55 replies to this topic

[Alex Wolfers]

***My Zombi U review***

synopsis:Zombi U is a first person survival horror game. In the game your goal is to survive in the post-apocalyptic city of London with the bare necessities.

Concept 10/10: An interesting take on the whole survival-horror genre with many interesting utilizations of the gamepad.

Graphics 9.5/10: Great HD graphics. My only complaint is the video on the gamepad suffers from minor lag. Stick to looking at the television for cutscenes. Otherwise its sweet.

Enviroment 10/10: Creepy and excellent lighting thats every bit as revolutionary as Luigis Mansion when it was first released. The darkness makes the game even more intense.

Gameplay 9.5/10: Maybe not the next Resident evil 4 but pretty close. Very gripping and bone chilling gameplay.

Replay N/A: I havent beat the game yet but I imagine its pretty good.

Verdict 9.5/10: One of the most impressive Wii U launch titles. A must buy for any survival horror junkie.

[Tricky Sonic]

***My Zombi U review***

synopsis:Zombi U is a first person survival horror game. In the game your goal is to survive in the post-apocalyptic city of London with the bare necessities.

Concept 10/10: An interesting take on the whole survival-horror genre with many interesting utilizations of the gamepad.

Graphics 9.5/10: Great HD graphics. My only complaint is the video on the gamepad suffers from minor lag. Stick to looking at the television for cutscenes. Otherwise its sweet.

Enviroment 10/10: Creepy and excellent lighting thats every bit as revolutionary as Luigis Mansion when it was first released. The darkness makes the game even more intense.

Gameplay 9.5/10: Maybe not the next Resident evil 4 but pretty close. Very gripping and bone chilling gameplay.

Replay N/A: I havent beat the game yet but I imagine its pretty good.

Verdict 9.5/10: One of the most impressive Wii U launch titles. A must buy for any survival horror junkie.

Agree'd - I did a review on it for our next episode of Wii Talk U listen - which should be up sometime in the next few days - I love this game and I find most the criticism against it is unfounded.

[Dan1984uk]

Thank you for the review, I have the Wii U zombie bundle pre ordered so it's nice to to hear an unbiased review.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Nice review, can't wait to play this

[xile6]

Yay finally someone that agrees and likes the game. Its a game changer and its something that other games dont do.
Good review

[WiiUWiiUWii Like a Cop Car]

I thought this game was great.. My first go at it I tried to run and gun.. I turned it off and came back to the game with a different view since I had my arse handed to me..

I score it an impressive 8.0..

It IS all about survival and horror.. The atmosphere and environment make you tip toe around so you do not get stuck in a bad situation.. Timing and strategy is needed and many times needed quickly. Gameplay, controls, audio & video were all very good.

I take away points because I know this game could have been better with a few changes..

[WiiUWiiUWii Like a Cop Car]

IGN review flopped on so many statements... Like the guy only played the introduction..

This review is easily more thorough and gives the consumer a chance to decide for him/herself whether to purchase.

[WiiUWiiUWii Like a Cop Car]

This review is in the spirit of the game..

Others have approached their review like it was an FPS or Action game..
Or a contrast on what they wanted out of it..

[Stormage09]

ive been playing zombiU all day and i can say its harddd

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

10 out of 10 for me I love it completely

[riffbear]

This game is absolutely brilliant! Treat it as you would in a real life situation (not that there will ever be zombies) and the game will/does flow really well.
9/10 in my books. I seriously haven't played a game this much since the super famicom was released with Super mario!

[Drazhar]

love the game, i think its great and a good turn of a corner for Nintendo to get all "Adult" on us! i only wish you could get other melee weapons! other than just a cricket bat!

[SILV3RSCORPION]

After spending a few hrs with Zombiu for me it's a solid 9/10 great use of the gamepad imo.

[PedanticGamer]

Op, you seriously gave this game a 9.5/10 for graphics? I now such numbers are arbitrary in nature, but this game has terrible textures and character models are well below par. In fact it falls behind ps3 launch games like Resistance in many areas from a visual perspective. Great game so far, but disappointing visuals.

