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[djshauny]

I watch a good mate of mine stream this game.

I thought it looked really good.

 

[freezamite]

No, think about this. If you took Gears of War and gave it fixed camera angles, would it become survival horror? Is Fatal Frame survival horror, or is it its own thing too?

If you took Gears of War and gave it fixed camera angles... would it has the same PLAYABILITY?
Camera position determines how you play a game. Fatal Frame games aren't survival horrors at all (at least the first FF which is the one I've played), like Dead Space. They are considered survival horrors because of the atmosphere, but the first one is a mix of a traditional adventure game with first person combat, and the later a third person shooter,

A game is defined by its gameplay mechanics, and not by how it's themed.

even on the highest difficulty settings there is enough ammo to kill everything in quite a few survival horror games including RE. If Silent Hill is a lesser Survival Horror title by your criteria than so should Zombiu. It shouldn't be spun off into some subset. Hell, the Silent Hill rankings asked you to kill things for higher ranks. Zombiu doesn't and has less forced encounters than quite a few other survival horror games.

Try to kill everything in RE:Remake in hard, even taking down all the bosses without firing a single bullet, there will still be zombies/hunters that can't be killed. Not that you have to either.
And yes, ZombiU is a First Person SH to me, which is not the same as a pure SH. Silent Hill is more Survival Horror than ZombiU for the reasons I gave. The melee combat in ZombiU is also much more useful than the one found on RE/SH, and that's because melee combat is the only aspect of ZombiU that makes it a SH. Since it has a prominent role on the playability, this is enough to make it a FPSH to me.

 

[fred]

Very tense game. Definitely too hard for some. I know I never beat it...I got to the part where

Spoiler

you get kidnapped and have to fight in the arena

. That part was just way too difficult for me, and I didn't want to loose a character.

I want a sequel, though. Because it has a lot of potential. The gamepad had some great features, as well. And the fact that you have to look down to check your backpack was brilliant.

You should try completing that part with crosshairs and aim-assist turned off lol. I mentioned it in another thread but to get a true zombie apocalypse sim you need to play the game like that lol. It's absolutely mental!!! I ended up completing the game with well over a hundred deaths. Can't remember how many now but it was SHITLOADS lmfao

I'm convinced we'll hear about Ubisoft continuing their work on the sequel next year when the Wii U's installed userbase is looking healthier.

 

[Atolm]

Game was good. Not a masterpiece by any means but definitely very worth it if you have a Wii U, even better now at bomba prices. Atmosphere is great, but I didn't find it very scary, maybe because zombies are so cliché. The only scary part for me was...

Spoiler

the kindergarten. Fuck that teleporting zombie. Creepy as hell

Also the plot was pretty much nonsensical to me, it was almost Assassin's Creed levels.

Spoiler

Why the Prepper gets so angry when you leave?

 

[TheRedSnifit]

If you took Gears of War and gave it fixed camera angles... would it has the same PLAYABILITY?

You're distracting. If Gears had a fixed camera, it would be mechanically identical to early RE by necessity. Would that be enough to qualify it as survival horror? After all, a game is defined by its gameplay mechanics, right?

Try to kill everything in RE:Remake in hard, even taking down all the bosses without firing a single bullet, there will still be zombies/hunters that can't be killed. Not that you have to either.

REmake isn't the only game in the franchise, you know. Pretty much every other RE game had tons of ammo; 2 and 3 had enough to kill everything several times over.

 

[freezamite]

You're distracting. If Gears had a fixed camera, it would be mechanically identical to early RE by necessity. Would that be enough to qualify it as survival horror? After all, a game is defined by its gameplay mechanics, right?

If it plays like a classical RE, then of course it's a survival horror.

REmake isn't the only game in the franchise, you know. Pretty much every other RE game had tons of ammo; 2 and 3 had enough to kill everything several times over.

And as I said earlier, that was an extreme example to make things easy to understand. Is the combat a focus on RE2 and 3. In other words, do you get better at playing those games by aiming faster or with more accuracy (in which case they aren't SH) or by planning your actions more efficiently?
The fact that there is more ammo on those games than on RE:Remake makes them lighter, but not less Survival Horror.
In ZombiU you have to plan your actions well, but there's also room to improve your fighting abilities.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

If it plays like a classical RE, then of course it's a survival horror.

Alright, so the criteria for being a survival horror game is nothing more than fixed cameras and auto-aim? The only thing keeping DOOM, Gears, CoD, and Team Fortress 2 from being survival horror is the camera?

