After the Fall
Review
VR Zombies
by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
A battle with the Night King
Vertigo Games seem to have mastered the art of VR games. Star Trek Bridge Crew allowed players to take control of their favourite starship, whilst more recently Unplugged has allowed budding air guitarists to rock on. After the Fall does the same for gamers wishing to survive a zombie apocalypse. Playing as a group of four, either with friends or AI characters, players move through a series of missions across the snow-covered landscape whilst taking out the hordes of zombies that confront you. Moving from one safehouse to another across a wintery wasteland, the small teams are confronted by the undead threat and must avoid being overrun. With the icy landscape, it feels a little like a modern version of being north of the wall in Westeros to battle the whitewalkers.
During the course of a mission, players may be lucky enough to acquire a range of weapons. Players can dual wield guns though, so they can pick off enemies with both guns. This allows players to empty out a clip with one gun, and while you re-loading that one, can keep shooting at the shambling horde. Players reload the guns by releasing the empty cartridge and then grabbing ammo from a pouch around your chest. This method of reloading certainly increases the immersion and adds to the tension as a horde of zombies bears down on you.
When shooting at the horde, players do not have the aid of a crosshair. This can take some getting used to for players who normally play non-VR titles. Early on, this can cause players to use more ammunition than they normally would had they been playing a non-VR title. Of course, this only adds to the realism. At each of the safehouses, players can spend the credit earned on various power ups and secondary weapons (grenades, etc.). These can come in handy during the latter parts of the missions.
Not all zombies are created equal
The standard zombies largely come in four varieties, some that amble towards you whilst others crawl on all fours, either on the ground or on the ceiling. These regular enemies usually take one or two shots to bring down, but usually come in groups, some that move faster than others. The real challenge though comes from the various bosses. These bosses have several hit points that need to be targeted and can take some beating.
For the most part the zombies appear to be very quiet, and at times it can be difficult to tell in which direction you are being attacked from. Indeed, in certain areas of the maps, you could be attacked from multiple directions, and you’ll need to turn your head or face a different direction to see where the enemy is approaching from. A reasonably proficient squad will be able to work together though to ensure that you’re never outflanked. However, if players are unfortunate enough to be taken by the zombie horde, they can be revived by teammates – but just don’t count on the help if you’re playing with an AI squad.
Jump around
Movements worked well using the left thumbstick, as does looking around with the movement of your head - and with it, the VR headset. However, turning your body to face a particular direction can be an issue. Rather than the right thumbstick gradually moving you around, it moves you in increments – effectively jumping you around. This did seem to cause some motion sickness for me on my first mission (I haven’t had this on other VR titles), and so after that I was somewhat forced to walk sideways where I could, to prevent myself from feeling nauseous as quickly. The second option for moving eases this issue somewhat, but also lessens the realism, as you basically aim where you want to stand and are teleported there.
Short and sweet
In the current form, After the Fall only has five missions, each which take around 20-30 mins to move through. This does allow players to become familiar with the locations, particularly if you’re playing with an AI squad as they basically just follow you around at your own pace. But it would have been nice to have another couple of missions to complete to change things up a bit. After the Fall works well for the most part, giving players a VR version of Left 4 Dead. The gunplay and reloading mechanics are smooth and allow for immersion and tension as the hordes of zombies approach your small band. The user interface is well laid out and it is fun to shoot these undead with the small range of weapons at your disposal. Unfortunately, the length of the game and the issues with motion sickness caused by the jumpy rotation when turning may turn some people away. But if you want a Left 4 Dead style VR game, then After the Fall should be your go to option at this point.
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6.2
fun score
Pros
Immersive action and controls
Cons
Movement can cause some motion sickness, rather short