[Lethal]

Release date: November 18, 2012
Price: $59.99
Rated: Mature

Survival Horror, it has been a while since those words had any relevance. Most of us immediately think of Resident Evil. For years I have searched for another game that could bring me the suspense, anxiety, and fears while playing. ZombiU is the new face of "Survival Horror". Please continue reading to see how Ubisoft managed to bring back, what Capcom could not...



Graphics = 7.5/10

ZombiU is not on the same level as Resident Evil 5 and 6, but it looks good enough for what it is. When it is not pouring rain, you are in the dark with a flashlight most of the time. So the mediocre graphics really do not affect the enjoyment of this game at all. Does the game look bad? Not at all! In fact, sometimes the graphics look really good, then sometimes it looks like a launch title.
Hopefully Ubisoft will continue this series and upgrade the graphics engine.




Sound = 9/10

The sounds in this game is what really pushes the creep factors. The backgrounds are so incredibly eerie that I start to get anxiety while playing. Walking down a dark street you will hear cans being kicked around, screeching of zombies, birds feeding off a corpse. The ambient noises could be the star of this show.
The voice acting is pretty good, but there is not much of it. Most of the time you hear the voice of a male who is trying to help you survive. You will also run in to other people during the game, and for the most part, their voice acting is pretty well done as well.
You will not get Call of Duty type explosions and gun sounds, but for this type of game I do not feel it is needed. The object is to try and stay quiet so you do not lure in a horde of zombies.

Gameplay = 8.5/10

Lets talk about the gamepad a little. The new gamepad controller is what really sets this title apart from any other survival horror game ever made. In the palm of your hands is your scanner. The scanner allows you to do MANY things while playing. You will use the gamepad to scan areas by pressing and holding the "L" button. You will find yourself doing this often as scanning things will let you mark doors, items, bodies, and clues, right to your map. The scanner can find hidden messages written on walls which could help you the game. Some messages are left by other ZombiU players, and some are codes to unlock doors. Usually behind the locked doors you will find weapon upgrades and items. You can move the scanner around freely which gives the feeling of you actually being in that room. The screen on the gamepad turns in to what you would be seeing through your own eyes, or you can just use the right analog stick. This also happens when you use a turret gun.



The gamepad also has a radar which can be used to locate zombies near by. By pressing the sonar button, a sound wave will be dispersed, and a red will appear when it finds a moving object. It will also detect birds and rats, so that red dot does not always mean there is a zombie near by.

By swiping down on the LCD screen of the gamepad, you can pull up your backpack where you keep select items. Health, flares, grenades, guns, ammo, planks, etc, are all items you will want to have on you. But this is not a magical backpack, so you will need fill that pack properly. No reason to be carrying 6 flares!!!!!

The voice of the guy helping you will also be heard through your gamepad. This really helps give that realistic feeling to the whole creepy experience.

Switching weapons can sometimes be hard because you have to look down at the gamepad and press the icon of the other weapon you want to use. I have died a few times trying to find where I placed my secondary weapon. Because you can pretty much equip 6 weapons if you chose to, I can see why there is no physical button used, but the d-pad is not used and that would have been great to link weapons to it.

ZombiU is linked to your online community the moment you start playing. Leaderboards are cleverly shown during your game, usually written on the floor or walls. The leaderboard scores are determined by how many points you can rack up. You get points for killing zombies, opening manholes, weapon upgrades, completing objectives, finding new gear, and more. You might also see one of your buddies roaming your game as a walking corpse. This is because if one of your friends dies while playing, their corpse will infect your game. You will get a notification that your friend is infected and is walking around a certain area. You can also grab all the loot he had on him when got infected. Once you find the spray paint, you will be able to write hidden messages on the walls to help, or to not help. Messages will have a trust meter as well. This is to help you decide who to believe.



