Ha ha another game reviewer that knows nothing about gaming and relies on what's 'in' to mete out his scores.
ZombiU Review
Game Emblems
The Bad
When you aren't facing game-breaking glitches, ZombiU is a thrilling, genuinely scary ride.
With an uninteresting world and dull combat, the survival horror game ZombiU is a weak link in the Wii U's launch lineup.
Other functions are simply better handled through traditional controller inputs. Cycling between weapons via touch screen or constantly dragging items to and from your backpack is not ideal. And scanning the environments for items means you do most of the exploration in a very detached, clinical way.
Sadly, what you do in that world is not very interesting. The vast majority of your missions boil down to simple fetch quests. Go here. Collect this. Return it. Any side quests are self-assigned item runs in case you lose a gun or need some extra supplies. The few puzzles you encounter are follow the same pattern: scan the walls for numbers to input on key pads. In the end, most of your time is spent lazily hitting zombies with cricket bats.
Thankfully, ZombiU's multiplayer works well. This local-only, two-player mode casts one player as the zombie king and the other as the survivor. Both players are trying to capture flags, but have wildly different play styles. The king deploys AI-controlled zombies from a top-down view on the touch screen, while the survivor kills those zombies and tries to survive the onslaught. Both sides earn rewards as the match progresses.
In this mode, the game's design really comes together. Individually, the different zombie classes aren't very interesting to fight. But in a large group their specific roles make for more fun and engaging encounters. The survivor player enjoys the challenge of these dynamic encounters and unloads with a full arsenal, which the zombie king strategizes with different groups of zombies. This high-action mode is the opposite of the rest of the game's design, and is infinitely more enjoyable.
ZombiU is a game trapped in the wrong genre. The run-and-gun multiplayer modes emphasize the game's competent shooting mechanics and ability to create interesting enemy encounters. However, these two aspects are discouraged in the single-player campaign for the sake of survival. To compensate, there's the bare minimum of a story and a few simple puzzles. And so much cricket bat. ZombiU could have been an enjoyable action game, but instead it is a poor entry in the survival horror genre.
By
Maxwell McGee, Editor
Maxwell McGee earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Arkansas, and has contributed to The Escapist, GamePro, PC Gamer, and more. His introduction to video games was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Genesis, and he has never looked back. He welcomes your feedback through the site, or Twitter.
427 comments
I don't know what game this reviewer's played, but it certainly doesn't sound like the game I've just completed that's for sure! It's certainly not a perfect game, we know that, but I've played video-games starting with the Atari2600 through the Amstrad CPC to the gamecube, xboxes, playstations, handhelds and currently the Wii U and it was a fun game for me!
I can only guess the reviewer has no taste in games. ;)
Maxwell McGee's review in this game is a bunch of senseless shit. This game deserves at least 7. Please, ignore all the babbling from this kid and go buy this game if you like this genre. It's a solid game and I can assure you that you don't gonna be disappointed.
I don't know man, I've had an amazing time playing this game. It's not perfect but I'd personally score it a 7 at least.
1 Like Since the late 19th century, the standard way of reviewing a piece of work has been to judge it by WHAT IT ATTEMPTS TO ACHIEVE.
Maxwell McGee = complete $#&*ing fool.
I've have only ZombiU for a few days, and am completely enraptured with the tension, atmosphere and dread that comes over me when playing this game. The challenge is addicting, and grows more so as you get more comfortable with the game's mechanics. It comes down to your willingness to give yourself over to the experience and engage it on its terms, not yours.
To put it another way, if your favorite movie is Top Gun, you just might think that Stanley Kubrick's movies are "slow." :P
1 Like Okay I'm in the twilight zone because this game is amazing. I mean it's an incredible game. I mean there is no way in hell character models a little rough around the edges and a cricket bat make one of the most detailed, engaging, intense and solid games in years a 4.5. ZombiU is one of the best horror/zombie games I've ever played.
1 Like Dead Island is a much better game in my opinion, combat in this game just feels wonky and the "ghosts" are boring
Hear the cries of the people?
This is what happens when reviewers like you fail to be smart!!
