In life, we are allowed to live and learn from our mistakes. However, this couldn’t be any less true in ZERO Sievert, a brutally tough survival game. ZERO Sievert is developed by CABO Studio and published by Modern Wolf and features a post-apocalyptic world that is displayed using pixelized graphics. This title has intense gameplay and a lot of mechanics to further heighten the enjoyment. Unfortunately, it fails to explain these mechanics and it is unfairly difficult for new players. While I appreciated the difficulty in the later parts of the game, it made the early game very unenjoyable.
Life After The End
The events of ZERO Sievert take place after a nuclear fallout. As one of the survivors, you are brought to the ZERO Sievert bunker, a place that is safe to all, regardless of any conflict that might be happening outside the bunker. As a Hunter, you are a neutral party and are tasked to survive while finding resources for the bunker. The main way is to take on tasks so you can earn enough currency to live as well as upgrade your hunting capabilities. You will meet diverse characters in and out of the bunker, each with their own goals, affiliations, and struggles.
While there isn’t a lot of text to tell this story, it is still fantastic. The world itself shows the impact of the nuclear fallout through the enemy types, the abnormalities, and the abandoned traces of civilization. This is further demonstrated through the way the characters interact with the world and the player. These characters are so used to death that they bet on people’s lives. The characters feel real because of this and it made me enjoy the world of ZERO sievert all the more.
The Brutal Life Of A Hunter
The gameplay is split into two sections, the ZERO Sievert bunker, where you prepare for tasks, and the expeditions, where you explore an area, complete tasks and find resources to ensure your survival. As stated before, the bunker is where you can prepare for missions. You can do this by crafting and buying gear, restoring your health, and changing the time by sleeping. It is also here where you accept tasks, which is the main focus of the game. Unfortunately, there isn’t a main quest line, which made it hard to motivate me to go on expeditions outside of the fun gameplay. However, I still enjoyed the bunker as it has some great world-building.
ZERO Sievert is a very fun game. I enjoyed exploring areas, infiltrating enemy bases, and looting chests. However, because of the poor tutorials, I struggled to enjoy this game as I was never taught the mechanics. This title’s tutorials are all hidden in a menu. Furthermore, these tutorials are awful and tell the player mechanics rather than teach the player. This wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the brutal difficulty of the game. Even on the easiest difficulty, you are expected to play very well to even survive, which hugely affected my enjoyment of the game. If I was taught more of the game’s mechanics, I think I would have enjoyed the game more as the difficulty of the game made it more enjoyable once I understood the game.
The Sounds Of ZERO Sievert
This game is visually a treat and the sound design while flawed, is also very good. However, this title suffers from slowdown and lacks music. While the lacking music adds to the more mature tone of the game and the ambiance of the field, it still was a huge let down to not have any soundtrack. Thankfully, the sound design makes up for it, as the sounds of footsteps and guns firing are phenomenal. Unfortunately, the static of being affected by radiation sounds awful and is the most common sound you will hear. This shouldn’t take away from the beautiful pixelized graphics. While flawed, ZERO Sievert’s presentation is great.
ZERO Sievert: A Few Missteps
ZERO Sievert is an enjoyable game with its deep world-building, fun gameplay, and great presentation. However, it struggles with some aspects of its presentation and its teaching tools. Although, this game is still in early access and might have changes in the future that fix these problems. Overall, ZERO Sievert is still a very fun time. If you are a fan of the Survival genre of games I recommend giving it a go.
