Buy Zombi

Ah, Zombi. Undoubtedly Ubisoft's attempt at cashing in on the zombie craze. I was reluctant to pick up this game at first due to the mixed reviews, and the fact that I'm still angry at Ubisoft over Assassin's Creed: Unity. In fact I haven't bought a Ubisoft game since that catastrophe, which I paid full price for. I'm also pretty sick of zombie and zombie accessories. But my friend was feeling pretty bad today, and I knew that playing this would cheer her right up since she'd ask me to play it a while ago.

First off, this game runs through both uPlay and Steam. I really don't understand the point of this, other than Ubisoft maintaining their uPlay Reward system; which is crap, if you ask me. The game has Steam achievements, so uPlay is really unnecessary here. About an hour into the game, I encountered my first game crashing bug... I simply attempted to remove a barricade from a door. Luckily my save point was only about 10-15 minutes from the point where I crashed, but others may not be so lucky.

By the third hour in, I'd made it halfway through the very linear storyline. There are a good variety of zombie models, although you will encounter many zombies that look the same. There are also "special" zombies (L4D) like the Spitter. I've managed to grab three different guns at this point, although I'm stuck with the same melee weapon that you start with. So far I've been through the streets, a supermarket, sewers and part of Buckingham Palace. I have to say that the setting of Zombi is unique, I don't recall having gone through London in any zombie game before.

The level designs are fairly boring with little to do. Most of the time when you go to loot any container, or body, in the open world they're empty. So it makes exploring a little pointless and dreary. I should also mention at this point that anytime you die, you come back as another survivor. So there is a minimal rogue-like essence here. However, I just lost my first survivor and I did not even die. Out of nowhere, while I was attacking, the zombie jumped through my attack animation and infected me; while I was at full health. You lose all your stuff when you "die", so good luck getting it back.

Overall, up to this point I have had a fair bit of fun and I've had many moments where I've screamed; which is rare for me in horror games anymore. I'm not necessarily scared during the gameplay, but the jumpscares are actually fun. Normally I hate jumpscares with a passion. Sadly, Ubisoft are (typically) unresponsive in the forums about crash and bug fixes. The graphics are completely under par for the current generation and have an annoying haze to them. I can't recommend the game for the price, but I can recommend it on sale. Just be forewarned about the issues that will most likely never get fixed, let alone noticed.

Belphegore's Hell House Reviews (Group)

Good game, broken port. Buy the Wii U version instead. PC version is full of game breaking bugs. I love this game but the port's too glitchy to reccomend on PC.

What's Good:

+ Fairly well done combat and mood setting, interesting mechanics.
+ Good deal of variety in weapons, all of them feel purposeful in some way
+ Environment is interesting, game feels "tense" and zombies are actually formidible
+ "Lose all loot" mechanic is engaging, albeit kinda tedious.
+ Enjoyable experience when it worked.
+ Great port considering it's from WiiU.

What's Bad:

- Massive issues with random crashes, and game does NOT save your place unless it's inconvenient (NOT EVEN IF YOU CRASH NEAR THE ENDING). And yes, I've tried all of the fixes, which fix some of the crashes, but not all.

- NO AUTO SAVE. Prepare to lose a LOT of progress.

- Inventory management is BONKERS. Dedicated bank is too small for the massive amount of loot. Cannot remove ammunition from guns (or if you can, I STILL have yet to find a way). Cannot remove your starting pistol and bat from inventory. Cannot move around currently equipped item.

- Some of the UI is useless. The map especially.

- Exploration is minimal despite what it might seem like. Places feel very recycled in areas. I can describe this game as "extremely overwhelmingly dark for no reason hallway simulator". You'll get tired of dark storage rooms within minutes.

- Story is barebones and uninteresting, no characters to latch on to. Quests feel pointless.

- Suicide zombies are TERRIBLE in a game about survival. Two of my deaths in the game came from a suicide zombie that appears on my shoulder at the wrong time. Also, LITERALLY: Ghost zombies. Not even kidding. Like why the ♥♥♥♥ is that a thing??

- No control over how your character looks in a game where it looks like there are several different ways they can look. I can accept no customization after the first death, but can I at LEAST customize my first guy so it hurts even harder when I lose him?

- Missed opportunity in having a nursery level without children zombies. I know why they didn't do it, but it was still a let down how manufactured that whole area was.

- Audio/Graphics options are minimal.


Overall:
I enjoyed it but it was a giant missed opportunity. It plays exactly like a game that would be decent on the WiiU, but terrible when compared to how great it could have been. It's also very fustrating how broken so much of it is. Despite that, I'd recommend it when it's on sale for a fun 9-10 hours... otherwise, I give it a no.

One of the best scavenge and survive zombie apocalypse games messed up by simple design choices.


Mixed Review:
The game has been plagued by port issues that seem to be resolved. I had to launch in a different setting to get it to work but easy fix. Overall, I love the game BECAUSE of the permadeath. I enjoy submerging myself into the realism of surviving as a character. However, the designers decided to put in mechanics that cheaply rob the player survival. I went through 20 hours of game play only to be blown up by an exploding zombie in tight quarters. It is like the designers decided that a cheap scare was justification in cheating the player of hard working game play. I managed to avoid future deaths only to be confronted in a deathcage scenario towards the end where you're guaranteed to lose a beloved character over and over again no matter what choices you make. The last part of the game is so frustrating because it negates the beauty of the entire permadeath design.

Pros-
-Controls are easy to use (Used 360 wired controller)
-Simple Chivary type melee combat with good gun variety
-You can survive for a long time with smart game play
-Permadeath forces you to take your time
-Sound design

Cons-
-Sometimes it is hard to know what to do next
-Limited inventory
-Certain items cannot be dropped
-Some people will complain about graphics
-If you care about keeping a single character alive all the way through you might be upset at cheap death scenarios

Overall, if you're looking for a good zombie scavenge survive experience on rails this is the game for you. Just know going in that there's nothing you can do about making all the way through with just one character. The school was one of the creepiest levels I've ever played, Barely survived. Play this level in the dark and at night.

I remember when this game came out on the Wii U and I watched videos on it, I thought it was really cool and how the survivor mechanic worked. This game, being a port of a Wii U game, I knew what to expect as far as visuals go. The FPS does go all over the place in certain areas but I dont mind it too much.

The Pros:

awesome survivor mechanic

Fun gameplay and creepy atmosphere

The HD from the Wii U to the PC is pretty good

The Cons:

Sometimes its nearly impossible to find your way to go and the colors are almost all the same.

Very little replayablity unless you're achievement hunting

The letter hunting was very tedious and unecessary

all in all, I would definitely recommend this game to the Zombie Genre fan, though only really expect to play it through one time as it doesn't offer much else in terms of bonus content.