Zombies have been at the forefront of pop culture in the last few years. Since The Walking Dead and a little game series called Left 4 Dead. But since Left 4 Dead there have been very few squad-based games taking on zombies. Enter World War Z. You lead a squad into escaping from the clutches of zombies.
World War Z was developed by Saber Interactive and published by Mad Dog Games. They released World War Z in 2019 on almost all platforms. I was provided with a free copy of the Nintendo Switch version to review.
Way back when Left 4 Dead 2 came out I sunk hours into it. I loved playing with others while attempting to escape the zombie horde. World War Z tries to recapture that feeling, but unfortunately, it falls flat. Now, it has all the ingredients to make it a great successor to the beloved series. But the main issue is that it has no player base.
But the main issue is that it has no player base.
A game that focuses on multiplayer cooperative gameplay needs to have a large player base to support it. Unfortunately, the multiple times I’ve tried to play online was met with no other players. So I was unable to test the main feature of where it shined. So what does it offer that Left 4 Dead doesn’t?
Weapons and classes can be levelled up. By levelling up weapons they come with new attachments which can change their utility in combat. For example, you start with a silenced pistol which allows you to stealthily take out zombies without alerting the horde. Which can make the early game very easy. But you can upgrade it to a stronger version which can either be silenced or more damaging. It’s a great addition to the format, which gives you the sole reason to replay the levels.
The graphics are pretty average and not very detailed. This extends to the zombies which look very generic and have very few details to make them look like zombies. There are stronger classes of zombies which have unique designs such as the Hazmat zombie which explodes with bile when killed which inhibits your vision. But honestly, the game looks no better than Left 4 Dead 2 but that title had its own visual style.
Zombies which look very generic
The only reason I would keep coming back to play more isn’t the story or lack thereof. But the level up feature. Even then it’s not a very deep feature of the game and does not give you much of a reason to replay it.
I did manage to get a game online and it makes the game so much better. The AI won’t complete missions for you such as collecting supplies. But when you play with others they can wait near the next mission point and progress faster. But if you don’t get into a game with others it can be much better.
It feels like this genre needs a breath of new life to it and unfortunately, World War Z is not the answer to our prayers. Hopefully soon Valve will grace us with Left 4 Dead 3. World War Z is missing the core piece to even be considered worthwhile, a large enough player base to sustain the multiplayer mode. And with a tired plot doesn’t help it either. And it also doesn’t bring anything worthwhile to the genre. Because of this it only gets 5 out of 10.
