really pick things up quick, you'll start to hit a wall around the 100-120 medal mark and will need to go back to earlier levels and work on some of the previous medals you weren't good enough to get at the time.

Since medals will unlock even if you don't complete a level, certain types of medals are easier than others in the beginning levels, particularly the UFO ones. If you're hard up for a few extra medals and still have some UFO ones that are locked, try to knock them out, as they are generally the easiest type of medal to get. See the All the Medals trophy for gameplay tips and strategies.
2 Million Individual Score

Score 2 milion on any single level.
If you're going for all medals, you'll get this eventually, as many medals require you to score over 2 million in a level. If you're impatient, a good level to get this on is Level 4-alpha. This is one of the easier Survival levels to score 2 million points on.

Make sure you've unlocked the UFO upgrade before trying to get a score this high. You can maximize points by shooting UFOs and collecting crystals to increase your point multiplier. That, and lasting for a long time. See All the Medals for tips on maximizing points.
Wardrobe Complete

Unlock all of the extra Spacesuits.
There are 9 spacesuits that you can unlock. You unlock them by acquiring certain medals in specific levels. Below is a list of all the unlockable spacesuits in the game, what level they are unlocked on and what you have to do to unlock them.
- Green Camouflage: Level 5 – Fire Fight; Complete the Level
- Fiend: Level 9-alpha – Survival; Kill 250 Fiends
- Red: Level 9-alpha – Survival; Kill 15 Buffaloes
- Baby: Level 10-alpha – Survival Space Baby; Rescue 5 Space Babies
- UFO: Level 13 – UFO; Shoot 12 UFOs (this is also the UFO unlock, for the UFO trophy)
- Blue Camouflage: Level 15 – Boss Attack; Complete the Level
- Demon: Level 15-alpha – Survival Boss Attack; Kill 3 Demons
- Lumper: Level 19-alpha – Survival; Kill 200 Lumpers
- Black: Level 30 – Decoy; Complete the Level
Most are pretty easy to unlock. The hardest by far is the Lumper suit. You will need to get good at Survival to unlock it. For tips on Survival mode and general gameplay, please see the All the Medals trophy.
30 Million Total Score

Get a combined total score of 30 million on all levels.
Every time you set a high score after completing a level, that score will be added to a running total score across all levels that is displayed on the level select screen. Merely hit the required point amounts to earn these trophies (3M and 30M).

3 million is not very hard. You'll most likely have it by the time you unlock your 30th level. Survival levels bring the most points if you can last long enough.

30 million will take a little longer, but you should get it when you have around 110-130 medals. A good way to get a lot of points is to go back to the earlier Survival stages – you can get 2-5 million on them with a little practice. If you've unlocked 100 medals you should be good enough to get 30 million across all your unlocked levels.
Cleansed

Complete all the adventure levels. The blue ones!
There are 40 adventure levels, which as the trophy description says, are the blue ones. In order to even complete them, you must first unlock all 40 of them. You'll need to acquire 100 medals to unlock them all.

"Completing" a level consists of killing all zombies. In general, each has about 3 waves of zombies that get progressively harder and more numerous. The medal for completing a level is picture of a rocket against a blue background. You can check whether you've completed a level by just highlighting it on the level select screen – the completion medal will be grayed out if you haven't completed it yet.

The majority of adventure levels are easy to complete and will only take one or two tries. Others are a bit more difficult and will take a bit of skill. I thought the hardest levels by far were 25, 36 and 39. These are tough because there are environment obstacles on these maps that make navigating them a bit tough and there are a fair amount of zombies and bullets on the final wave for each.

See the All the Medals trophy for gameplay tips and strategies, as well as suggestions on what types of medals are easiest to get if you're short of the 100 you need to merely unlock all adventure levels.
All the Medals

Easy! Collect all the medals.
Easy this is not. There are 284 medals in the game, 4 for each of the 71 levels.

You'll need to really practice in order to get this trophy. There are a variety of tips and strategies that can be used depending on the type of level, mode and medal you are aiming for. Since there are so many levels which vary widely in difficulty, it's better to detail techniques and tips in general, and let you apply them as needed based on your skill and the level you are playing. Good luck!

