Bloodporne Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 So I recently finished Zombi, the PS4 port of ZombiU, twice in a row because it's a fucking great and fun mid-tier game and felt like I should recommend this to fans of Survival Horror titles here because it seems to have gone all but unnoticed. Maybe it's because I didn't have a WiiU and didn't pay attention but...whatever. It's currently on sale for $8.99 and very much worth it. A bit janky and flawed here and there but atmosphere and gameplay-wise, this is one of the best Horror games I've played in quite some time. Apparently the PS4 version isn't as cool as the OG WiiU version with the obvious lack of a second screen which used to function as the map and inventory system but since I never had the pleasure of playing it, I didn't miss it. It kind of reminds me of Condemned with less finicky controls, the addition of firearms and great level design. There are many unique little touches, creativity and ambition to be found here. It is slightly held back by its budget and more on the short side (although first run did take me 12 hours approximately), especially graphics-wise. One unique mechanic it has going that I should point out is the way death works. The game revolves around a safe house in the London subway system and you play as a random survivor dropped into the middle of an apocalyptic scenario. A little info card, like a driver license screenshot kind of, is provided for some basic details of your current character. If you're killed, that's it for that character and "you" wake up back at the safe house as a new survivor/person entirely without any of your collected gear. It's up to you to make it back to the now-dead survivor you had previously played and pick all your shit up again. By this time they may have turned into a zombie, or not, and you may have to kill your previous self first. It creates a really tense attachment to your "life" somehow, which I was surprised by. You're quite fragile and various zombie types, environmental hazards and you yourself with molotovs etc. can get really dangerous quickly and while not incredibly difficult, it's no walk in the park either. Resources are on the scarce side and each bullet counts in good Survival Horror tradition. The ugly is mainly on the technical side as the game did freeze on me three times during my initial playthrough and saves are manual at the safehouse only. Some janky-ass bugs happen like not being able to pick up an item on a stair incline and typical mid-tier type nonsense like that but gladly the core mechanics are quite tight and work as intended albeit a bit stiffly. There are hardly any cutscenes at all and story is mainly told via documents strewn throughout the world and environmental clues and it's actually quite cool and highly atmospheric. Anyway, its reception seems to have been lukewarm but I personally think it's a truly great and unique, if slightly flawed, game that I can't help think was a bit misunderstood. The marketing I do remember paints it more as an Action title, especially considering it's first person and yeah...it's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slug Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I second this recommendation. Played through this one back on the WiiU and it was really really fun. Good challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 22 minutes ago, Slug said: I second this recommendation. Played through this one back on the WiiU and it was really really fun. Good challenge. What I forgot in my huge rant that I appreciate the most really is that it's cleverly designed all-around really. It has clear budget limitations but it feels very inspired and the level design, enemy types vs. weaponry balance and so on is always clearly on the old school puzzle side where this gun works best for that, certain enemies have clear invulnerability to this and so on. There are also slight Metroidvania elements present which was a big plus as well. Love the idea of coming back to previous areas to find new abilities and/or areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Pretty old game. I'm pretty sure everyone's had their shot at it by now. I have it on steam already must have gotten it a long time ago. I only really played it on the Wii-U when it first came out but I did enjoy what I played of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nokt Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Also $9 on amazon for the WiiU version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
number305 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 This must have been a free game at some point... I have it on Xbox and I didn't know I owned it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 I know it's just three replies but yeah, it's a very overlooked title for some reason that's a bit bizarre to me. It may be visually unimpressive and archaic at first but don't let that fool you, it's highly atmospheric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paperclyp Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 It was fairly recognized at the time of its release because it made unique use of the Wii U screen. The ports were good too. I have it. It was free on PS+ a couple years ago. Someday would like to play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxEvil AshxX Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 4 hours ago, number305 said: This must have been a free game at some point... I have it on Xbox and I didn't know I owned it. It was a GWG at some point. I have it in my install list as well. ZombiU was actually one of the very few games that used the Wii U gamepad to its