Let's
face it, very few things are scary when it comes to the media outside
of their coverage of One Direction fans and the weird love the
Internet has for Bobs Burgers. Seriously, that show. Ugh. Which is a
shame, as the voice cast is great. Unfortunately they're just unable
to produce that kind of unsettling, constant terror, erm, constantly.
Movies tend to be more successful. Books and comics? I don't think
so. Video games though? That has potential. Unfortunately since
pretty much the first horror game that potential has been largely
squandered. That's nobodies fault at first. I mean, really, unless
it's E.T. there's going to be nothing terrifying you on the Atari.
That whole era of gaming though, is kind of irrelevant. I don't want
to talk about, you don't want to read about it (not from me at least,
I'll make mistakes and then you'll get angry and stop calling).
Throughout the 90's and 00's horror was making it big again (or as I
grew up alongside the 'New' gaming industry, we simply noticed it
more) and games were there too. But, I don't know. Most of them seem
terribly... safe. It's all about jumps rather than fear. Sure, you
have your Silent Hills, and your System Shocks and whatnot's (Fatal
Frame, I suppose. I've heard it's quite good. Is it?).
Well
that has changed. Ubisoft has revived it's ancient Zombi property
with one of the launch titles for the Wii U. It presented, pretty
much from out of nowhere with little hype, Zombi U. A game set in
England after the zombie apocalypse has torn down society (yes, I
know, we're all sick of zombies after we spent three seasons with the
main cast of the Walking Dead, but this just helps prove my point),
you play the role of a survivor being guided by a somewhat angry
sounding disembodied voice, who you kind of want to slap. Luckily the
disembodied voice came with a free safe house, for you to use as a
base in the London underground. So that's something. Either way,
you're out in the wild for the most part. Armed with a cricket bat, a
backpack and a Wii U gamepad (that's clearly what it is, let's not
split hairs. It's your map/inventory/hub section). You can run, you
can shove. You can take whatever you find provided you have room.
And, oh yeah, you are surrounded by zombies. The difference between
this game and others?
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| No idiot ball in this here, unlike most ZA's. |
It.
Is. terrifying.
This
game takes the phrase "survival horror" incredibly
literally. One of the first weapons you find is a handgun (that,
disappointingly does not make the silenced PP7 sounds from
GoldenEye). Finally, you can do some damage to the zombies from a
distance! No more getting up close, as you angle yourself behind some
of the broken down cars and line up your sights.
Bang!
Bang!
Oh.
Right. Someone doesn't know their horrors. Noise attracts them just
as much here as it does in zombie movies. Pretty soon you're being
chased by a group, and even though their speed is between lumbering
like Romero's and sprinting like Boyle's rage things, it is not fun.
They come from all sides, and really think you look quite appetising.
And they will catch you, devour you and turn you. It's not pretty and
it can happen without you even noticing. Why? Because this game isn't
about killing the zombies it's about surviving them, and if you don't
take it slowly, use your brain and plan things the game will punish
you; it will punish you so badly your friends and family will wonder
where the bruises come from. As you go around London scavenging and
performing tasks for the annoying voice (who often takes time out from
his busy schedule of ordering you around to ramble on and on like a
crazy person or insult your actions--without distracting you. It
dawns on you fairly quickly your only ally in the world is a clearly
unwell man hiding in the shadows), you have to be very careful what
you do or don't take. You only have limited space in your backpack,
and equipable items slots. Luckily the Wii U gamepad you have in your
possession has a ping radar, so you can tell where red dots are all
over the maps. If you can find the maps. Yeah, you don't have any at
the start. And the red dots aren't necessarily zombies. They could be
corpses or even live animals. It can also scan the area to help you
find items, messages from other survivors and mission directives, but
really even with that the odds come stacked against you.
Visually
the game is as dark and dank as you'd expect London to be after a
soccer
riot
zombie apocalypse, with just enough movement by nature to keep you on
your toes, though there are a number of flaws, and the game itself
does look a little... limp compared to even others on the system. but
it's not the games high point. That would be the gameplay (duh). But
even the audio is fantastic. Crisp, clear, ever present and
petrifying. You can here everything near you and things that are not,
and you won't be sure if they're coming to you. Using the audio to
keep you on your guard is a brilliant move that the game fully
embraces, from the zombies gurgles, to the crackling flames engulfing
broken down, burnt out cars to the thumps and shrieks of the minimal
soundtrack as you lose your life.
Really
to go any further in to this would be a mistake. It's an experience
game, one you should play for yourself, knowing as little as possible
about it. But, let's just take a quick look over those things that
make it terrifying one last time:
Limited
weapons and ammo that are quite weak, and little inventory space
Zombies
that move quick enough to be a threat but slow enough to fool you
into thinking you can take on a group
A
radar that can't differentiate between zombies, corpses and animals
Extreme
punishment if you try and be a no-kill-nelly or an American
gun crazy action hero.
When
you die, you lose everything. Because you get a brand new character.
And your now deceased character is out there, in the game, with all
your items, waiting to eat you.
Didn't
I mention that last one earlier? Yep, one of the darkest, most well
thought out and unique aspects to the game actually makes you
encounter your zombified former-self. When you see that happening in
game, it is an odd experience. One that is as unsettlingly powerful
as it is successful at distracting you long enough to get you killed,
even without loads and loads of back story for each survivor. You're
given their name, you get a quick look at them, and then they become
you. It's hard to describe just how it feels to spend hours with a
survivor only to be struck down by a careless mistake and encounter
their zombified body later. It's intense, it's strange and it's
frightening, much like the rest of the game. Do yourself a favour and
get it. It's a true highlight of not only the console or the survival
horror, but the last year of gaming.
Edited to add: You also get a flashlight! (But it's not a great one.)
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| See? Told you so. |
- Gouki
