I've had this game on my wishlist for a while pre-release, so I was excited to get it when it came out and in it's current state I would and wouldn't recommend it Firstly, I'll start with things that I dislike about the game so that I end on a high, but do not that the things I am about to list will likely be subject to change (I'm hoping) and is the reason I marked Recommend as opposed to Not. (Also, for those who want to know absolutely nothing about the game, this might include what counts as spoilers, so continue at your own risk) So, How the game works is that you are meant to find blueprints across the map at Points of Interest, which is fine, however, you don't have the necessary blueprints to really survive an attack - For example, you need a sawmill to make planks, which are used for many things including building, yet, you have to unlock this by finding a randomly placed blueprint in a randomly generated world... It took me a couple of hours. (I also played for about 2 hours and quit because I figured it would save, but it quit the game like I chose but then came up with a prompt that I didn't finish the tutorial so it didn't save... I saw the quests at the side, but i figured the tutorial was roped into the game and not seperated in such a way because you have free-roam of the map during it - So, it should tell you that it doesn't save, because I almost refunded the game I was so annoyed, but I gave it another chance) The next point is the player speed - During the beginning of the game, you are told that you can run away from zombies if you need to, which is obviously a valid tactic, however, the sprint speed is only very VERY slightly faster than normal walking speed and zombies match or outpace you. Due to the small difference in walking and running, it would be more smart to have "Always Sprint" as an option and simply hold or toggle shift to enable walking as walking is used far less (Due to time contraints) - This wouldn't be too problematic but the zombies attack while running, so they just score multiple hits on you and you are forced to engage in every single encounter that you come across which can be tiring and it wastes daylight too. Progression is slow, and on the difficulty I chose (normal) you get a bunch of zombies attacking the machine every OTHER night (Bi-Nightly), but each time a waves comes around it is stronger than the wave before, but your defences are as weak as they were at the start because the stuff you need to actually defend yourself is locked behind hidden blueprints or "energy" requirements - This also makes solo play less and less enjoyable and viable as the game continues, especially when you are trying to solve the puzzles and things to continue the game Lastly is the enemy types, all zombie games need variety in their enemy roster, its a tried and tested things and that isn't the issue - the problem is the types that are in there, seeing as the damage you can deal is very minor each zombie doesn't feel like a frail husk of a once human, it feels more like a fleshy tank that requires constant pummeling to whittle down - add this to a group and you're gonna have an awkward time - But one enemy type has armour on and doesn't respond to any form of recoil-inducing attacks, and thus just attacks through them to hit you and another is one that wears a black coat and has a shovel, he charges a move up and spends the next literal 8 seconds or so spinning around like a beyblade doing damage to everything he touches, and not only is he faster than a sprinting zombie, he is also invincible during this time too, every single option you have available does 0 damage - Guns, bombs, kicks, melee, literally invincible. And while these zombie types are kinda reasonable and kinda managable individually, when you have 15 in front of you, its annoying to say the least - couple this with the fact that they run extremely fast, you get basically 3 shots from a crappy bomb launcher which does about the same as 2 melee hits each to hit them before they are already on board. Its a huge balancing issue imo. You get a buff to increase harvesting efficiency when out solo, but playing the game solo just becomes less and less fun because you will always be on the back foot and never in a position where you think "Yeah, we actually have a chance", you literally have to repair the stuff while they're destroying it just to buy yourself some time. With those gripes out the way, I want to focus on the positives: The game does a very good job of streamlining little gamer woes which I think is very good for a game that relies on time sensitivity, for example, if you have another axe in your inventory and the one on your hotbar breaks, it automatically switches to it so you can continue without having to stop - if you don't have a backup, only then do you need to reassign it, but that is fine because you can prepare Weapons don't have ammo - guns have magazines, etc. but there is no need to constantly make bullets or arrows, which is good for a pick up and play vibe, you can stock pile guns you make or find, pick them up and use them, and combined with the action reloads (which reminds me of Gears of War) you have a skill element to it too allowing for more powerful shots or the choice to load quicker at normal firepower the items just have a durability and that is the only thing you need to consider when using tools and weapons and that is a good thing because it means your focus can remain where it needs to be - It also takes me to my next point Durability - The durability is well done in this game, in many games, durability can be an annoying factor, and though you cannot repair anything (at least in early game as far as I know) it is just about recycling old stuff to remake new ones, and, one thing this game does which so many other games does do is give you an actual numerical value to the durability (100 out of 120 for example) and you can this in the bottom corner at all times so you know how close it is to breaking, which for the above is important - the two things just work together well. Bugs - As of yet, I have not encountered any bugs outside of the occasional janky zombie movement. everything works as intended from my current play experience, which is a huge win for a new release, it shows they took the time to polish it before releasing, and I appreciate that about devs who think this way. Team play - I have yet to play it with a team, but, if the game progesses the same way (per zombie attack) as it does in solo play, then 2+ player would have more viability and could be really enjoyable as you can cover more areas that demand attention - one on defense, one on repairs, etc. Game fusion - I like the fact that they have added a nice spin on the survival craft game, mixing harvesting with a looming threat mixes up a grind and keeps it fresh and also highlights where priorities lie in your supplies and things and makes teamwork more important too - The features of the huge vehicle are good as well, like sending a flare to a location on the radar so it is an actual in-game marker that lasts for a short time, so someone being at the cockpit can actually communicate with teammates using actual mechanics and not just pings on a map, it adds to the flavour of the game, and couple the grind and the fighting with basic puzzle solving and loot chests dotted about for equipment and things, it rewards you with some small things for doing tasks that you need to accomplish to get blueprints and things and also gives that RP element (in order to move on, you need to remove the blockades that stop the vehicle, like opening massive gates for example, which require fighting lots of zombies, or finding a way up a tower), it add little elements of minor achievements that also act as hurdles stopping progression and it balances nicely in respects of the genre types
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