potential. The scanning feature, using it as your inventory screen, map radar, etc. was super handy. It acted as your headset when the guy would talk to you over the walkie-talkie (I guess the PS4 does this too?). The online was actually pretty cool too.. whenever someone would die, they would appear in your game as a zombie. If you killed them, you could loot their body and get whatever they were carrying on them. Some people would be a goldmine if you happened to get a player that was loaded when they died. The only downside was the the gameplay was pretty clunky on the WiiU, mainly because the gamepad itself was clunky. It probably controls a lot better on the PS4/XBO but it loses all the functionality that made it unique in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 4 hours ago, number305 said: This must have been a free game at some point... I have it on Xbox and I didn't know I owned it. I have it in Xbpx as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 53 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said: It was a GWG at some point. I have it in my install list as well. ZombiU was actually one of the very few games that used the Wii U gamepad to its potential. The scanning feature, using it as your inventory screen, map radar, etc. was super handy. It acted as your headset when the guy would talk to you over the walkie-talkie (I guess the PS4 does this too?). The online was actually pretty cool too.. whenever someone would die, they would appear in your game as a zombie. If you killed them, you could loot their body and get whatever they were carrying on them. Some people would be a goldmine if you happened to get a player that was loaded when they died. The only downside was the the gameplay was pretty clunky on the WiiU, mainly because the gamepad itself was clunky. It probably controls a lot better on the PS4/XBO but it loses all the functionality that made it unique in the first place. That sounds really cool honestly. On PS4, the controller speaker functions as walkie talkie and it's a cool little gimmick and will often startle the fuck out of you. The controls aren't regular FPS 'smooth' seeing how it's not a high-paced Action thing but they definitely work as intended and responsively with the game's design. There's also a quick turn button on R1 which somehow made it feel even more old school Survival Horror. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Yeah the biggest feature of the game was looking at the Wii-U pad to do inventory stuff while things carried on onscreen. It was soulsy in a way but you could see enemies coming instead of seeing your inventory on screen. I'm sure the game is fine without but it was a really cool feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimpleG Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 6 hours ago, Paperclyp said: It was fairly recognized at the time of its release because it made unique use of the Wii U screen. The ports were good too. I have it. It was free on PS+ a couple years ago. Someday would like to play it. I almost bought it on Steam but then your post reminded me I got it with PS+ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 13 hours ago, Bloodporne said: That sounds really cool honestly. On PS4, the controller speaker functions as walkie talkie and it's a cool little gimmick and will often startle the fuck out of you. The controls aren't regular FPS 'smooth' seeing how it's not a high-paced Action thing but they definitely work as intended and responsively with the game's design. There's also a quick turn button on R1 which somehow made it feel even more old school Survival Horror. Yeah, it's more of a reason why I enjoy all the Dual Shock changes this gen. Love the speaker and touch pad. Zombi took me by surprise as well. I think it came out on PS+ around 2016, and I played it and just was hooked. I usually dislike stuff that involves dying and getting a new character since I don't enjoy rogue-likes as much, but this was different since nothing was procedurally generated and you could get back all your items from your previous character's dead body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 1 hour ago, SaysWho? said: Yeah, it's more of a reason why I enjoy all the Dual Shock changes this gen. Love the speaker and touch pad. Zombi took me by surprise as well. I think it came out on PS+ around 2016, and I played it and just was hooked. I usually dislike stuff that involves dying and getting a new character since I don't enjoy rogue-likes as much, but this was different since nothing was procedurally generated and you could get back all your items from your previous character's dead body. There are many aspects that I'd dislike in theory potentially yet were executed in a really tense, yet always engaging and exciting way. The way they handled that character thing is actually extremely engaging. I thought it'd be just a gimmick but the little voice acting there is sounds really emotive and 'scared' and it really made feel attached to the poor fuckers. I made it something like 5 hours in with my first girl and have never been so upset dying in a game haha. I'd also like to add that for my money, it features one of the most flat-out scary as shit sections/locations I've ever seen in a game. Let's not spoil it for anyone if they might play but when THAT area happened with its lore backstory, I almost turned the console off in a fit of shock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 You guys are making me want to play this now. About how long is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 7 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said: You guys are making me want to play