I've had this game since 2017, and it has been fun to see some of the changes over the years, but a majority of updates are focused on making more chapters when the early game needs a severe makeover.
This game is [b]not[/b] balanced well at all. I've played this game for almost 10 hours, yet I have found the first two chapters to be so challenging that I cannot get further into the game. It would be nice to see the other [i]20 chapters in this game[/i], but I repeatedly find myself in situations in the first two chapters that I just can't beat. I used to think this game was just trying to be challenging just for the sake of being challenging, but now I just think it is just poor game design.
For example:
[olist]
[*] Right now when you get hit, your camera shakes as though you were just blasted by a shotgun in the chest. This can make it very difficult to defend yourself.
[*] The muzzle flash is so severely bright that it makes the above issue worse.
[*] It is very difficult or sometimes basically impossible to grab some items from where they are because you cannot crouch to grab them and they seem to need to be 1 foot from your face to be grabable despite the button prompt appearing when you look at things no matter the distance.
[*] The zombies are way too fast for such a claustrophobic area. They do not need to be slow zombies, but these guys will get in your face way too fast.
[*] The zombies are overall dumb. This may seem like it should make the game easier, but it doesn't. They will not chase you if they do not have a direct line of sight with you. This makes it difficult to attack them from around corners. They also will see you almost immediately even if their back is turned, making "sneak attacks" nonexistent. You can stand on items to prevent them from damaging you though.
[*] The zombies have the ability to harm you way too quickly. If you get in a bad spot, you are likely dead in less than 5 seconds. They can hit you like more than once per second. It is ridiculous.
[*] The map design is good, but the enemy placement is horrendous. There are multiple rooms you will enter where they will just spawn enemies around you. It is not subtle, and you will most likely not survive it and will have to remember it next time after you reset.
[*] I have had chapter saving issues with this game. I have beaten Chapter 1, played Chapter 2, and then came back a different day and the option to play Chapter 2 was gone. This could have been caused by an update cycle, and to be completely transparent this was about a year and a half ago, so it could be fixed now(but I am not hopeful).
[*] When you go into chapter 2 without having the weapons saved from the previous chapter, it spawns you with very little, making it almost impossible to play. Again this could have been fixed since I haven't played Chapter 2 since I had that saving issue.
[/olist]
I want to see this game succeed, but if it gets released in this current state people are going to get frustrated, and no one is going to see whatever is in fabled Chapter 20 or even Chapter like 7 tbh. And I don't mean to sound narcissistic or arrogant, but I'm not a casual player at these games. I played this game with previous skill with zombie/shooter games and I'm having a difficult time playing this game.
If I ever notice quality in the beginning go up, I will change my review to positive as long as I am able to make it to Chapter 3 without major issues.