General Gameplay
Here are some general tips and strategies that you should practice and keep in mind for all levels and modes.
- Use the D-pad to move around. The movement controls in this game can be a bit sensitive. With the analog stick, you may have the tendency to tilt it up or down slightly without knowing it and the game move your spaceman up or down accordingly, whether you wanted to or not. When you're surrounded by dozens of zombies and bullets, this is not desirable behavior. When using the D-pad, make sure to not rock your thumb back and forth too much or hold down or too much – you may move further than you intended. Press or once only when you need to move, and hold it only if you have plenty of space to maneuver in.
- Position is paramount. Where you are in relation to zombies is a huge factor in this game, otherwise you'll be quickly boxed in and it'll be game over. Know the level and learn the patterns of enemy waves – they are generally the same every time you play the level. Tailor your movement around each particular level.
- Don't fire unless you need to. You actually move slower when you are firing. So don't just fire constantly – you may need the added speed that not firing can give you.
- Never lose sight of the goal. You may want to rush across to the other side of the level to get that UFO, but unless you can safely do so, don't do it. Always focus on the particular medal you are trying to get and don't worry about things that don't affect it. So if you just need to focus on getting 10 large crystals, forget the UFOs. And don't try to get the weapon or health drops if it throws off your position.
- Effectively use jump on the top level. When you press when you're at the top of a level, you'll jump. Using this in conjunction with moving left or right allows you to jump over zombies or obstacles. You can also do this while moving backward and shooting forward – a good technique to have, particular against bats, lumpers and bullets.
- Use temporary invincibility. If you are hit by a zombie, you are invincible for a second or two. Use this to your advantage to move through zombies and obstacles and get into a better position if needed.
- Zombies react to your fire. You'll notice that when you shoot some zombies, ones above or below you might jump forward a bit in reaction. If you're quickly hopping around and firing willy nilly, you risk jumping right into a zombie in a space that was empty a moment before. Keep an eye on zombies when you fire so they don't jump into the area you're planning on going.
- Learn zombie patterns and dictate their movement. Some zombies move in a predictable way. If you are getting swamped, there are ways you get them to move which will put you at an advantage when trying to kill them. For example, Bats generally flock toward your position, but when you kill them they move away from your shots as if repelled. Many times this allows them to flank you from above or below. A good way to counteract this is to move to a level of the map with some left/right room and move towards the flock in order to get those above and below to move in that direction. Then you quickly back out and move up or down to take them out without giving up much ground. This works on Fiends as well. The more you play the game the more you'll recognize their patterns.
Maximizing Points
Many levels have medals that require you to score a specific amount. For basic Fire Fight levels where there are a set amount of enemy waves, you basically need to have perfect runs in order to meet the medal requirements. Here is what you need to do to maximize points. No level is exactly the same so you may need to experiment and tweak these strategies depending on the level.
- Boost the multiplier. This is a no-brainer. The higher your multiplier, the more points each zombie and drop is worth. You increase the multiplier by collecting crystals. Get enough crystals to fill up the meter and the multiplier increases. Note that the meter decreases over time so if you don't pick up enough crystals in time they will be wasted. There are a couple of ways to maximize crystals:
  
  The large crystals that appear every once in a while definitely help to boost a multiplier, but you can get more out of them if you wait a little bit before picking them up. This is because they emit about 10 smaller crystals before they disappear entirely (perhaps 6-8 seconds). Wait until the large crystal has been around for a while before grabbing it and you'll get more value out of it.
  
  Picking up the small crystals that zombies leave behind boost your multiplier even more. Kill a bunch of zombies grouped together, move in to collect crystals, back out and repeat. For zombies that appear on the far side of the screen, let them wander into the middle first so you can more easily get all the crystals after they are dead. Increase your multiplier as early as you can.
  
  Make sure you get enough crystals at one time to fill the meter and increase the multiplier. It sucks to have it almost full and miss out on an increase because there aren't any zombies for a few seconds.
- Kill UFOs. Always kill a UFO if you're able to. Each UFO you kill increases its base points by 100, as long as you don't get hit. If you get hit the points per UFO reset. So if you kill your 6th UFO on a stage without getting hit, it's worth 600 points. Multiply that by your current multiplier to give the final points. So a 6th UFO with a 13 multiplier is 7800 points. When you get a long streak going, you can really start to see the point benefits.
- Kill at the right pace. On Fire Fight levels, sometimes you don't want to kill zombies too quickly, or not every UFO will appear. Choose a pace that maximizes the multiplier by grouping zombies together without forfeiting some UFOs. For Survival levels, you don't need to pace anything.
- Don't get hit. On Fire Fight levels, you get extra bonuses at the end that are increased by the multiplier. One of these bonuses is a "No Lives Lost" bonus. Getting hit and not getting that bonus could lose the medal for you. This also applies to UFOs, Defusing Bombs and Space Babies - the points per UFO/Bomb/Baby increases with each you destroy/defuse/rescue without getting hit. If you get hit, the points reset. For defusing bombs and rescuing babies, this equates to a ton of points if you can keep the streak going.
Modes and Medals
Each mode, medal and combination of both requires a slightly different style of overall gameplay. Here are some general comments and tips regarding these, which you can mix and match with the tips in the previous two sections as needed.

