For almost a decade, the survival horror genre has been missing in action ever since the PS3 and Xbox 360 were released. From the release of both consoles, we rarely saw a true survival horror game experience. The release of the latest Resident Evil game gave nothing but disappointment to fans of the genre thanks to its shift in gameplay. Hoping to re-introduce the survival horror genre, Ubisoft has released ZombU exclusively on the Nintendo Wii U.
Incorporating the zombie apocalypse theme and some sort of a unique feature with the Game Pad, does ZombiU has what it takes to revive the survival-horror genre? Let’s take a look on what’s HOT and what’s NOT in our review of the game.
HOT
Scary Atmosphere
One of the things that a survival horror game needs is an atmosphere where gamers can feel the tension and fear and with ZombiU. Ubisoft hit the right spot with ZombiU. Throughout the game, players will be going through dark corners of London where they will have to rely on only a flashlight and a bat as a weapon. At every place you get into, you will immediately feel the atmosphere that the game tries to convey to its players – there will be no music or background noise that you will hear. Whenever a zombie is near you, upbeat music will commence giving players the pressure to find where the zombies are and hope they will survive. Most of the time, Zombies will come in flocks and sometimes, the best way to survive is to run away and find the safest spot. From the beginning to the end, expect to feel the tension and fear throughout.
Challenging as Demon’s Souls
Unlike other survival horror games where the gameplay can be finished very easily, ZombiU offers incredibly challenging gameplay. For those who have played Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls where death is a common thing, ZombiU will give you just about that except it’s in first person view. Throughout the game, expect to die a lot as the game is really challenging where zombies can easily surround your character in an instant. What happens when you die? Well you go switch to another character and then you can continue where you left off. Though, when you die and switch to another character, you will lose all equipment and items you obtained. The only way to get the items back is to find the player that just died and retrieve the back pack – this is very similar as to how Demon’s/Dark Souls works.
There are weapons such as pistols and assault rifle available but the scarcity of the ammo will be there. For the most part, you will be relying on the bat and yes, it will be tough to take zombies down especially when there’s a lot coming your way. A good strategy on how to escape or kill the zombies is a must in order to survive this very challenging game.
Great Use of the Game Pad
Out of all the Wii U launch titles, the ZombiU is the only game that fully best utilize the Game Pad. Instead of bringing up the inventory screen to choose weapons or check the inventory, you will simply have to look down on the Game Pad to see it. With the touch function, you can easily access your items through it. Also, another cool feature of the Game Pad within ZombiU is the way you search items. Using the gyro sensor of the game, you can pretend that you are in the game searching for items – giving innovation to play the game. As for the sounds, you will be hearing certain sounds coming from the Game Pad, aside from the ones on the TV.