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Review: Zombi

If there’s one thing we here at Stevivor have always loved — apart from video games, of course — it’s horror. Whether it’s the sci-fi horror of the Aliens series, the surreal horror of Hellraiser, or the kitschy appeal of George Romero’s Dead series, we love it all. In recent times, there’s been a surge in the popularity of both vampires and zombies, and while there are those that claim to be tired of “all the zombie games/TV shows/movies,” we hunger for more. ZombiU first arrived to fill part of that need back at the Wii U’s launch, and now is back for a go on the Xbox One and PS4 as, simply, Zombi.

The game doesn’t put players into the shoes of a single character and follow their story along a fixed arc (it kid of does, but more on that later). There IS an arc, don’t get us wrong, but famously, the standard play mode of this title resurrects players as a new identity should they come up against insurmountable odds.

This mechanic is both wonderful and confusing at the same time. It is wonderful in that players are forced to hunt down their zombified former self in order to retrieve collected items from their “Bug Out Bag” (BOB, for short – it’s just a backpack in everyday vernacular), and it’s this sense of permadeath that really adds heightened tension. However, the story just makes no sense, considering it’s happening to multiple individuals.

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On first loading the game, you will wake as (whoever) aged (whatever), who is a (some profession) — the game provides this information, perhaps to humanise the character, and it does work as such. A disembodied voice known as “the Prepper” (because he’s always prepared, natch) will guide you along the game’s somewhat linear path. The weird thing, though, is that rebirth as a new character (following death by zombie bite of whatever the case may be) results in… continuation of the story as if nothing happened. You wake in the same bed that your last character occupied. Alone. For the most part, it was easy to shake this off and continue on our merry way, but it annoyed me every time we died… and we died fairly often.

The beauty of Zombi lies partly in what we’ve already outlined, but also in the way in which your rucksack works. Hitting the back button on your controller (formerly, a downward swipe on the Wii U GamePad) shows you the contents of your pack. In the Wii U release, item management was very tense as you had to take your eyes from your TV screen to concentrate on the GamePad. This tension remains on current-gen consoles as the backpack’s contents simply take up all of your view on-screen. Scanning, however has taken a nose dive, as hitting the shoulder button simply puts a ‘scan’ overlay onto your screen rather than forcing you to use a second screen mechanic as in ZombiU.

New characters will always start with two particular items – a pistol with six bullets, and a cricket bat. The cricket bat is invincible, and is the go-to weapon for smashing zombie heads. The pistol (and other weapons found during the game) can also be upgraded with item upgrades strewn throughout levels, providing a basic RPG-like element to the game. New upgrades to Zombi include improvements to the flashlight.

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Graphically, Zombi remains as charming as ZombiU . Dark, gritty, and cluttered, this FEELS like London after the zombie apocalypse. Environments are varied, vistas are awe inspiring, water is realistic (and occasionally coated with an oily residue) — it looks great. Word of warning, though: don’t turn up the brightness too much. This game is MEANT to be difficult to make out. Turning up the brightness actually makes the game look terrible, as it clarifies some of the techniques used to create the unique perspective.

One issue with the game lies around the number of environments. There are four or five main zones, each divided into subsections, and players will return to each throughout the game in order to track down certain information. Some pathways are blocked until players find C4 later in the game, which we felt was a little too convenient.

Zombi is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s frustrating to control at times, slow-paced, the story makes little sense, and — if you’re impatient like us — it’s difficult. Let’s not gloss over the fact that death will send you back to your safehouse, meaning you need to make your way back through to where you were previously, which is more frustrating than it seems (what with loading times between areas). Still, it’s the first game that has really made us FEEL like we was trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse, and it had exactly the right amount of tension and jump scares to make me happy for a long time to come.

Zombi is a re-release that can really be summed up in one word: competent. If you’ve already played it on Wii U, there’s not much new to experience; we’d suggest giving it a miss. If you haven’t played it on Nintendo’s two-screened console, we’d suggest getting it there and at a bargain bin price. Alas, if you’re Wii U-less and into horror, this is one game worth consideration.

Zombi‘s review is an amended version of our review of ZombiU on Wii U. This amended review was completed using a promotional code on Xbox One, as provided by the publisher.

 

Review: Zombi
6.5 out of 10

The good

  • A unique zombie experience, now available for those without a Wii U.
  • Tension from the backpack has been retained.

The bad

  • Nothing really new for previous Wii U players.
  • Tension from using the scanner has been lost.

Want to know more about our scoring scale?


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About the author

Greg Newbegin

Proud father of two, and a lover of games. Retro collector, writer, and fan of all things Japanese. I love all gaming machines equally.

About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.