Like all zombie games that make their way onto our consoles or PC’s, ZombiU has had to answer the same questions that its predecessors had to. Will it be as good as my last zombie experience? Will it perform like the last game I played? Will it have all the things I loved about all of those other games packed into this new package? And the answer is simply, no. And thank goodness, because we have played all of those games already and what we need is something new and exciting and after spending an obscene amount of hours with ZombiU I was as happy to walk away feeling like I indeed had that unique gaming experience.
CONTROLS: Right off the bat, that “unique experience†has LOADS to do with the fact that I’m playing it on a Next Gen console with a completely different (and awesome) game pad. But Ubisoft doesn’t stop with that and rest on their laurels. This could have very easily been a game pad tech demo that just so happened to have zombies involved. Nintendo has gone down this path before on the Wii with no success. Lots of shake here and waggle there! For no other reason than to show you that you can shake, waggle and well…roll Just to interact with your game.
No, Ubisoft has done some real interesting things to include the gamepad in your experience and they don’t feel like an afterthought. For example, your character travels the streets of London with a back pack. And over the course of the game you are going to need to access items that are stored in the pack.
Now traditionally when we access a menu screen to get our ammunition or health items the game will pause and an item menu will appear on the screen. At this point you can take your time sifting through and equipping the items you need, un-pause the game, and carry on. This is not the case with ZombiU. When you need to access your back pack you character will remove it and place it on the floor. You then have to look down at the gamepad touch screen as though you’re looking into the opening of your pack. A very subtle and very cool game mechanic and really gives you a sense that you are connected to the actions of your on screen character. This also adds to the tension because (I haven’t mentioned it but I’m sure you’ve figured it out) the game doesn’t pause while your rummaging through your back pack, inventory management and use all takes place IN GAME! And just like in real life if you have your nose buried in your carry on, you won’t notice the zombies on screen that are approaching you from every side shuffling in to make you a meal. As in life, you are not protected by a pause button here. If you need a med pack or ammo for your gun you better find it and equip it fast because the undead are not waiting for you to get prepared.
ATMOSPHERE: This real time tension only adds to the overall feel of the game. It’s dark, and creepy. You aren’t running down a well-lit city street carrying a small arsenal on your back with Navy seal reflexes gunning down hordes of walkers.
It’s entirely the opposite. You’re being guided by an unseen friend (no spoilers here, you’ll have to try the game out to find out who) you are on bite sized missions that will require scavenging or clearing an area of a mob of walkers or protecting your safe house. These are real life tasks and you will need to make real life decisions. Your character is the everyman/woman. Simply put, they are how YOU would be in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Unless you’re reading this review and you ARE currently a Navy seal or a Ranger, then no, it wouldn’t reflect YOUR lifestyle at all!
GAMEPLAY: Your character is under equipped for the most part, your main defense comes from a cricket bat and the damage it deals, well….try wrapping a coconut in duct tape and see how many swings from a bat it would take to split it. That’s how hard it is to take down a walker in ZombiU. The challenge is high, but not frustrating or impossible. The gamepad is responsive and the motion control elements are used at the right moments. You really get a sense of “phew! I survived that, ok let me catch my breath and move onâ€
You’re also not dealing with 40 walkers at a time and the level design is wonderful. It’s always giving you the option to flee, climb a fence or board up a door. You don’t need to fight, you just need to survive. And therein lays the real charm of ZombiU. You and your friend’s successes and failures are tracked on a public leader board. And every time you die, you immediately want to jump right back in the game and try to progress even further. But here’s the catch, when you respawn in the safe room you’re NOT the character you were when you died. NO SIR! That character is dead and gone and you will NEVER be them again. You are a brand new survivor trying to get one step further than the last guy/gal and get yourself to safety. Oh yea, all the gear you collected in your pack as the last survivor, well it’s still on his/her back and he/she is currently undead and shuffling around London somewhere. So if you want all your gear back you’re going to have to find the previous survivor, kill him/her and take your stuff! This is BRILLIANT game design that really adds another level of challenge and realism to the overall experience.
VERDICT: ZombiU is a huge success for me. It takes a genre that has saturated the current market and offers up a fresh new way to experience it. Again, the new console and game pad add a lot to said experience but that’s what makes this undead romp uniquely Nintendo. This game would not be what it is today on other consoles and if released later for the 360 or PS3 may not hold the same charm and replay-ability. This is not the only reason to invest in a WiiU, Nintendo has already and will continue to give us reasons to do that. This is however, the best way to have a unique undead experience on any of the current consoles.
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