Project Zomboid
Preview
The zombie apocalypse we have been waiting for?
by Andrew Hallam
previewed on PC
You've Got Red On You...
Once you get past the tutorial section, saving your wife or otherwise, the game opens up into an open world survival affair, taking place in a small rural town. It seems amazing that within the first few minutes, rather than just being an average Joe just out to survive, you have a purpose that is tailored to a whole manner of personalities. Want to care for your virtual wife? Fix up her leg and look after her from there on then. Want to go it alone? Leave the gas on and get the hell out of there. It is unfortunate that such a great narrative is restricted to the relatively short tutorial section for the moment, but there are plans to expand this further with added narrative opportunities and further alternative openings. The rest of the game consists of a pure freeform formula in which your only objective is to survive as long as possible in a town full of zombies and many other surprises.
At the moment Project Zomboid shows immense potential, with the alpha tech demo offering a glimpse as to how well the final build should eventually work. Like many other indie developers, Indie Stone have taken a leaf out of Minecraft's book and are offering Project Zomboid for anywhere between £5 to £15. Purchases currently come with the promise of a “lifetime subscription” so that all future Project Zomboid updates, which are delivered to the browser based game every week, will be available for free. Listening to the developers plans for the game put Project Zomboid's eventual goals into perspective. Planned is a fully open cityscape that they ensure will be truly massive, with fully interactive NPCs ranging from friendly fellow survivors to vicious raiders. Most exciting of all is the planned multiplayer features, meaning that you will be able to team up and attempt survival with your friends, or you may want to take the experience a bit further and set up rival gangs against other players. The possibilities are endless.
Smack 'em In The Head, That Seems To Work...
While there is potential for improvement, there is no reason to skip buying Project Zomboid in its current state. Undoubtedly there are still a few teething troubles to be had, such as no mute button for the rather annoying (although well made) music, a lack of combat animations for zombies and the fact that while the UI is great and pretty well streamlined at the moment, there are still a few downsides to it. That being said, almost all of these concerns can be forgiven due to the fact that Project Zomboid is still in alpha stage and most of my previous gripes with the game have already been patched in since release, such as the ability to skip dialogue and fast forward the game.
Overall, I cannot give enough praise to Project Zomboid. The potential for greatness is there and considering that you can get the whole package for a mere £5, it is an absolute steal. If you have ever been interested in zombies, survival horrors or just want some straight up fun with a few friends; I cannot recommend Project Zomboid to you enough. Just a word of caution though, do not forget to leave that gas on...