And as I said earlier, that was an extreme example to make things easy to understand. Is the combat a focus on RE2 and 3. In other words, do you get better at playing those games by aiming faster or with more accuracy (in which case they aren't SH) or by planning your actions more efficiently?
The fact that there is more ammo on those games than on RE:Remake makes them lighter, but not less Survival Horror.
In ZombiU you have to plan your actions well, but there's also room to improve your fighting abilities.

In RE2 and 3 you get better by realizing that you can shoot everything without having to plan ahead or chip away at bosses. Survival.

 

[abstract alien]

I didn't have a single issue with the game outside of it's needed patch for polishing purposes. It was craxy tense, focused on actual survival, and every time I died, it was my own fault. Great game, for me anyway.

 

[The Lamonster]

damn. thanks

 

[Exile20]

This game is so under rated. It brought back the survival horror games. No one should miss this game.

 

[kunonabi]

If it plays like a classical RE, then of course it's a survival horror.


And as I said earlier, that was an extreme example to make things easy to understand. Is the combat a focus on RE2 and 3. In other words, do you get better at playing those games by aiming faster or with more accuracy (in which case they aren't SH) or by planning your actions more efficiently?
The fact that there is more ammo on those games than on RE:Remake makes them lighter, but not less Survival Horror.
In ZombiU you have to plan your actions well, but there's also room to improve your fighting abilities.

there is room to improve your combat abilities in SH as well by making better use of blocking, backsteps, and strafing. FF is no different either as shutter chances and combos play a huge role. high level play isn't about combat in RE that's certainly true but Zombiu is no less dependent on evasion, decision making and proper item usage. Being more accurate certainly helps your chances but it isn't the whole game at all. The AitD remake had all sorts of combat options and that was as old school a survival horror game as we've had in years even with all the modern elements.

 

[Astral/H3X]

It was a survival horror game, focused on survival and horror. Imagine that.

Wait are we trying to say that survival horror has to be zero ammo, fixed camera? That's not describing a genre, that's describing a single series. Fuck, a single game in a single series.

 

[Alcotholic]

The game had some seriously awesome tension going on in it. Especially when you play survival mode. The furthest I got to was the palace. Its really stressful when you only got one life.

 

[Neff]

The game is about 65% of the way toward being an all-time classic, imo. With some more geographical content and variety, and an improved melee system (I don't agree that the bat is sufficient by itself, having every melee encounter play exactly the same over 15 hours isn't the best way to keep things interesting) it would have been a Demon's Souls level companion piece.

That said, what is there is absolutely unique and brilliant enough in its own right to be worth hunting the game down if you have the means, and if you're intending to pick up a Wii U down the line, keep it on your radar. It's superb.

 

[badnewsbeers]

My game of 2012. Wasn't perfect, but what an experience. I loved the slow, methodical approach that was required. Crushed there will be no sequel.

 

[freezamite]

Alright, so the criteria for being a survival horror game is nothing more than fixed cameras and auto-aim? The only thing keeping DOOM, Gears, CoD, and Team Fortress 2 from being survival horror is the camera?

Wait a second, what the hell are you trying to do here? YOU were the one that said that the "fixed camera" Gears played exactly like a Resident Evil. If it plays like a Resident Evil, then it's a Survival horror.

As I said, a camera change implies gameplay changes, it doesn't mean that it's a survival horror only because of the fixed camera system, but it's pretty obvious that a fixed camera CoD it's not a First Person Shooter.

In RE2 and 3 you get better by realizing that you can shoot everything without having to plan ahead or chip away at bosses. Survival.

Yeah, that's if you play in easy mode and don't give a fuck about the final score.
In RE3, if you wanted to beat the game at 100% you had to fight and defeat Nemessis in every encounter you had with him, those wasting tons of ammunition in order to do so.
The game was more flexible in that it let you choose between fight and run and if you ran every time then of course you would have more than enough ammo to waste, but that's not because RE3 was less of a survival horror than the others, it was just a design decision that you, of course, weren't able to understand at all.

there is room to improve your combat abilities in SH as well by making better use of blocking, backsteps, and strafing. FF is no different either as shutter chances and combos play a huge role. high level play isn't about combat in RE that's certainly true but Zombiu is no less dependent on evasion, decision making and proper item usage. Being more accurate certainly helps your chances but it isn't the whole game at all. The AitD remake had all sorts of combat options and that was as old school a survival horror game as we've had in years even with all the modern elements.

In RE you can also improve your skills at evading zombies, if there weren't any combat mechanics involved, then they would be adventure games instead of Survival Horrors. This is why I'm talking about design priorities. In a Survival Horror the range of improvement in your actions is REALLY limited, and the focus is the management.

