this is a very fun horde wave survival game more in the vein of war z than nazzombies as i thought, which is okay -- however in both directions it leaves some to be desired. in spite of the incredibly polished and fun gunplay in third person that has very clearly given intense attention to balance (a large reason why this game is fun in conjunction with its map design)
however, there are some major problems with the game and im making this positive because i want to encourage the dev to continue and because i love what the game has already but here we go:
so this is why i hate that reviews have to be positive or negative, because what we have here is a very polished in terms of visuals, movement, shooting feel, and balancing third person wave survival shooter -- with alot of emptiness and need for deeper interactions with the already well setup mechanics. the thing is the maps are pretty empty in a way that doesnt get accounted for because the zombie ai doesnt understand how to properly navigate them. the maps, while very well designed and allow for a ton of really fun crouch jumping/platforming movement to find good spots to run and snipe from; the zombies have absolutely no means of tracking you past a certain point. if you climb on the roof on the base for example, while fun and you should be able to, the zombies will eventually get stuck somewhere and force you to come down. there is a likely chance youll die because you cant find the zombie until you see where its pathing got messed up trying to chase you. the bigger zombies cant fit inside of buildings, making it cheap to kill them especially near traps. boss zombies seemingly dont matter much besides damage and would benefit from having some sort of vomit projectile attack to account for both getting stuck and verticality. furthermore, the zombies should be able to climb and crawl so they can chase you on roofs and navigate around things for pathing easier. this would also create a more organic challenge to the width and verticality in the games map design so that it would lend so nicely as well as fun to climb and run away while climbing. perhaps add a mount and climb to this affect sometime but crouch jumping is fine to get over a bunch of stuff in a fun way. HOWEVER, this game NEEDS a melee, also maybe consider a weapon fire type toggle on guns? more mystery box weapons are always nice, but perhaps if you dont have many wall guns to add more special box only weapons or different roll chances per box maybe? to that affect, the wall gun buys are pretty much useless and only a few of them are around, seeing as they are not unique or super powerful guns -- this mechanic like many others in the game, seem like a very solid beta.
furthermore, some sorts of equipment would be nice, not necessary but with the class system already set up it would add so much versatility to why you choose different classes as well as the war z atmosphere and gameplay style you are trying to create so theres differentiation in map interaction between the characters and how they defend or attack. i would add things like grenades, deployable turrents that can be upgraded or something, additionally -- an upgrade station. this is obvious but even if you just made it to upgrade equipment like turrents it would seriously increase the games depth. the game scales really well and gets chaotically fun on higher rounds, but the zombies still do have a hard time finding you.
encourage exploration further, if you want a completely open version of the map than do that and you should but you need more traps, perhaps special rounds/random events, the ability to use the maps terrain and itself to your advantage, more special easter eggs to find perhaps, more wall buys, more secret or hidden weapons, different points for things like sniping from really high places you have to climb to, things like that. also, there should be versions of each of the maps that have more buyable doors that are meaningful segments of the map being purchased with things to find also knowing that the lanes and training spots are being organically created. so in that case, make the buyable doors have something behind them, even if it is getting to a really good sniping spot with a mystery box or buyable sniper on the wall (you seriously need to update the maps with more buyable wall guns and doors so they dont feel so empty and make the exploreation feel constricted to finding zombies). more diverse traps in addition to more of them, PLEASE make it so you can shoot through things and zombies can climb. not being able to shoot through the trees is absolutely killer and a pretty big oversight, especially when i can get where im hiding and *some* of the zombies can. again, i love the navigation and variety of hiding places for weapon diversity and playstyle balance, this game is seriously well balanced, the zombies just need to be able to find you once you hide in a pipe lol.
also to add further dynamism, perhaps adding things like airdrops every so often or make the bosses themselves more of an even. finally and one of the most important things, PLEASE asses maps segment by segment to add something interesting to explore or interact with that is considered in its flow to the other segments training spots and traps so that more traps, wall weapons, buyable doors, and boxes can be addded with more diversity, a secondary zoom, and:
PLEASE add a melee, make it so those zombies can path better by climbing, and please oh goddess add a more detailed settings menu system please. add/adjust and do all of these things to some degree while making sure to go back and account for these things in the old as well as new maps -- and i PROMISE you you will have a brilliant game. otherwise, as it is, escape z is a very good, if simple, and polished time that has the potential legs to be so so so SO much more than it already is, and im excited for the future of its development! (: <33333333333333
keep it up dev, dont get discourage by lack of attention (please really use this feedback), im looking forward to the games future updates; and you can message me if you need any feedback or help adjusting for/asking about any of these ideas i had regarding attention to detail. OH, and more powerups pls pls pls pls
much love and take care,
ashliana (: <3333333
