ZombiU Review

This is a game centred on survival, about the burning desire to do some good in the world, regardless of the cost. You're always moving forward in ZombiU, with death being just a minor inconvenience in the path of progress. Each survivor that falls at the hands of the undead soon becomes little more than a statistic on paper, a sacrifice in the quest to safety and for the greater good. With this premise comes the pleasure of saying that ZombiU, despite its glaring problems, is a rare gem; a title with a winning idea behind it that's held back by rough edges and some jarring gameplay. Whilst it may not be the best title to show off the WiiU's capabilities, it's more a look into the future and an exciting glimpse into not what Nintendo's latest console is now, but what it could become.

Unlike other titles featuring the undead circulating the gaming world at present, ZombiU doesn't set out with the intention of providing an interesting storyline to connect sections together. Instead, it's more interested in creating an atmospheric, bleak world with the difficulties of surviving an apocalypse staring players straight in the face at all times. You will never feel safe, you will never feel powerful and you will always feel alone: ZombiU takes pride in this and this alone that makes this survival horror title one step above the recent rest. Whereas others intend to create an exciting, twisting, turning plot or to simply allow players to have fun in a shopping mall, ZombiU isn't afraid to scare the living daylights out of you and, repeatedly, will.

Turning a corner with only a measly torch to light the way is as equally terrifying as facing a horde of the undead with only a cricket bat to fight back with and the game continually proves just how effective cramp corridors and limited lighting can be to create tension. Paired with the game's fantastic soundtrack and ZombiU is not a title to play on your own and past nine o'clock. The screams of the undead can be heard in the distance; the increasing volume the only way to know when one is about to strike, sirens wail on somewhere off-screen and the occasional unexplained 'bang' sparks the imagination. What the game may lack in polish it undoubtedly makes up for it in atmosphere.

However, this atmosphere isn't perfect as it's let down by some mediocre graphics. With the apocalypse raging it is understandable that there isn't much colour and why it's not very bright, but the sheer amount of darkness doesn't just create atmosphere, it actually makes the entire game appear empty. There are too many areas that require players to do nothing but walk through corridor after corridor towards their objective and it's at times like these, where players have nothing else to focus on, that the inconsistencies in the graphics department shine through. There are times when the game looks genuinely great, especially when outdoors and the destruction is raging on around you, but inside looks drab and lifeless with a genuine lack of detail. The game doesn't look awful but it doesn't look great. Alongside this, expect many zombies to randomly disappear through walls. Because it happens. Frequently.

Saying that ZombiU is Ubisoft's version of Dead Island for the WiiU is not a statement that is too far from the truth: it is a first-person survival-horror title with a focus on exploration and melee combat, but with considerably more focus on the 'realism' aspect of the game rather than the over-the-top fun that Dead Island was. Using the WiiU Gamepad, players will move through cramp corridors with their flashlight activated and a strangely indestructible cricket bat in hand, waiting for a zombie to jump out and eat their face off. With the press of a button, the wood will swing and a splattering noise will be heard, accompanied by an explosion of gore and the occasional collapsing of the victim's forehead. Despite the fact that the undead take way too many hits to defeat, it's never less than satisfying to see one finally collapse to the floor. Guns are still available to find in ZombiU but bullets are scarce and none of them are as reliable as a plank of wood to the head is. Alongside fighting off the undead, a large part of ZombiU is salvaging: dead bodies occasionally hold usable items on them, ranging from ammo to medical packs useful for staying alive.

But should the zombies become too much, the bullets and medical packs too little and the tension too high, then you will die. That is the fact of ZombiU. There is no way to escape. But death is not the end. Instead of restarting a checkpoint, players will awake in the shoes of a different survivor back at the safe house in a cosy sleeping bag with no equipment but the cricket bat, a pistol and a few bullets. Starting off at the checkpoint you last died at, players will have to guide this new survivor all the way to the location of the mission and then try again. But the previous survivor will be there too: this time with blood falling from their mouth and an animalistic look in their eyes. Kill them, loot them and then all of your previous spoils will be yours or ignore them and make it more difficult for yourselves. The choice is yours, but choose the latter and you may regret it sooner or later.

This is where ZombiU falters. Too many zombie games follow the same character and the fact that Ubisoft's latest features an unlimited amount of survivors gives the impression that this is not an outbreak on a small scale but that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people caught up in this apocalypse. But, it quickly becomes repetitive. Although it's a survival horror title, there are nowhere near enough save points meaning that when you die, which you will do, it's not long before you're following the same paths you did just moments earlier. Especially frustrating is when you come to the very end of a mission, get caught at the hands of a zombie and then have to go through the entire map all over again because it respawned you right at the very start.

ZombiU is a good example of when a game has a great concept behind it but a handful of problems just stop it from being fantastic. Another one of these issues lies with the gameplay itself. Whilst hitting zombies in the face with a cricket bat is satisfying, it all becomes a tad tiring after a while. There's never any moments that make your jaw drop, so the entire experience never feels different from the previous sections: each level consists of awaking at a safe house, killing zombies, dying, covering already re-tried ground whilst killing more zombies, dying again and then repeating the whole affair once more. It's fun for a while but after a handful of hours, it suddenly dawns on you that this is all the game is. It lacks variety and for a title with a great new console to explore and a sound premise, it's arguable whether it's frustrating or disappointing why Ubisoft didn't go mad with the new technology.

If ZombiU were to be released on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 then ZombiU would just be a mediocre game, but its one redeeming feature is the integration of the WiiU Gamepad. This portable tablet acts as your map, backpack, scanner and other case-specific actions such as opening doors and reading documents. At times, this is a great way to create tension as using items and looting bodies requires you to glance away from the televisions screen and swipe around on the tablet, meaning your guard is down should any zombies come your way. However, it just feels a bit pointless. Other games, such as Nintendo Land, allow for some genuinely inventive ways to integrate the tablet with the game on screen but ZombiU's idea makes it feel as if the WiiU part of the game was added on in the final stages of developments, almost like it was completely forgotten about until then. It's this that makes ZombiU far from being the great game that the WiiU needed to show off its power: that lies with another title out there somewhere.

ZombiU is a good game on paper but its execution leaves something to be desired. It's almost as if Ubisoft created a huge jigsaw with some great images on it but the pieces don't quite fit together. As the WiiU hits shelves, many will purchase this mainly because there isn't a great deal of other games on sale at the moment and, because of that, ZombiU will hit an audience that it previously wouldn't have done. And whilst the game doesn't deliver the experience it could've done, it almost certainly will be used as an example in later months and years as to why the WiiU doesn't need to be just about family party games and Mario titles: the WiiU could genuinely be a great platform for solid gaming and ZombiU has shown why. Like previously mentioned, it isn't perfect, it isn't even fantastic, but should developers learn from what Ubisoft have done here and put it to other franchises, then the WiiU could rapidly become the console to own, regardless of whether you have younger children or not.