MODE: Fire Fight – Point medals in this mode are some of the hardest ones to get. As mentioned in the "Maximizing Points" section, you'll need virtually perfect runs on a Fire Fight level to hit the point threshold for the medal. Other medals for these levels are generally easy, except for a few select levels that are tough to complete (as mentioned in Cleansed).

MODE: Boss – These are essentially the same thing as Fire Fight levels, just with a larger zombie to kill. Use the same strategies. Remember that bosses will generally retreat away from your fire so you can use that to herd them into a specific area, granted that you can dodge their bullets. Also, kill them as quickly as possible – when killed the minor bosses turn into a ball that floats around the map trying to kill you. You can't injure that ball, but it's easier to dodge that than the boss itself, shooting tons of bullets. On levels where there are two bosses visible at the same time, if you kill one, make sure you kill the second before the first respawn, otherwise the first may respawn into two separate bosses - then you'll have three to deal with at once. Which is not good.

MODE: Survival – Point medals in this mode are generally easy to get, since the only limit is how long you can last. The only real tricky medals here are the Zombie Kill ones, as some require a kill amount that greatly exceeds the amount you'd have when hitting the Point medal. For those, just focus on killing zombies, don't worry about points. Another trick to have on hand is to not kill all enemies in a particular wave - leave one alive and wait for weapon drops to cycle through until you get one you want. Then kill the last enemy, grab the drop and wail on the next wave of enemies.

MODE: Space Babies – In this mode, you don't need to personally ferry each baby to the collector on the other side. Take care of zombies by shooting them and keep an eye on those fiery boulders or barriers and depending on those, move the baby up or down a level to avoid them.

MODE: Defuse Bombs – How you attack this mode will vary depending on the layout of the map. In almost every case you want to move the bomb as close to the disposal as quickly as possible. On the Survival type of this mode, you usually can do around 5-10 bombs without any issues. Beyond that you'll need to clear out zombies on the way to the next bomb, as well as drop the bomb every once in a while to quickly kill anyone nearby. You get tons of points for defusing, particularly when you don't get hit, so make this the priority!

MODE: Decoy – The decoy in this mode doesn't last very long, and when you have tons of zombies on the screen, it's almost useless at times, because you have to dodge through all the zombies that are trying to get to the decoy. Treat these levels like normal Fire Fight and Survival levels.

MODE: Jet Pack – This mode is not difficult to master, as the jet pack makes things much easier since you can move around so fast. I would suggest you use the analog stick to move on these levels, it's better suited for the jet pack. Use the same techniques as Fire Fight and Survival and don't get hit.

MEDAL: Points – Follow all the tips in the "Maximizing Points" section. Survival levels are not difficult, but Fire Fight and Boss levels are very difficult.

MEDAL: Crystals – Treat these the same way you would for UFOs. Just focus on getting the large crystals and don't worry about things like points or X number of zombie kills. Using Survival skills and the tips under "General Gameplay" should suffice here.

MEDAL: UFOs – UFO medals are easy for the most part. If you are struggling to get medals, just go through each level and focus on UFOs only. In Fire Fight and Boss levels, where there are a set amount of zombies, don't kill them right away – wait and make sure you keep the level going long enough for all the UFOs to appear. A good strategy is to stand in the middle of the level but just to one side – you can force the next UFO to appear on the other side, since they almost always appear on the side opposite you.

MEDAL: Kill X Zombies – About half of these are easy, half hard. What makes some hard is that, particularly in Survival levels, certain zombies that you're required to kill may not appear until 3-5 minutes into the level. You won't even get a chance to kill any of them until you're well into the map. On the Boss Survival levels, good luck. Having to kill a major boss 4-5 times in the same run is tough. A good way to kill a boss quick is to get a Slow Down or Laser drop. Time your attacks wisely, particularly on the Bat Mama bosses.

MEDAL: Complete the Level – These only apply to the blue adventure levels, and you can just use the same strategy as Fire Fight or Boss. Just keep working on it. There are only a few levels that are tough to complete, as noted in Cleansed. If you can unlock all the adventure levels, you can complete them all.