Zombi (U)

[spatular]

Not sure i'm the right person to talk about this, it's not the sort of game i'd usually play but for the wii u launch it looked like it makes good use of the pad screen, and i wanted a controller pro...so why not give it a try?

usually i'd go straight to easy mode on something like this, but they called it chicken mode which tricked me into trying normal. i like how it starts, running away from the zombies oddly reminded me of running away from stuff in mirrors edge. anyway, i did ok at the start, had some good supplies, but then the first time there's really a lot of zombies at once i died a few times. each time you die you start as someone else and loose most of your stuff - it's pretty cool fighting the previous you as a zombie, and that way you should be able to get some of your stuff back whan you die, but it sort of messed up for me as i was killed again before i could loot my previous zombie so lost the lot. in that respect it reminds me of stuff i don't like in 2D shooters like gradius - if you die it puts you back - to before the bit you couldn't do - with much less supplies/firepower. annoying.

although when you die close to the safe house it doesn't seem so bad, then later i kept dying (2/3 hours in) at a bit not-close to the safe house so retreated to chicken mode. i have a feeling you're supposed to use stuff like the distractions, door baricades, etc. to give yourself more time to deal with them one at a time or bypass the zombies completely, but when there's more than one of them i just panic and forget all that, try to fight them and die. annoyingly there's only one save slot for the main game mode so i had to delete my normal mode save to start on easy (unless i'm missing something).

the screen on the pad (yeah like a dreamcast!) is used in a number of ways - obvious stuff like a map and inventory stuff, but also for scanning for items and stuff which is pretty cool - and while the graphics are good, they aren't as good as some 360/ps3 stuff, but i still think it's impressive that it displays the game from 2 viewpoints at once.

so what think you? and would this convince anyone to get a wii u?

[illdog]

I really want this, more impressions please.

[wholehole]

Played some of the single-player and alot of the multiplayer round a friends house on Friday night.

Thoughts on the single player: I really want to play this on my own, with headphones and the lights off. It's a very, very dark game with buckets of atmosphere and a heavy focus on resource management. You're constantly on the back foot, never safe and always looking over your shoulder.

Thoughts on the multiplayer: The standard mode has players killing Zombies using pro-controllers and one using the Gamepad as the "King of the Zombies". The gamepad shows a top down view of the map in which you can spawn various types of Zombies tapping on the screen. Each type of Zombie costs resource points which slowly refill over the course of the match. You can level up which then lets you select a different type of Zombie to your ranks (Explosive, sprinter, armoured etc). It gets pretty hectic after a while and once they start throwing in the explosive and armoured Zombies, it's only a matter of time before you go down.

There's also a CTF mode which could be quite good, but you'd need a full compliment of players to make it fun.

One problem that arose time and again was the pad and the fact the right analogue stick and buttons are swapped. I suppose it's something you could get used to but still, some kind of universal pad standard wouldn't go amiss. Another thing we needed to get used to was that this isn't L4D. It's a much slower game. You can't just run around swinging you melee weapon wildly and emptying clips into the Zombie hordes. You need to be much more deliberate and precise with your actions.

It's by far the best showcase of what can be done with the Gamepad (at least for our demographic) although I don't think I'd buy a WiiU just to play this. If I ever do pick one up in the future it'll be at the top of the list to play.

[spatular]

Yeah I had problems with the right stick position too, I think the position is probably better but I'm just so used to it being where it is on the 360/ps3.

Multiplayer sounds interesting.

Its definitely easier on chicken mode, I've not got upto where I was on normal, but zombies take 2 hits to down instead of 4 now.

[Hendo]

Picked this up yesterday for a tenner.

Only played a little, scanned the first camera and that was it.

Good fun so far although I don't feel fully comfortable with the Gamepad for FPS controls.

Is the multi online or just local?

[Hendo]

Had a great run before, now I've lost all my gear

In the Palace, making good progress.

[Hendo]

It is but I'm enjoying it muchly.

A real shame though that you can't share the zombie pictures you can take of yourself from the main menu.

[Hendo]

This is out now on other formats, and I was tempted to pick it up again but it looks like a fairly lazy port.

[DisturbedSwan]

Hope this sells well on PS4, XB1 and PC, I absolutely adore this game and would love to see a sequel.

[AndyKurosaki]

Not sure how itd work without the WiiU Gamepad.

[Hendo]

Well I bought the PS4 version, like I knew I would.

It works alright so far without the second screen, though the minimap takes up a fair whack of the bottom right screen.

I'm on my second character and have so far, even only 30 minutes in, filled up the backpack and am needing a bigger one. I can't remember if that's an actual upgrade you can get or it's just a case of managing items better.

On the original version I got into Buckingham Palace at least.

[Hendo]

I've finished for the day on at least as far as I got originally. As I approached certain sections I remembered what was going to happen, like the first time you come across a mounted gun outside Buckingham Palace and the thumping music in the flat.

This time around I planted a mine and managed to successfully lure the zombies into it without blowing myself up. Which is nice.

I've got the bigger bag upgrade (not all that impressive, still constantly running out of space) and the auto pinging map upgrade and next I think I'm due to get the ability to decode stuff, which I'm not sure I ever got to on my WiiU run.

[DisturbedSwan]

Yeah I haven't been on Division for a while either, popped on earlier to do the Dailies though as I've nothing else to play until Tuesday, might be on tonight though if you're about.

 

As for Zombi, it doesn't sound like its aged well then, I would recommend playing on a harder difficulty though, as the whole 'backs against the wall' nature of it (on harder difficulties - particularly during the early stages) were one of the major pluses for me. It has been a while since I played it though and it was one of the few Wii U games that was made better with the Tablet so may be that's why.

[DisturbedSwan]

S'alright, no worries

 

And, yeah you're probably right, it's definitely not a looker, Condemned most probably does look better.

[Hendo]

It's great with the pad because you use that to scan a room, literally turning yourself around to see what's around you. And the inventory is used there but as you can still be attacked, you have to keep an eye on the TV while you go through all your stuff.

And the Alien style pulse thing is on there.

 

It's still a great game without it, but I think the game pad was used really cleverly.

[DisturbedSwan]

Completely agree.

[DisturbedSwan]

Would've thought the PS4/XB1 ports we're definitely shoddy rush jobs, the game was built from the ground up for the Wii U, which is why we're all banging on about the GamePad, it's difficult to explain but it made it feel unique and special, also it was 2012 when I played it so the graphics stood up much better back then  

 

If you're hating it now Nag, when you get to a certain section later on you'll probably rage quit (unless they've amended it), even I detested this particular part of the game and I loved the game overall.