I like my Wii, I really do. Unfortunately, it left me less than confident that I would ever get a new Nintendo console again. So when the Wii U was announced, I was admittedly skeptical.
And then they announced ZombiU.
I'll be upfront: I
love horror games. My favorite video games have always been old-school Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame.. Unfortunately, the last generation of horror was plagued by what I'll call "Michael Bay Action Syndrome," ignoring slow pacing and atmosphere in favor of explosions and pumping enemies full of so much lead that they explode (presumably from the cancer brought on by said lead). Sure, we had some horror gems (Amnesia: The Dark Decent comes to mind), and some attempts by major developers (Resident Evil: Revelations), but for the most part horror has been dead; it really says something when Left 4 Dead and jump-scare farms like Slender are considered survival horror. But ZombiU is different.
ZombiU tries to emulate old-school Resident Evil, and although it's a bit rough around the edges, it's largely successful, and feels like a love letter to genuine survival horror. Finding five handgun bullets is cause for celebration, and if you try to play this like Dead Space you'll end up having a long, monotonous night of Whack-A-Mole with a cricket bat (and zombies instead of moles). Regenerating health? You wish. Save points? Spare me. There's no reloading save points when shit hits the fan; you make do or die. This game is brutal. Another surprisingly deep aspect is the Gamepad; everything, from switching weapons to picking locks, which significantly increases the tension. Which brings me to my next point: this game is scary, and even gives Amnesia a run for its money. There are a handful of jump scares, but they merely punctuate the game's already terrifying atmosphere.
The French way of responding to "journalists" hoping for Cowadoody.Of course, the game's old-school horror gameplay, combined with the difficulty curve, make it not for everyone, as most players (and some of the game's lower review scores) point out; this isn't Kill Everything Ever: Zombie Edition. Hell, the game tells you this right at the outset: in response to a low score from a critic expecting an action game, the very first thing you see is a warning about the kind of game it is. But for those of us hoping for a horror game that tries to be more Resident Evil than Left 4 Dead, this is the game of the decade. I can only hope that the game sells well enough to prompt other developers to bring back survival horror, and to encourage Ubisoft to keep the inevitable sequel similar to ZombiU.
I've set up a Twitter account, so if you're ever so hopelessly lost that you feel the need to read boring tweets about my monotonous life, feel free to check it out and press that awesome "Follow" button so I can have an ego boost. Also, if you ever want to email me (because notes are sooooooo last year), you can find me at theredsnifit@myopera.com