My friend had me over his place to play this game and i fell asleep when i pass the control.....I didnt really feel the whole dark experience of ZombiU when i play it.... Even my brothers think its retarded to buy it . Im still a fan of Nintendo, but i won't favor this game .
once again Gamespot attacks Nintendo, why i am not surprised?? Is this an opinion?? or a review??
People just think they are cool hating Nintendo, if they only knew how stupid that sounds... Who reinvented gaming?
Last I checked, not CoD, not Halo.
Mario and the NES did.
My guess, these people are stuck up jerkstores who are determined to make Nintendo look bad
@Dragonfang8712 @rattamierda I agree this review is not accurate, but Halo did make a significant contribution to gaming.
Like it or not, Call of Duty did too.
@Dragonfang8712 @rattamierda While there is some truth to that, we can't treat Nintendo as holy and untouchable for what they did decades back. If Nintendo can't keep up with the state of the contemporary industry then that's too bad for them.
That said, the massive difference between this review and every other review I've seen for this game so far leads me to believe there is also truth to what you say.
@Shanks_D_Chop @Dragonfang8712 @rattamierda
Replace 'Nintendo' with "any existing corporation" and that statement holds true. Nintendo is very aggressively holding the largest piece of the gaming market captive and out of reach from its competitors (kids, adults, casuals, nostalgics, party gamers, social gamers, handhelds, motion gaming). They are the only contemporary gaming company existing as of now.
5 Like oh well a Wii U exclusive getting a bad score from Microspot sorry Gamespot what a surprise ever since they merged all the gamespot sites together the site has become ver xbox centric but then again they are now all run from america so what do you expect
about the game this is one of the most fun zombie games i have played in a while and when he said "The Wii U gamepad functionality doesn't contribute much to the game" what was he smoking? the fact you have to use the gamepad to access your inventory or pick locks while the game still plays is a great thing because if it happened in real life i'm sure the zombies wouldn't wait while you look through your bag
sorry GS you guys have really gone downhill and i don't just mean on this review i mean on everything that isn't xbox (playstation or nintendo) get your c*** out of microsofts a** and try being a bit more impartial like you should be
rant over
Graphically inferior, that is true. Sony and MS consoles were graphically superior and more powerful than N's Wii.
Gimmicky? I recall that the 'gimmicky' controller had both MS and Sony jumping around to create their Kinnect and Move features for their consoles to compete with N's 'gimmicky controller' the following year. They began a big push to try and attract the family, casual gaming, the exercising and dancing/singing community as well. That does not sound gimmicky to me. That is MS and Sony seeing N doing something that they took granted and they had to catch up. The impact of the controller and gameplay highly motivated the other two console makers. Stop minimizing history. N did something right with that graphically primitive game console
As for the Wii U, what it is capable of will depend on what the 3rd party developers decide to do with that new gamepad controller. It will either flop because developers do not see it worth the investment, or it will take off and we will see MS and Sony scrambling again to develop soemthing that is similar to what N is doing. Either way, competition and variety wise, I would like to see N's console succeed because it will push the other two makers to come out with a great product. Waving the 'Next Gen' graphics and 'Next Gen' online gameplay alone cards will not do it.
2 Like I'm sick of the fact that Gamespot doesn't appreciate good games anymore. Seriously they troll about Kid icarus and the like.
1 Like Needs online multiplayer. If it gets it then Im buying the game. Im tired of buying games that dont have online capabilities.
@NinjaMaddy Sounds like you should take a good look in the mirror and think about where it goes wrong. Spoiler alert: you're looking at it.
3 Like You're an idiot. Other consoles will NEVER get great games like Super Smash Bros or Pikman 3. All you have is some shitty FPS games like CoD and Halo. So HA HA, and go fuck yourself.
3 Like Ok, just spent a good chunk of time with this game. I generally don't like second guessing the gamespot reviews because even when they're stingy (skyward sword) you can at least see their point even if you don't agree with it. For this game they really dropped the ball and I hope this guy's reviews get scrutinised by the senior staff in the future.
