[h1]Overall[/h1]
Zombie Training Simulator is a VR stand-in-place shooter you can skip due to its lack of depth and its low-effort, non-animated 2D targets. The only strength it has over other similar titles is that its ease of play and lack of gore make it relatively kid-friendly. While it's not terrible, stand-in-place shooters are one of the few genres that the VR market has plenty of. As such, whether you prefer action, realism, or just the presence of zombies, you can find those qualities in other games that are the same price or cheaper, even among shooters released around the same time as this one.
[table]
[tr]
[th]Pros[/th]
[th]Cons[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]🟩 About as kid-friendly as a VR FPS can be
🟩 One of the easiest to play VR FPSs out there
🟩 A decent selection of weapons
🟩 A large variety of leaderboards for each level/weapon combo[/td]
[td]🟧 Adversaries are all non-animated 2D targets
🟧 Adversaries largely all behave the same
🟧 Not an ideal party game despite its simplicity
🟧 Low depth means the game gets tiresome and repetitive quickly
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
[h1]Who would like it?[/h1]
You might like this stand-in-place shooter if:
1. You want a shooter without gore or the killing of living things.
2. You are looking for a low complexity, low dedication game where you can just mindless blast targets for five minutes and then be done.
[h1]Who would [b]not[/b] like it?[/h1]
Anyone who wants a stand-in-place shooter that has more depth and detail than a 15-minute experience would not like this.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
As mentioned above, this game's strongest characteristic is its simplicity. In other shooters you might have to reload a magazine, use two hands to stabilize recoil, or even manually work a bolt. In this game, you don't have to worry about any of that. It is point and shoot all the way. Easy can be good, but is it fun?
This is where my biggest complaint lies: the zombie enemies. They are essentially all 2D wooden targets. Perhaps the non-animated 2D approach saves on computer resources to allow more zombie targets to fill the screen, but it just screams low effort to me. Even the physics around damaging the wooden targets are overly simplistic. If you cut a zombie target in half, it doesn't crumple. The head and feet still float towards you as if connected by the now missing body.
Their behavior varies little too. They pretty much just head straight for you every time. Sometimes they move fast, sometimes they move slowly, but that is the extent of it. A few have some special abilities, but I mostly found them to be inconsequential and not having any impact on my tactics.
Since all targets are wood, this game is effectively goreless, which might be a plus to parents out there. Even when you get overrun by the zombies and lose, the round just instantly ends with a "dun-dun-dun" sound and a final score. No splash of blood or anything like that. It's about as G-rated as you can make a game about shooting things.
It goes without saying that you will tire of this title quickly. Even if the concept appeals to you, it's not a game you would want to play for more than 15 minutes at a time.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882404146
[h1]Game Modes[/h1]
There are six survival levels and six skill levels. The survival levels have different layouts and different avenues of approach for the targets, but they largely play out the same way. Each level progresses in waves, with each successive wave only having faster zombies and more of them.
Half of the skill modes don't play any differently than the survival levels. However, there are a couple skill modes that offer some much-needed variety. One mode times your quickness for taking down multiple targets, which would appeal to those wanting to do speed drills. Another mode emphasizes long-range shooting.
[h1]Weapons and Leaderboards[/h1]
There is a respectable selection of weapons to choose from. Ten unique firearms with some weapons additionally available in akimbo style, bringing the total up to 13 gun combination selections. The weapons vary by fire rate, magazine capacity, spread (in case of a shotgun) and penetration depth (e.g. taking out multiple targets that are overlapped with one shot).
There are no achievements for this game, but it does have an elaborate array of leaderboards. There is a separate leaderboard for each gun/level/daytime combination. So with the twelve survival and skill levels, multiplied by 13 gun selections, multiplied by day or night you get 312 separate leaderboards. It's almost excessively granular in this regard. With some practice, you might work your way up to the top score of the Forest with a MP5 during night, but doing the Forest with a MP5 during the day is a completely separate leaderboard. This granularity provides a slight incentive to play with all weapons at least once, but there are some that are better and some that you don't want to play with, unless you want the extra challenge. It also keeps a running tally of your zombie kills made with each weapon. I love the metrics, but I wish the game depth matched.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882404292
[h1]A good party game?[/h1]
It's not marketed as a party game, but titles that are made overly simplistic often get looked at as party games. Zombie Training Simulator definitely has the quickest ramp-up time of all other VR shooters I've played. However, it is only single player. Single-player games must be quite exceptional to pass as a party game (most great party games are multiplayer), or at least be fun to watch. This one doesn't stand out enough to pass those measures. I would consider it to be barely adequate in this area.
[h1]Compared to other popular games in the genre[/h1]
There are so many other VR titles where you stand in one place and shoot things. It's one of the few genres of VR that's pretty well saturated. I have played a handful and would mostly recommend any of those other games over this one.
If you want realism, get Pavlov or Onward.
For simplicity, try the bow and arrow mini-game in The Lab (it's free!).
For zombies and jump scares, I enjoyed Brookhaven Experiment even though it's an older title.
There's even a game that combines FPS with tower defense called Out of Ammo that was worth some play time.
Zombie Training Simulator normally sells for $20 which is too high for what it is. Even at free, I would more readily recommend the other games I mentioned above.
[h1]How long does it take to complete?[/h1]
Progress is mostly metered by the number of 2D wooden zombie targets you blast. The more of those you take out, the more guns that are unlocked. It took me six and a half hours to kill 30k zombies and unlock all of the guns except for the last one. The last one is the same as the second to last, only akimbo style. Other than that, there's no real story or campaign to progress through. It's just a matter of playing the various levels to get the highest score possible.
In terms of experiencing all the game has to offer, you can play all six survival levels and all six skill modes within one and a half hours.
[h1]Which VR system?[/h1]
I played this on both a HTC Vive and also the HTC Vive Pro 2. I did not have any technical issues with it.
