Welcome to ParadiZe Review

Zombie apocalypses are, arguably, one of the most overdone settings in modern media. As gamers, we have fought Zombies across both time and space, so any new game will need to find some form of novelty. Now, it seems that developer Eko Software has the solution with its latest game, Welcome to ParadiZe.

Welcome to ParadiZe doesn’t do much differently regarding genre: it’s a top-down ARPG with crafting and base building. If you had to give a medal for the typical Steam zombie game, it would certainly be in the running, apart from one factor. In this game, you can tame zombies and have them as your teammates. The question is if this is enough to draw in the crowds or if ol’ zombie Yeller needs to be put down.

The basic plot takes place in a world that has been taken over by zombies, which is pretty par for the course. However, one place has been advertised as safe due to a very odd technology: this is the eponymous ParadiZe, where people have found a way to turn zombies into loyal workers and bodyguards. You take the role of a survivor who has made their way to Paradize…only to find that it isn’t the nirvana that you were hoping for. 

As far as things go, it isn’t a bad setting, and it's just ridiculous enough that it is fun to explore the world. When I say ridiculous I’m not being glib, as the plot here is as strange as most of the characters you’ll meet. Honestly, the survivors I encountered reminded me of the characters from Borderlands. The comedy doesn’t always hit home, but it is funny enough to keep your attention for a time.

Gameplay is what you would expect from this genre but with a twist. The main gameplay loop is exploring, gathering, fighting, and building. They all work fine mechanically, although the building is arguably too simple. However, there was never a moment where I needed clarification or guidance. The real point about this game is the new feature, the Zombots. So, as I said, you can tame zombies in this game…well one zombie initially. 

This is done through headsets that you will need to craft and beat a zombie to near death, much like a Pokemon Red and Blue. Once you have captured one, it will follow you and perform orders. Your new undead companion can be equipped with weapons and armour that you can unlock by beating the right enemies, each offers something different. The menu for the zombots is surprisingly deep, but they are still quite simple and don’t come into their own until you can use more than one. 

Sadly, the Zombots introduction is the best part of the game, while the rest never really excels. The crafting isn’t anything special, but it serves its purpose initially, and the same can be said for the combat. The problem is that after the first couple of hours, nothing feels all that different. The types of zombies you fight against never change for a long time, and they never get more difficult to fight. The equipment is much the same; for instance, I never really needed more than the basic bow to wipe out a horde.

Graphically Welcome to ParadiZe does what it needs to do, and the different biomes are interesting enough. I would argue that there’s nothing really special here, and there might have been a missed opportunity to lean into some of the wackiness. Meanwhile, the music and sound design are both fine and do what they need to do.

The reality is that Welcome to ParadiZe is not a terrible game, but it suffers at keeping players interested. I had fun for the first few hours but started to find my interest waning after a while. It is possible that multiplayer would make the game more interesting. However, the inclusion of friends could arguably make any game interesting. If you want to wile away a few hours and build a zombie army then you could do worse, but if you want a proper survival experience, then it might be better to go back to Project Zomboid.