Let's say in a Survival Horror it's 80% plannification and 20% fighting skills, in ZombiU it would be closer to 50%-50%, and in a shooter it would be 20%-80% or like in most cases nowadays 0%-100% and in a pure adventure it would be 100%-0%.
Now of course there can be variations between games, for example, a Silent Hill is more like 70%-30% (to compare it to the 80%-20% of the RE game).

In ZombiU there is a part where you have to survive purely based on your fighting skills, that alone is proof enough of this game pertaining at a different genre than pure survival horrors.

The game is about 65% of the way toward being an all-time classic, imo. With some more geographical content and variety, and an improved melee system (I don't agree that the bat is sufficient by itself, having every melee encounter play exactly the same over 15 hours isn't the best way to keep things interesting) it would have been a Demon's Souls level companion piece.

This is, as I said, because you didn't understand the game. What was interesting about it wasn't the fighting system by itself, but the fact that thanks to that EXCACT and FRAME-CALCULATED fighting system you knew exactly what were your resources and what you could do.
A more flexible fighting system (with combos, weapon upgrades, just-frames or whatever) would destroy the purpose of the game and transform it into something completely different.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

Freezamite, you're arguing a definition of the genre that exists only in your mind. ZombiU is unquestionably a horror game. And survival is clearly the core concept; resource management is central, and the survival aspect is foregrounded by the fact that once you die, everything that you have is gone, including your character. No RE can make such a hard core claim to the importance of survival; no matter how many times you die, Chris and Jill will still be there with all their stuff.

Aside from this, most all of the games you're arguing against were labelled survival horror by their creators and the press. The definition of the genre is much more elastic than you're giving credit for.

 

[codhand]

not my fault, i day one'd it

 

[Sadist]

First game I bought with my Wii U, was worth it. Not perfect, but the basics are amazing.

To bad some view it as a first person shooter. (thanks Gamespot!)

 

[Desiato]

Amazing game that needs a sequel to reach its full potential. Too bad we'll never see one.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

First game I bought with my Wii U, was worth it. Not perfect, but the basics are amazing.

To bad some view it as a first person shooter. (thanks Gamespot!)

That Gamespot piece was one of the worst reviews I've ever read. It wasn't even a "hey, it's just his opinion" kind of thing, it was indefensibly amateurish.

 

[freezamite]

Freezamite, you're arguing a definition of the genre that exists only in your mind. ZombiU is unquestionably a horror game. And survival is clearly the core concept; resource management is central, and the survival aspect is foregrounded by the fact that once you die, everything that you have is gone, including your character. No RE can make such a hard core claim to the importance of survival; no matter how many times you die, Chris and Jill will still be there with all their stuff.

Aside from this, most all of the games you're arguing against were labelled survival horror by their creators and the press. The definition of the genre is much more elastic than you're giving credit for.

What??? Well then, Mario games are happy survivros, because they are in happy worlds, and the objective is also to survive. Of course, Zelda are also happy survivors, as well as any game where you can die and has no horror elements.

And the fact that you can survive without your equipment is precisely the proof that the game is not a survival horror. Well, it's a survival horror if now games are categorized based on their theme.

Well then, from here on we will put Age of Empires and Call of Duty at the same category, both are "war" games after all!!!!

 

[freezamite]

Double post. Sorry!

 

[Spades]

I bought the Wii U at launch with ZombiU and never really played it despite its reputation for being a pretty underrated game.

I'm in the same situation. I plan on picking it up over the Halloween weekend.

 

[fantomena]

Good game.

 

[Bumhat]

Bought the game at launch and absolutely loved it, it makes great use of the gamepad and I think the slow, methodical pace is superb. Plus the

Spoiler

nursery

bit is intense! I also really enjoyed how active the Miiverse community was at the start of the year - I wasted several hours in there reading comments and posting pretty shoddy zombie drawings!

The only caveat (for me at least) is the myriad of frankly atrocious, sometimes game-breaking bugs. One of these occurred literally fifteen minutes before the end of the game and rendered my playthrough unfinishable*, so I had to restart. With that said, I think the game has subsequently been patched, plus it speaks volumes that I gladly restarted the game from scratch and finished it I'd definitely pick it up if you haven't already.


*spoilerific details of the glitch I experienced:

Spoiler

When you have to kill the doctor at the end of the game, I threw a molotov at him at almost exactly the same time that I got nailed by one of the riot police zombies. When I started as a new survivor, the game seemed to be in limbo whereby it knew I'd killed the doctor (apparently he'd died during the 'death screen') and could remove his eyeball, but the objective for killing him was still there and wasn't ticked. At this point the game basically went mental, in that certain parts of the ending would trigger (like the jets flying over London) but I had no way of completing anything post-Buckingham Palace, and going back to the safehouse didn't do anything. Even stranger, the game wouldn't remember I'd taken the doctor's eyeball - I think I ended up removing it three times before realising the game was screwed. Oh well!

