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World War Z is out now, and zombies seem to be the in thing at the moment. I mean, with the success of Walking Dead (obviously I meant the TV show and not the games… and Days Gone parading at the top of the PS4 charts for a while, everybody seems to love them. Little do many of us remember some of the earlier zombie titles, and no, I don’t mean as early as the original Resident Evil games or similar “scare the life out of me” games but I mean the hardcore kill-em-ups like Left for Dead. The first and second in that series were the first games I managed to convince my wife to join in for playing multiplayer. World War Z strikes me as a game that owes a lot to Left for Dead, but has taken on some new aspects of the genre and expanded in a number of good ways.
Games like World War Z don’t really need a storyline… which is good because it’s based on the awful film which came out in 2013. Unlike the film, this game isn’t awful. If you are not interested in a fast-paced all-out action-packed game, then I would probably stop reading. If you are, then you may just find that this is the hidden gem that you’ve been waiting for.
There are 11 missions altogether, which will each take about 20 minutes to finish. Some of the more skilled players may complete them in less, but if you have a player like myself (someone who just runs and guns at everything) then you could take up to 30 minutes. Therefore, all in, it may only take you six hours to complete, but it is all about replaying missions with friends and trying to achieve more XP. This is one area that World War Z has improved on games like Left for Dead. There are six different classes that you can choose from: Hellraiser (grenades and bombs specialist), Medic (I won’t insult your intelligence), Fixer (replenishes ammo) and a range of others. Not only does each class offer a different experience but you can also level them up. This is a nice little extra and makes the short levels more replayable.
Graphically, WWZ doesn’t fully show the potential of both the systems, but is far from awful. Some of the weapons have nice effects, but the zombies (although always in hordes) look quite similar. The CGI looks a little ropey and doesn’t quite flow as well as you would hope. However, this game isn’t really about the graphics and not having standout graphics really doesn’t make a difference to your enjoyment of the game.
The voice acting is good and I enjoyed the random characters. Often, they sounded like drunks but I guess if you were in that environment and predicament, you would probably drink all the time, too. I found the lack of music a little boring as, for me, this is definitely the type of game I would enjoy playing with some raging music in the background. Luckily, I just put Spotify on and Bob’s your uncle.
Overall, World War Z is great fun when you are playing with friends, and average fun when you are playing with people you don’t know. It is incredibly annoying that you can’t yet play split-screen whilst playing with another friend online. It isn’t the longest game, but it will keep you entertained and you’ll happily go back for another play.
World War Z is out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Important info:
- Developer: Saber Interactive
- Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
- Players: Single-player, multiplayer
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
7 6 9 8 |
| OVERALL | 7.5 |
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.