TL:DR: Really cool game, you control a horde of zombies taking over a scientific facility. EPILEPSY WARNING PLEASE GET AWAY FROM THIS GAME IF YOU HAVE EPILEPSY IT WILL KILL YOU
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Pros:
- Controlling the horde has no right to be this satisfying. I cant think of a single time the zombies did something I didn't think they would. The developer clearly put a lot of effort and care into how the zombies act. They group up like a movie scene, they won't run two inches away from a person just because you didn't click that person specifically, they'll still eat them. They go around obstacles the way you'd expect, and have surprisingly good pathfinding. The controls aren't "go specifically in this direction" but rather "go to this position", and the zombies choose how to get there in a way that makes sense.
- This game feels good. The Zombies will growl when you give them a new place to go, aka immediate feedback to the thing you do most often. This game's "weapons" are easily swapped between using the number keys 1-5, and you can tell pretty quickly which one is selected by the particles around your zombies, as well as the noises made while they are used, aka immediate ans continued feedback. You quickly get to understand just how each weapon affects enemies, and in what situation to use them in. It's satisfying to pick the right one for the right opponent, and watching your horde tear through a group of guards because you made the right choice is a terrific feeling.
- This game has charm. Throughout the game you are guided by an AI who addresses you directly, and helps you through things. I'll talk more about how, but the AI has noticeable character traits and, at my halfway point in the game (I played mostly offline, my playtime on my account isn't accurate. I've played for at least ~3 hrs) the character of the AI seems to genuinely see the zombies as at least a tool worth protecting. You can enter the menu for the weapons, and find one of them (the one that makes enemies's heads pop off) was originally a medication for erectile dysfunction. That joke was left in for people who are looking for more info and entering an optional menu get to have a laugh.
- The graphics are good. Some of this can be considered charm, some of it subjective, but it's worth talking about. The zombies are never easily confused for something else, the colours used allow for clearly distinguishing between each different element in the game easily and quickly, The sprites are simple, but good. I adore how the walls seem to be done with a sprite stack, I've always loved unusual methods of 3D/2.5D rendering and it's great to see such a cool use of sprites, sprite stacks, and paricles that may be 3D, may be prerendered, may be 2D, but are certainly cool.
- The music and sound effects are fitting. Not much I have to say. The sound effects work well with communicating what's happening. The music is fast and chaotic, fitting the game.
- The gameplay is surprisingly, not completely mindless. You can look into a room, see where the guards are preparing for you to come from, then look at the map to organise a different way to surprise them. You might want to have no weapon in order to eat a small group easily. You might want to select one that kills enemies without letting you assimilate them if there are multiple powerful ones. There's some really good counterplay and the game can throw some wacky things at you, but it's always something you can work around.
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Kinda iffy parts:
- While I don't have much of a problem with it, and most people would probably agree that it's for character building, the AI does kind of catcall the player. Not a big deal and, again, I think it builds the character of the AI and distinguishes themselves, as well as kind of giving the vibe that they aren't completely sane talking to a group of zombies in that way.
- At the end of each level, there's an elevator you use to transfer your current horde to the next level. Problem is, I had a bug where my horde was at least 30, but only 2 zombiez got picked up and put in the next level. It's not impossible to beat, you do get put into a room with easy kills at the start of each level, but it is annoying and makes the game harder than it should've been. Other than that, I haven't actually seen a bug that affects gameplay, good job 80_boom!
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Criticism:
- This game, like I MAD3 A G4ME W1TH Z0MB13Z 1N IT !!!1!11111!!1!!!, has a lot of flashing lights. It isn't hard to see past them, but there's no option to turn them off, or minimise them. I get that 80_boom is an Indie dev, and there is a warning when you start up the game so it isn't terrible, but still a valid criticism in my opinion.
- The in game menus are annoying. I didn't even realise that there was a pause button until hours into the game, because it's a literal button you have to move your mouse to on screen. Pretty easy fix, as far as I'm aware, just bind the escape key to opening that pause menu/close whatever menu is open. Same thing with the map, I keep missing it and sending my zombies somewhere I don't mean to. Plus, when you beat a level it prompts you to go to the next one or replay the current one, and while it's easy to tell which one you're selecting at the moment, it isn't easy to tell where one button ends and the other begins.
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Overall, it's a fun and underrated game. This was well designed, and my concerns are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. It's fun, it's flashy, the soundtrack is good, it's an indie, but most importantly its FREE! If you like the concept, even a little, give it a shot! You've nothing to lose by playing an unederappreciated indie title.