 

[cacildo]

here is another place that do exist, but you cant reach

and here's a table with a beautiful picture

and here, FUCK, i played this game and this part at least 10 times but its the first time a see this hanged "nurse"

 

[Neff]

This is, as I said, because you didn't understand the game. What was interesting about it wasn't the fighting system by itself, but the fact that thanks to that EXCACT and FRAME-CALCULATED fighting system you knew exactly what were your resources and what you could do.

I'll happily admit, I certainly don't understand what you're talking about.

An exact and frame-calculated system (which almost literally every videogame ever made is anyway, but I digress) based around a solitary, unchanging mechanic meant that I used it in exactly the same way, for the entire game, without ever failing unless I was lazy or careless. I'll be honest, it got dull. The fact that firearms are a rarity, and are something to be hoarded and treasured, is commendable, but makes the bat's tedium all the more apparent. A range of melee weapons that lent themselves to particular encounters and situations would have livened things up nicely.

It's an awesome game, but it lacks balance and variety. It's so close to greatness, but still so far.

 

[Aostia]

one of my favourite games of all time
shwcase for the gamepad
showcase for the survival horror genre
great tension, atmosphere, lightining effects, environment, equipment management, persisent online world even if single player only


great great great. don't miss it, especially now that wiiu is cheaper, the game at least in PAL has been permanently on sale for 29 euro and halloween is coming

 

[freezamite]

An exact and frame-calculated system (which almost literally every videogame ever made is anyway, but I digress) based around a solitary, unchanging mechanic meant that I used it in exactly the same way, for the entire game, without ever failing unless I was lazy or careless.

No. Most games doesn't have frame-calculated animations so that you have always the same fighting conditions.
And what you describe is what makes this game a FPSH instead of a FPS with scarce ammo.
It's the fact that you always know how a fight will go that allows you to calculate what to do with what you have. It got dull to you because you thought you were playing an horror-themed FPS, but this isn't what the game aimed to be.

 

[CoolZombie360]

Top game, absolutely loved it (just don't try to play it like COD).

 

[frankie_baby]

here is another place that do exist, but you cant reach

and here's a table with a beautiful picture

I love that cat picture

 

[jim2011]

One of the best first impressions ever. It was the first game I played with the Wii U and was an excellent showpiece for the hardware.

However, the terribly repetitive combat got stale fast. I beat the game (after dying many times lol) but it became more of a chore at the end. I wish it would have taken more cues from Condemned (the best horror game last gen imo). That game had significantly better combat.

 

[Grisby]

Yeah, this game has always interested me and when I get a WiiU it'll probably be the first or second (dat Bayonetta 2) that I put in there.

I've also been on a zombie kick because of the WD and have been playing State of Decay. I'm enjoying these permadeath systems that are starting to become more prevalent in the genre.

 

[freezamite]

However, the terribly repetitive combat got stale fast. I beat the game (after dying many times lol) but it became more of a chore at the end. I wish it would have taken more cues from Condemned (the best horror game last gen imo). That game had significantly better combat.

That game was a shooter, ZombiU isn't. And besides genre preferences, ZombiU is a much better game than Condemned.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

I've only just started playing it, and have been sidetracked by Earthbound and GTA V, but its much more interesting than I first imagined. Taking control of different survivors and the last actions in the world staying persistent was a nice touch.

 

[badnewsbeers]

I'll happily admit, I certainly don't understand what you're talking about.

An exact and frame-calculated system (which almost literally every videogame ever made is anyway, but I digress) based around a solitary, unchanging mechanic meant that I used it in exactly the same way, for the entire game, without ever failing unless I was lazy or careless. I'll be honest, it got dull. The fact that firearms are a rarity, and are something to be hoarded and treasured, is commendable, but makes the bat's tedium all the more apparent. A range of melee weapons that lent themselves to particular encounters and situations would have livened things up nicely.

It's an awesome game, but it lacks balance and variety. It's so close to greatness, but still so far.

For me, it wasn't the method of melee death, it was the approach. Planning a zombie death and orchestrating in secrecy was the thrill. Beating them with the bat was satisfying because it meant one less opponent without anyone noticing. I got comfortable with the bat and I knew the timing of it perfectly. I'd they did a sequel they could've added more, but I was happy with it as it was.

 

[Dog Problems]

This is one of the games I plan on getting once I get a Wii U. I've had my eye on it since it was released.

 

[badnewsbeers]

This is one of the games I plan on getting once I get a Wii U. I've had my eye on it since it was released.

