A Lovely Take on the Tried and True "Zombie Apocalypse"
Sound familiar?
Although Hollywood has been obsessed with this scenario for years, we have yet to see a passable video game hit the market that so greatly places you in the scared shoes of a hopeless survivor during a zombie armageddon.
I instantly found myself wondering how I was going to enjoy the game, when it seemed as though you had so few customization options. Four guns- shotgun, automatic rifle, ranged rifle, and pistols- to choose from. I didn't think it was going to be enough. We've all seen it. Meager attempts at oversimplifying a first-person shooter in order to "enhance other aspects of the game." Rubbish. But although in past shooters the formula seems broken, this game hits the nail on the head.
To begin, the organization of the game's mission progression is a bit out of the ordinary. There are four different mini-campaigns to choose from. Each of the campaigns are set in very different environments (i.e. woods, inner city). The way you progress through each of these mini-campaigns is in a fairly universal form. What makes this so enjoyable is that it's predictability is...well... unpredictable. It is fair to say that the game maintains a steady pattern, one that after a few hours of gameplay can start revealing itselft quicker than some suspense-nuts would appreciate, but the foreshadowing of levels is in no way a hindering factor in this great game. Anyhow, each campaign has the feel of one being directly inside a zombie-crisis movie. This experience is very important during gameplay. It's not as if you're just running around shooting meat A.I., while trying to figure out where the fun is. The game responds back to you. The levels are characters in themselves, and the environments are engaging. Utilizing items, cover, and different structures to strategize against the onslaught horde of hungry zombies is rewarding, and you don't feel as if the game left you behind.
Playing with friends in a first-person shooter has never been more exciting. With a tightly-knit group of four unlikely survivors, the character relationship (albeit odd) is that of a loyal pact made between four people. The point of the shooter is to depend upon your fellow survivors, for you won't make it far without them. Saving your friends and them saving you are cornerstone points along the way to safety. A situation will come, no doubt, that you have no choice to depend upon your buddy to come heal you, or bail you out of being mauled to death by a horde that on clip of ammo just won't suffice for. All in all, the multiplayer is about working together to stay alive, but don't think it's against unbeatable odds, because after all, you are the uninfected. And by God, you intend to keep it that way.