It's damaging to give a game this kind of score but you kind of feel like in this case it was casually assigned because the guy was in a bad mood or something. They way he talks about it is more consistent with a 6, which isn't a million miles from the mean score. A 4.5 is off putting and almost made me not buy the game. Lucky I looked at other reviews too.
My feelings is that it's by no means a perfect game and there are issues to iron out but the atmosphere it manages to create makes it a real joy to play and the fact that it doesn't feel like the same old FPS re-hash says a lot. A solid 7.5, maybe 8
@ac1907 I've not played this game and I doubt I'll get a Wii U but when the Metacritic score is 77 and most reviews for this game that I've seen rate it between 6 - 8 then, yeah, you do start to wonder about the validity of this review.
I wasn't gonna get this game based on the reviews but it's becoming more and more common the reviewers opinion is not in line with even the slightest minority of people that have played the game(s). From checking Miiverse, a few different review sites and now here, anyone that has played the game seems to love it. Will be picking this one up very soon. I always enjoy a good scare, even though the whole Zombie outbreak format is growing tiresome.
What the... good thing I decided to buy this game despite the crummy reviews on both Gamespot and IGN. A 10 yr old can probably give a more accurate review for this game. I played RE 1,2,3,4,5 and I think this game is comparable to the newer REs.
Heh, this guy is completely out to lunch on this one. This reminds me of the skewed review Radiant Dawn got a few years back. Not saying its a 10/10 by any means but its not 4.5.
@eXeYutari Haha, I remember that review. It read like they had someone who had NEVER been anywhere near a Fire Emblem title to review it. It was a very bad joke since their biggest gripe was "it's hard". Boo-hoo...
I'd sooner trust the peoples word over someone paid to review games,
This review seems heavily single-sided
1 Like Ah, I love a good Gamer Riot.
This is why you don't A. do Favoritism. B. Don't be a Jerkstore while reviewing a game. and C. PLAY THE GAME!!!!!!
3 Like Honestly, this reviewer is a complete moron. Did you even play this game, or just pull this review out of your ass? Proof that you didn't play: "The gamepad adds little" umm.... every other reviewer has said this game makes better use of it than any other wii u game released.... And everything else you wrote is just stupid and doesn't even match whats in the game. If Gamespot keeps hiring dumbasses like this guy to write reviews, no one will come to this site anymore. I've talked to many people who are sick of this website and their reviews that make no sense and don't match what other critics say.
2 Like @devondaleo You should write reviews. Rambling stream of conscious disasters are very informative.
2 Like It's reviews like this I don't understand... I get that people have different opinions and tastes, but mthis case for example, the GS reviewer gives it a crappy 4.5 while the average from 65 (no less ) other reviewers and a decent amount os users rate it much much higher! Either don't put ppl to,review game genres they don't like, or make sure the reviewer has a clue...
11 Like Seriously Gamespot. I just got this and after 2 hours I've deduced that your score simply has to be trolling, a review influenced/financed by a competitor, or your reviewers are completely incompetent.
Like others have said, it's not a 10/10, but damned if you can say this is 4.5 with a straight face.
Lost respect, Gamespot. Do you even HAVE editors there, supervising these ill informed reviewers?
@sdoc96 Metacritic is more reliable than one website, although it's flawed. Gamespot.com's reviews are not consistent. It's just one person's opinion, and there is no second reviewer so we just have to stop paying attention to Gamespot.com reviews, and look more at the reviewer himself. That's what I've been doing for a great many years for a variety of games and other mediums.
I actually do own a Wii U and I did play this game. It wasn't for me, but I would look at metacritic and from there pick and choose the websites/authors you do trust.
@sdoc96 so I guess Capcom is the one finances this review. Pity it was Ubisoft who financed RE6's review as well! LOL
1 Like @sdoc96 I a agree, there should be some sort of "controling/supervising" of reviewers...
anyone (who's frustrated or whatever) can make or pick out "negativ" arguments and put a game (any game, even Skyrim or Zelda) in a bad light to justify a low score... gamespot should double check any review that has such a frustrated/negativ tone... (like RE6..., even if RE6 has faults....)
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ZombiU
Not Following
- Publisher(s): Ubisoft
- Developer(s): Ubisoft Montpellier
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: M
ZombiU Navigation