Please do it, for yourself and for the 0.0001% increased shot at a sequel someday.

 

[Soyongdori]

That game was a shooter, ZombiU isn't. And besides genre preferences, ZombiU is a much better game than Condemned.

LMFAO. The first Condemned was a shooter as much as ZombiU.

 

[NewGame]

I love the cricket bat combat! It feels dirty, close and dangerous- how zombie fights should feel.

Inventory management was great. I'd love a second game but I doubt it'd be happening. People compare it to TLoU but I think it makes up in gameplay and atmosphere what it lacks in cutscenes and character interactions.

 

[Projectjustice]

I dont understand people that actually brought Zombi U but didnt play it cause some reviews werent lighting up the charts. Screw the bad reviews cause it did get some positive ones and lots of good impressions from actual gamers around here so see for yourselves! This is a hidden launch gem that deserves a proper sequel!

 

[freezamite]

LMFAO. The first Condemned was a shooter as much as ZombiU.

That's why I say that you don't understand what a survival horror is. No, Condemned (even the first one) was a first person "shooter/brawler", with a strong focus on hand to hand combat. It's much closer to a conventional FPS than to a FPSH like ZombiU. But well, it's in first person and it's scary, and as I see this is all that matters to some.
As I said before, game genres has to be determined by gameplay, and if Condemned is the same genre as ZombiU, then Age of Empires is the same genre as CoD (war games, was it?).

 

[cacildo]

according to the activity log, i have 79hours spendt on ZombiU

And yet i died again today trying to finish survival mode

Its not hard, its just that i always make some stupid mistake

damn, it was the first time i had maxed the crossbow


ill try again in a few weeks

 

[HarlockJC]

(full disclosure: I worked on Walking Dead)

I'd actually be curious about the opinions of folks who've played both ZombieU and Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (was kinda sad Patrick Klepek didn't do a review of it, since I know he loved ZombieU). They occupy a similar space in the sense of "zombie games that are more about survival rather than pure action", though obviously ours was much less polished and reviewed way worse, lol. We're not working on a sequel or anything, but it'd be interesting to hear just for my own personal curiosity!

Someone who played both should answer this guy question. I personally like to know the answer.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

What??? Well then, Mario games are happy survivros, because they are in happy worlds, and the objective is also to survive.

No, Mario encourages you to master a course through trial and error, which is why it gives you tons and tons of lives. It expects you to fall into pits trying to make tough jumps for star coins. ZombiU tells you "don't do it man, or you'll never see Mario again!"

And the fact that you can survive without your equipment is precisely the proof that the game is not a survival horror.

Except you can't. I lost my best survivor (seriously, the characters are even called survivors) because I got cocky and wasn't watching my back going down a sewer tunnel. The endgame was impossible without my gear, and I got the shit ending because of it.

 

[Soyongdori]

That's why I say that you don't understand what a survival horror is. No, Condemned (even the first one) was a first person "shooter/brawler", with a strong focus on hand to hand combat. It's much closer to a conventional FPS than to a FPSH like ZombiU. But well, it's in first person and it's scary, and as I see this is all that matters to some.
As I said before, game genres has to be determined by gameplay, and if Condemned is the same genre as ZombiU, then Age of Empires is the same genre as CoD (war games, was it?).

Seriously, your argument is like, what do they say? Grasping at straws?

Let's admit it, Condemned was a survivor horror as much as ZombiU.

Just because you didn't think it was survivor horror enough doesn't change the game's genre.

then Age of Empires is the same genre as CoD (war games, was it?).

Although, using that statement pretty much proves that you've never touched Age of Empires, I'll bite. By using your same logic, I could say Call of Duty is same genre as Amnesia. See what I did there?

 

[foxuzamaki]

(full disclosure: I worked on Walking Dead)

I'd actually be curious about the opinions of folks who've played both ZombieU and Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (was kinda sad Patrick Klepek didn't do a review of it, since I know he loved ZombieU). They occupy a similar space in the sense of "zombie games that are more about survival rather than pure action", though obviously ours was much less polished and reviewed way worse, lol. We're not working on a sequel or anything, but it'd be interesting to hear just for my own personal curiosity!

Yeah someone should try to answer this guy

 

[BizzyBum]

I would if I played both. lol

 

[Neff]

It got dull to you because you thought you were playing an horror-themed FPS, but this isn't what the game aimed to be.

So if I understood what ZombiU is trying to be, it'd be better right? And my ignorance is preventing me from ignoring its flaws? Do you have any idea how ridiculous and patronising this sounds?

All games need variety to truly stand out. ZombiU is no different.