When you die, the game keeps going. You wake up as a new survivor and you will need to locate your body, well you need to locate that walking corpse you have become, and you need to kill him/her to get your loot back. If you become infected before retrieving your loot, you lose it for good.

I also found I had to change my control sensitivity to about 85%. This will help you move around easier.

Overall = 8/10

Right now I have to say that this is one of the creepiest games I have ever played. Plugging in some headphones to the gamepad while playing really intensifies the experience too. ZombiU does a great job of not being overbearing with the zombies. You might open a door just to see a zombie jump out at you. And you might walk in to an area or open a door that you might think would have to have a zombie or 2 waiting, but there isn't.
Stealth is a must because the zombies love sound and light. And don't get too angry when you die, and you will die!!!! That is part of the experience, that is what makes this game so different than the other survival horror games out there. And this is why ZombiU gets "Lethal's Stamp of Approval".

Pros:
Amazing use of the gamepad
Online leaderboards
A real survivor horror title
Real messages left by other players (Requires spray paint to leave messages.)

Cons:
Weapon switching is limited to your LCD screen
Zombies require too many hits (4 hits with cricket bat, then a foot stomp)
May require you to buy new underwear

Edited by Lethal, 09 December 2012 - 03:01 PM.

[Varg]

yep, 8 sounds about right. I would have given it an 8.5 but there are some game breaking bugs they let ship out. I encountered one of them so far and lost 2 hours in survivor mode.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Awesome review dude, very detailed. I have this game and I love it is there any chance of you reviewing Scribblenauts Unlimited?

[Dragon]

Requiring new underwear is a con?

[DeviousOne]

Good review bro I'm still on the fence about this game but I'm done with NSMBU and Nintendo land for the most part so I may just scoop this game up.

[Wolfy]

So, this isn't going to be a technical review of any sort, but I thought I'd give you my impressions on the game.

Graphically speaking ZombiU isn't very impressive, although it does not look bad at all, it might not have the best textures and detail in the world, but the whole look of the game is smooth and you won't see jagged edges in games and it isn't such an eyesore compared to other console games I've played, it just looks very simple and clean, I think it looks very nice when the light shines on your eyes and you see all the dust on your screen.

You rely a lot on sound in this game and it's good for the most part, zombies sound menacing and your characters pants and mumbles nervously during, after fights and when they are scavenging for supplies or looking through their bag. One gripe I have with the same is that your character feels the need to grunt with every swing of his bat, you may say that this is for immersion, but no one screams at the top of their lungs every time they swing a cricket bat, and if you're yelling so loud it looks stupid when the other zombies are nearby oblivious to you.

Now, for the most part you'll be using the cricket bat which can range from 1 (very rarely) to at least 10 swings, most will take about five though, this isn't as annoying as many other reviews make it out to be, although as I said earlier the sounds will really start to piss you off, especially if you're using a female, you don't want your parents around, they might think you're doing something a little bit more naughty than playing ZombiU, that's for sure. The game took me about 15 hours on my first playthrough, but it could probably range from 5-10 hours if you're good.

The replay value in this game is great, it feels different every time you play through as you die in different areas, end up with different weapons at endgame and different situations always arise depending on the path which you choose to take.

Multiplayer is unfortunately exclusively offline, although it is a ton of fun, one player with the gamepad is the zombie master, this person must spawn zombies and try to kill the survivor who must fight them off while they use the pro controller/wii remote on the TV screen, ammo and supplies will be scavenged around and it's a capture the flag type of game, only with zombies.

Overall though, this game is my favourite survival horror game at the moment, it is brilliant, I can see myself playing it time and time again, last night I blitzed through the game with someone else, we spent 12 hours beating the game and after that we wanted more, so we jumped on the multiplayer and had a blast.

The cover of the British Anthem just sounded beautiful when the credits rolled, so much so that I find myself listening to it while browsing the web and playing other games and the ending really made me think.

This game is a worthy purchase and in my opinion a must own for any Wii U owner.

ZombiU 2, we need it, this could be an amazing franchise if some things are tweaked and Ubisoft knows what the fans want!