For those that are unfamiliar with the game, Zombie Army 4: Dead War is the 4th installment of the Zombie Army series. Developed by Rebellion, the first two Zombie Army games started out as standalone downloadable content for Sniper Elite V2 and were eventually remastered and bundled together with the third installment to make the Zombie Army Trilogy (ZAT).
Even though it is often compared to Left 4 Dead because of similar level structure and gameplay elements, Zombie Army is definitely unique in its own special way. Zombie Army 4: Dead War offers bold and exciting ideas to the table in order to keep the “Nazi Zombie sub-genre” fresh, while at the same time provides that sense of familiarity with gameplay elements that we have seen in previous Zombie Army titles and those like them. The game sets up a very dark and gritty atmosphere, while at the same time providing relief from the tension with subtle ridiculous features that make the game that much more enjoyable.
Review copy provided by Rebellion.
Story
Zombie Army 4: Dead War takes place after the events of ZAT, where the resistance has defeated Zombie Hitler and cast him into Hell. Although something doesn’t feel quite right, as the dead continue to walk the earth; much hungrier than they were before. On top of that, dark and mysterious Hell-Towers have appeared all across Italy. Players take control of 1 out of 4 zombie slayers as they travel across Italy in search of what has caused these towers to take form, and the dead to rise again.
Gameplay
Zombie Army started out as downloadable content for Sniper Elite, so it only makes sense that they share the same mechanics. In Zombie Army 4 players can choose to slay the undead either alone, or with up to three other players in the Campaign and Horde modes. Although very clunky at first, once you have adjusted to the controls the game becomes very smooth.
You must be precise, as your primary weapon is 1 of 4 available sniper rifles to choose from. Those that choose to play on the harder difficulties will need to adjust to bullet drop and wind strength/direction. The scoring system provides an addicting and competitive experience for you to compete against yourself or a group of friends.
The fetch quests are very repetitive and really not all that enjoyable. Their saving grace was the arrow at the top of the screen that told you exactly where the item that you were hunting for was. I’m also not a huge fan of the objectives that required you to defend an object from being damaged by zombies. They start out just fine, but the zombies’ one and only goal is to destroy that object. Zombies will avoid attacking the player and just go straight for the object that needs to be defended; making it very difficult to pull zombies away from said object, or just protect it in general.
Visuals
The graphics help create the dark and unsettling atmosphere of the title, while at the same time make you feel like you are playing an arcade game. The almost comic-book-esque art style of a lot of the in-game UI and collector’s edition illustrated by Luke Preece really establish the tone of the game.
Audio
The soundtrack is very well done. Coupled with the dark visuals, it adds on to the unsettling atmosphere of the game. Each new location you visit has its own unique score to help the player feel more immersed in their environment.
Touching on the subtle ridiculous moments that I mentioned earlier, the game also has many arcade-esque sound effects that chime in when the player heals or picks up ammo, as well as some other things.
Replayability
Zombie Army 4 offers close to endless replayability across all of the content it provides. With many different modes, weapons, skills, and customization options, it is hard to see where the zombie-slaying fun ends.
The Campaign mode includes nine different chapters that can be played on multiple difficulties, and each mission provides a challenge and score goal. The challenges force players to leave their comfort zone and try out other weapons or play styles in order to complete them. The score goals encourage players to play missions again and again in order to achieve that gold medal or beat their previous best.
Horde mode provides endless waves of the undead where players must test their endurance. However, after beating 12 consecutive waves, players are given the option to escape the nightmare anytime they wish.
The weekly event allows players to unlock more customization items by completing a specific challenge on a specific chapter that has been dictated by the developers every week.
What Could Be Better
I thought the game was pretty solid all around, so rather than suggest changes to that I think would improve the game, I am going to address some bugs that I encountered throughout my time playing. Although there wasn’t anything completely game-breaking, Zombie Army 4 had a few more bugs than I would like to have seen. I’m sure that they will get patched in no time, and I will soon no longer have to worry about them, but I thought I would bring attention to them now, as they did hinder my experience a bit.
Most of the bugs I encountered were tied to objectives and progression. There were multiple instances where I needed to clear an area of zombies to remove a blood seal that was blocking my path, but the blood seal would not disappear after the zombies had been wiped from existence; forcing me to revert my last checkpoint. Other times, I would notice that a zombie had fallen through the floor, making it completely impossible to kill him and remove the blood seal.
Letterboxes popping up on my screen at seemingly random times was another bug that happened quite often; they would never go away unless I revert my checkpoint. As I progressed through the game and this happened more and more, I believe I can attribute the cause to the kill cam mechanic. After I took a shot, the game would appear to go into the kill cam mode, but never actually follow through; leaving me with these annoying letterboxes that covered up most of my HUD.
Again, none of these were seriously game-breaking, and I got over them pretty quickly, but I just thought I would bring attention to them.
Verdict
If you can get past the annoying bugs that accompany any brand new game during its launch phase, I definitely recommend you pick up Zombie Army 4: Dead War right now! The game is fast-paced and hectic, providing tons of arcade fun. With the amount of content in the game now, and plans for content later, Zombie Army 4: Dead War is definitely worth that $49.99 price tag.
