Zombie Army Review (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch & PC)

Zombie Army fills a void that has been left vacant for what feels like decades, primarily with the intent to capitalize on Left 4 Dead’s global influence and its fans’ infatuation with reckless abandon and mindless violence. It doesn’t swagger its weight with the gift of the world’s greatest facets; it simply fills in the blanks and gives the people what they want: a simple shooter with just enough blood, bone, and minor heart attacks to invoke a smile every once in a blue moon. And sure, while it isn’t the most technical third-person shooter on the market, it is, in spite of all its flaws and lack of visual polish, a ravishingly good romper stomper with a notable pulse that deserves to be cherished.

To make it painfully apparent, Zombie Army isn’t a perfect series, nor is it one that delivers an exceptional standard that has the potential to leave teeth marks in its adversaries’ armored skin, for that matter. Rather, it’s a fairly simple wave-centric shooter that openly embraces its mediocrity and casually rolls with it, almost as if to rebel against the modern benchmark and prove that joy can be found within nail-biting combat and intense tactical shootouts, without the heavy-handed storyline, and without the lofty jargon and fodder of a big-budget anthology. It isn’t a bad series by any means, though, to call Zombie Army the greatest thing to happen to undead shoot ‘em ups since Left 4 Dead would be an overstatement, truly. Again, it isn’t a brilliant saga, and it doesn’t light the torch for others to follow; it simply exists within its own cocoon as a self-contained thrill fest of blood and bullet casings.

Fueling the Outbreak

Let it be said that, if you happen to be on the hunt for an engrossing storyline with a lot to shovel down your throat, then you might as well abandon Zombie Army and allocate your assault rifle to an alternate barracks. The bitter truth here is that, despite the series having something of a watered-down plot with the occasional twist or rug pull segment, the bulk of the experience is about as predictable as one might typically expect of a post-apocalyptic undead shooter. Similar to say, World War Z—yet another third-person horde battler—it primarily consists of allocating roles to survivors, and then having said survivors battle through waves of zombies over a series of drawn-out tactical missions and tower defense-like climaxes. Unfortunately, that’s about as deep as its waters run. Again, there is a plot to all of this, though, when saddled next to the core gameplay loop, it sort of gets lost.

With all of the above said, there is a question that jolts to mind here: if each episode breathes from the same tube, then is there much of a point in sinking your teeth into the entire catalog, or, alternatively, just the one? Well, herein lies Zombie Army’s saving grace — the fact that, unshakable facets aside, each sequel has, thankfully, been able to enhance a lot of the original components. For example, where the initial chapter suffered from a shorter campaign with smaller levels and an almost forgettable gameplay experience, the follow-up iterations made an effort to reinvent the wheel and incorporate new quality of life upgrades. To add, the series latched onto bulkier boroughs with greater emphasis on exploration over A-to-B combat, as well as better weapons, abilities, perks, and skill trees that allowed for more advanced customization. It was a small step, but a step in the right direction, nonetheless.

Loose Teeth & Gray Matter

I’ll admit that, while the overall journey has often felt fairly smooth and engaging, it seems that Zombie Army has never truly excelled in its ability to conjure stellar gunplay or fluid movement. To call it wooden and somewhat outdated might be a little harsh, mind you. But then, like Sniper Elite, you can almost sense that it’s an independent saga and not a full-fledged franchise with the superior audiovisual complexity of a triple-A shooter, much less the support of an entire nation of open-minded individuals. Sadly, though, it often bleeds through the crags and crevices a little too often, with frequent technical mishaps and irritating combat tediously dampening an otherwise enjoyable experience with a lot of bang for your buck. More to the point, as it has a little less polish and cinematic appeal than your average big-budget shooter, it also comes across as a weaker series with less for you to write home about. But, maybe that’s just us nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking.

Even with the odds against them, Rebellion has, in all honesty, been pretty consistent with their promise to incubate enjoyable campaigns with a good amount of meat to carve through. Although without the weight of a full-blown single-player experience, each episode has, rather gracefully, found various ways to improve upon the foundations with fresh ideas and blueprints for both lone wolves and fledgling packs to engage in. Again, the character development and customization still isn’t the main attraction here, but then, Zombie Army has never really been about heroes or villains; it has been about simple pleasures and unnerving encounters, quick thrills and satisfying shootouts with dire circumstances. Frankly, Zombie Army has always been able to deliver that. It’s just a shame that it hasn’t done much else to permanently remove Left 4 Dead from the throne.

Verdict

Zombie Army might not be the greatest third-person undead saga of all time, though it is one that confidently illuminates the importance of keeping the zombie outfit alive in a world that has since parted with the outbreak formula in pursuit of alternate extraction shooters. Sadly, the chances of scoring big at The Game Awards are still rather slim, given that it still harbors a few loose teeth and a lack of audiovisual polish. Nevertheless, for where there’s a Zombie Army escapade, there is a genuinely enjoyable shoot ‘em up experience that can keep even the most uninterested gamers satisfied and hungry for another wave.