this now. About how long is it? It's not a very long game. 12 to 13 on my first run and I like to explore everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EternallDarkness Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 I do remember trying this one a long while back and WiiU, but it just didn't click with me at the time. If I recall correctly when you die everything gets left with your corpse when you respawn, right? That kind of thing always puts me off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 ED discovers Roguelites ITT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 18 hours ago, EternallDarkness said: I do remember trying this one a long while back and WiiU, but it just didn't click with me at the time. If I recall correctly when you die everything gets left with your corpse when you respawn, right? That kind of thing always puts me off. 18 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said: ED discovers Roguelites ITT. The thing is, I normally am not a big fan of roguelike games, but I felt the implementation here was great. You didn't actually lose all your stuff, you kept all your upgrades, you could get your items back, and you weren't actually dying all the time, so it wasn't this constant battle of losing all your shit and restarting with a different guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, SaysWho? said: The thing is, I normally am not a big fan of roguelike games, but I felt the implementation here was great. You didn't actually lose all your stuff, you kept all your upgrades, you could get your items back, and you weren't actually dying all the time, so it wasn't this constant battle of losing all your shit and restarting with a different guy. I don't think it has anything in common really with "roguelikes" the way I understand it. It's essentially very similar to Hollow Knight or Souls. It's very smartly done because the longer you take to get back, the more stuff ends up being missing to account for other survivors in its story. The implication is that other survivors looted your corpse the longer you take. You'll notice a certain percentage of your items decrease the longer you take. The main draw here is getting attached to your character over time. Their sounds of fear, pain etc. are quite emotively done so it feels horrible when they die. You don't actually lose anything unless you take a long time to get back to your previous character like I explained above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 8 minutes ago, Bloodporne said: I don't think it has anything in common really with "roguelikes" the way I understand it. It's essentially very similar to Hollow Knight or Souls. It's very smartly done because the longer you take to get back, the more stuff ends up being missing to account for other survivors in its story. The implication is that other survivors looted your corpse the longer you take. You'll notice a certain percentage of your items decrease the longer you take. The main draw here is getting attached to your character over time. Their sounds of fear, pain etc. are quite emotively done so it feels horrible when they die. You don't actually lose anything unless you take a long time to get back to your previous character like I explained above. Yeah, it's not quite a roguelike, in large part (I think) because the world isn't procedurally generated. You'll always be able to track exactly where you died. I didn't really get attached to the character I used, but that's not why I enjoyed the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Just now, SaysWho? said: Yeah, it's not quite a roguelike, in large part (I think) because the world isn't procedurally generated. You'll always be able to track exactly where you died. I didn't really get attached to the character I used, but that's not why I enjoyed the game. It's just a cool little sidenote for me as well. The level design, encounters and so on are where its at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameDadGrant Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 $8.99 sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaseknox Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 @Bloodporne It's nice to see someone else who appreciates this game as much as I do, and for all the same reasons. It's a great first person horror survival game with unique aspects, and it's a shame that it's so overlooked and underappreciated. I bought a European physical copy (it's digital only in the US) for $19.99, and I would have easily paid more for it. It's one of my favorite games this gen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 54 minutes ago, Phaseknox said: @Bloodporne It's nice to see someone else who appreciates this game as much as I do, and for all the same reasons. It's a great first person horror survival game with unique aspects, and it's a shame that it's so overlooked and underappreciated. I bought a European physical copy (it's digital only in the US) for $19.99, and I would have easily paid more for it. It's one of my favorite games this gen. I admit I kind of scoffed at it a bit and hesitated due to the incredibly generic title and silly cover combination. It just didn't really look like an interesting game on the surface but damn, I was definitely wrong there. I kind of wrote it off as being part of the The Walking Dead trend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALIEN-gunner Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 I got this free with PS+ but I haven't played it. I think I downloaded it once or twice. Maybe thrice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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