I have spent the last few days playing Saber Interactives fresh new take on the zombie shooter genre, World War Z. There was a lot of hype surrounding this game in the months leading up to its release and while there is no doubt that World War Z is an exciting new addition into the zombie shooter genre, does it live up to the hype?
The game is a cooperative third-person shooter in which four players fight against massive hordes of zombies in four locations: Moscow, New York, Jerusalem, and Tokyo. Players can choose from six classes, including Gunslinger, Hellraiser, who specializes in using explosives, Fixer, Medic, Slasher, who uses a melee weapon, and Exterminator, who specializes in crowd control. New perks and weapons can be unlocked for each of the classes as players progress in the game. The game can support up to 1000 enemies appearing on-screen simultaneously, and they can climb onto each other to reach players on a higher level. Players can collect different items in the battlefield, but their locations are procedurally generated. In addition to fighting zombies, players also need to complete different objectives, such as escorting survivors, in each location. The game features five competitive multiplayer modes. The Player vs Player vs Zombie mode pits two teams of players against each other while the zombie hordes attack both teams. Other modes include Swarm Deathmatch, Swarm Domination, and King of the Hill.
The first thing you'll notice when playing World War Z is just how good it looks. The graphics are quirky yet brilliant. The maps are very well designed and you can tell that Saber Interactive clearly put a lot of thought and effort into level design. Not only are the maps brilliantly designed, so are Saber Interactives zombie mutations. You’ll quickly see how the zombies in World War Z somehow manage to be both terrifying and hilariously awkward at the same time, something I hope is intentional. Falling over each other is a regular occurrence which as well as being funny does add to that immersion as after the initial element of humour in the situation I took a moment to sit back and appreciate the realism behind this mechanic.
One of my biggest dislikes in the game is the lack of stealth when playing campaign. From what I gathered from the trailers this game would be 80% all guns blazing but also that 20% stealth and so far I am struggling to see a stealth component at all. I can sneak all I like but the second there is a zombie in the distance one of the NPC’s you are lumbered with decides to try and take them out, often leaving you extremely vulnerable to an attack you weren’t prepared for.
Another one of World War Z’s biggest shortcomings at this stage is lack of diversity. There are not enough game modes to change things up a bit. Especially for those who like to enjoy a game solo and play through the campaign at their own pace and skill level. Each level, despite being extremely well designed, is essentially the same think. I'd like an extra game mode or 2 to stop the game feeling extremely repetitive. A survival mode maybe? I'm sure extra maps, game modes and even mutations will come with time and future DLC etc.
Having said that however, the content there is extremely enjoyable. It just isn’t enough to stop the game from feeling just a little short on things to do. Honestly I'm probably being a bit harsh on it. I don't know what I expected as its easy to forget that it is after all an online multiplayer/co-op so it's fairer to compare it to games like Fortnite or Call of Duty multiplayer rather than games like Resident Evil and The Division and with that in mind it suddenly feels like there’s much more on offer.. Single player itself offers four different cities all with multiple narrative driven tasks to complete give each mission a sense of achievement, rather than the usual hot mess of repetition online multiplayer games like call of duty etc tend to be.
A Cool variety of enemy types like screamers and creepers give something else to think about when either rushing head on or tracking back for ammo there's always another dimension to your gameplay. Obviously the big drawcard for World War Z is that climbing zombie horde, you know the one.. I can tell you it is as satisfying to take down as you can imagine. Whether it be with rifles, grenades, grenades launchers or rocket launchers you will get that sense of achievement every single time Gunplay is a little clunky and NPC narration needs work. You can find your team mates repeating the same 3 or 4 sentences in the space of 60 seconds.
Overall WWZ is a fun game especially when playing with friends. If you had a dedicated squad to play with you would most definitely have a great time. I spent the majority if the time either solo or in random squads and had just as enjoyable an experience. There's a lot of positives but there are without a doubt a few, albeit fixable negatives that are still existent at my time of writing this review. Once these issues are fixed I would possibly rethink my score to something a little higher. Until then I feel my score if a fair reflection of the games current state.
OVERALL SCORE - 7/10
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