Zombie Army 4 developed and published by Rebellion Development is now available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Hitler is no more, the undead leader has been destroyed but the dead still roam the Planet. It’s up to you to put an end to the zombie threat once and for all by yourself or with friends. The story feels a lot more humorous this time around, the overall feel of the game is, it’s Nazi’s its Zombies, we’re not taking it too seriously and that is a really good thing. I feel that the non serious approach left room for an experience that is full of laughs, giggles and just an overall good time. We live in a time where games are becoming a lot more serious, more emotional and getting closer and closer to movies, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Back in the PlayStation 2 era, you’d see a lot more comical games and Zombie Army 4 fills that hole by just being a damn good time. I found myself just wanting to keep going because of the massive amount of easter eggs, the comical zombie shots and insane enemies (zombie sharks and tanks) it was just so exciting and silly in a good way. Zombie Army 4 gives you the choice of either campaign, horde mode or live events, you can do all of these either solo or co-operative and each offer a unique look at the mechanics of the game and it provides decent variation so that the game doesn’t get to that point of feeling like you’ve done this a thousand times before. The campaign as-well has a decent story-line, I loved seeing how the resistance was dealing with it all and listening to what happened to each location, Zombie Army 4 strives to make each part very detailed and it encourages you to explore what they have built. Exploring can be enjoyable because the amount of easter eggs that feature in this game is amazing. One of my favourite films Shaun of the Dead even has an appearance. I ended up going into one room and on the wall was a shadow, this shadow looked as if someone was murdering a woman but you go over to the table and an undead zombie hand is stabbing a doll… I shot the hand.
The brilliant sniping system from Sniper Elite is back and better than ever, looking at those slow-mo kills never stops being satisfying but also this time round some comical traps have been set, for example, an undead shark that you can use to eat the zombies, and yourself if you get in the way. Other weapons included are mostly from the Sniper Elite series but each weapon has unique and fun customisation to fit your play-style. I loved going around with my M1 Garand and Shotgun combo and often used strategies to gather zombies into one area and threw my grenades at them which amassed massive combo’s. The combo system is a lot of fun, I often found myself trying to top my previous scores through-out. Zombie Army 4 feels like a game that really gives you the freedom to absolutely go nuts and unleash hell on Hitler’s dead army. I also loved that no matter how many zombies appeared on screen, the PlayStation 4 never slowed down once, in all the chaos I brought the game runs so smoothly and I never ran into a single bug. To the negatives though, the only negative I brought from this game was the paid DLC, it seemed to be quite a lot for just a few extra bits and bobs, I felt that it would be better if the DLC was more maps and campaign levels than just the guns and character customisation’s I saw. Other than that though the game is fully packed with many customisations, I didn’t feel like I was missing out too much by not buying the items.
Zombie Army 4 sets the theme perfectly, each location you go to looks different and hellish and it really helped sell the apocalypse that they had created and again it all ran so perfectly. You’ll also see the variation in enemy types and the true horror of them all, such fine work has gone into each of them I loved being introduced to new ones each time I progressed in the campaign. I have to say as well, I love the soundtrack, it is bloody brilliant and I would pay to have access to that on my phone. Another unique feature that literally terrified my daughter and partner was the controller. On the PlayStation 4 creepy undead voices will ask you too “come play with me” and too “come back”, you’ll also get other demonic sounds. Such a small feature but a fantastic one. Like mentioned earlier the game is full of tiny details and I have to say the controller was my favourite, I keep pausing the game just to see how creepy it is though I do wonder when my daughter will start talking to me again.
Verdict
Zombie Army 4 is one hell of a fun time that doesn’t take itself to seriously. Okay it doesn’t revolutionise the genre no but damn it provided me with so many laughs and that is brilliant. For fans of zombies, for people who like killing Nazi zombies, I recommend this game to you. The game isn’t overpriced at all and I think it’s definitely worthy of your time. Apart from the few DLC’s I think that perhaps shouldn’t cost as much as they do, I think Zombie Army 4 is a solid title in the year 2020.
9/10
Nerdy Bird Games 