Zoochosis Review (PC)

Mutated giraffes with spider limbs for legs. A zebra with teeth where the stomach should be. These are just a few of the horrors your new place of work throws at you. As a rookie zookeeper, you have no idea of the terrifying night shift you’re about to experience. And through it all, you’ll still have to take care of the animals: feed them, clean up after them, check their blood, and administer vaccines. Despite all that happens through the night, you’ll still have to fulfill your zookeeper roles. 

Right off the bat, Zoochosis’ premise caught many gamers’ attention. Its trailer alone is enough to make you want to play the game and experience spine-chilling horror at an everyday zoo. The game drew so much hype, in fact, that upon launch on September 30, 2024, plenty of gamers couldn’t wait to check it out. But unfortunately, many Steam users were met with a few too many disappointing outcomes. 

Still, Steam has an ongoing discount sale of 10% off at $22.49. So, you could still be eyeing the game, itching to try it out for yourself. But first, read on for the full Zoochosis review to know whether it’s the right game for you.

The Zookeeper

You’re probably over the moon about starting your new job over at the zoo. You’ll need to take on the night shift and look after the animals left in your care. Upon arrival, though, it becomes quickly clear that this might not be a zoo like any other. It’s incredibly dirty, and strange noises are looming in the background. But you ignore all that, almost like you were expecting weird and strange when you signed up for this job. 

Instead, you proceed to feed the animals, clean up after them, check their health, and administer vaccines when the situation calls for it. In that sense, one-half of Zoochosis plays a lot like a farming simulator. I mean, even the feeding process is a little more in-depth, with the need to weigh food portions so you don’t run out of food. 

After a couple of rounds of feeding the animals, though, you quickly realize that the mechanics are all the same. It’s all the same process with very minimal strategy. The only strategy here is weighing the correct portions, a mechanic that can become pretty punishing and, rather than add tension, only makes it frustrating. 

Over and over again, you’ll throw yourself into the same tasks. Meanwhile, the strange noises in the background rage on. It could make you grow impatient to begin the second-half horror section of the game. It feels like Zoochosis takes its sweet time to build up the tension leading up to the horror bit of the game, except the time it’s taking to build up tension is spent doing repetitive simulation tasks. 

Out for Blood

If anything, ensuring the zoo runs smoothly can be comical at times. At one point, a dead human body is fed to the animals, which would probably be the thing that raises the alarm. But still, you remain diligent in your tasks all along on a one-man mission to keep the zoo functional. In any case, the moment you’ve been waiting for nearly an hour now into your playthrough arrives when the first animal transforms into a horrific mutated creature.

An unknown parasite is infecting the animals and turning them into gruesome creatures out to kill you. The mutated animals never outnumber you in the sense of a survival zombie apocalypse. Plus, you can save the creatures by carefully tracking them down with your tranquilizer gun. You have to be careful as the animals can kill you. However, whether or not the creatures are your would-be assailants, you still have to help them. 

In a way, it’s a clever twist on survival horror, where most games will have you killing your assailant or running for your life. Zoochosis, instead, says all the animals are never a lost cause. Once the mutated creature is down, you can draw blood and develop a vaccine that cures them. You’ll be tracking back and forth between your station and the zoo, collecting blood from animals and developing vaccines back at your station before returning to shoot the vaccines into the infected beasts. 

From Simulation to Bodycam Horror and Back

And, well, the cycle repeats itself whenever you spot another mutated creature. In between dealing with the gruesome creatures running amok in the zoo, you still need to stay on top of your zookeeping everyday tasks. You still need to feed the other animals and clean up after them, and the switch between straightforward simulation and horrific survival mode just feels off. 

The two gameplay systems barely blend seamlessly as you might expect; perhaps you’ll be stricken with fright right after dealing with mutated animals that you’ll suffer a psychotic break and begin to behave abnormally. Instead, your character keeps his cool throughout your playthrough, even as the zoo turns into a place of nightmares. 

Perhaps the disconnect between simulation and the survival horror bits is due to the weak storyline. Zoochosis’ writing is wanting, at times unintentionally comical. It doesn’t help that the voice acting is pretty bad; except for the protagonist, the NPCs barely feel captivating when interacting with them. They don’t have a solid backstory or some kind of motive that adds tension to the plot. Meanwhile, the soundtrack feels bland, with hardly any dramatic build up in the more intense sections of the game.

At the very least, though, the visuals hold up their own pretty well. You walk around in dark and gloomy environments that have a constantly hanging sense of dread in the air. The atmosphere hits the bullseye with its tense and grimy nature. Even the mutated animals genuinely send chills down the spine, with some of the donning abominations that feel uneasy to look at.

A Scary Place

And yet, the visuals’ impact on the horror experience of the game only lasts for the early stages of your playthrough. Afterwards, the environments begin to grow repetitive. You grow accustomed to features that are meant to scare you, including the mutated creatures, which grow mundane over time. Perhaps it’s because the mutative process often always happens away from the screen. I imagine watching some of the animals transform into ghastly beings would make for some truly unsettling moments. 

Also, the AI feels rather boring. “Zoochosis” is meant to represent psychosis in animals. So, you’ll probably be expecting some pretty strange behavior and movement. Screeching noises, too, could add to the tension as you work your way through the zoo. However, the mutated animals’ behavior feels toned down to running around aimlessly, walking in circles, and shaking their heads, hardly enough to warrant a good scare.

Replayability

Now, if you can believe it, Zoochosis has a whopping 23 endings. That’s right. You can replay the game, which on your first playthrough will run for roughly one to two hours, and unlock different endings. As Clapperheads say, your choices will influence the outcome of the story. And so, you do have some incentive to head back in and hope to unlock the true ending. 

But like I said, the gameplay can grow quickly repetitive. There isn’t much depth and strategy to the simulation side of gameplay. Meanwhile, the horror section of the game grows bland over time. Still, with each playthrough, you can apparently unlock a new mutated monster that turns the tide of gameplay. So, it could be an interesting way to unlock more content and add more layers to the game.

Bugs

If you’ve already scoured Steam reviews, then you’ll probably know just how glaring the negative responses are concerning performance and bugs. Zoochosis has received mixed reviews since launch, with the negative responses pointing out stuttering and frame-rate issues. 

Indeed, the visuals do seem low quality after some time. While they have nailed the dreadfulness of horror and the grimy atmospheric vibe, spending more time in the game reveals just how low quality and stiff the character movements are. Hopefully, Clapperheads irons out the bugs with a patch update. It couldn’t hurt if they added more content, too.

Verdict

What starts as a normal shift at the zoo quickly turns into a night of horror. The animals, previously adorable and healthy, soon turn into mutated monsters wanting to tear you apart. As a premise, it’s a pretty cool idea, akin to the likes of Five Nights at Freddy’s series. Zoochosis has created some pretty ghastly creatures that send chills down the spine. 

However, Clapperheads may have put less effort into the story and gameplay. It feels like a missed opportunity to create a truly immersive and tense adventure. Also, the story could have helped build up the horror experience into a terrifying climax. But the pacing is wanting, with moments of performing tedious, repetitive simulation tasks. And on the horror bits, gradually growing accustomed to the horrific creatures and events that are meant to scare you.