ZombiU

[Lens of Truth]

Nice! Thanks for posting Wii. This must be the most polarising game ever!

It is one of the best launch titles I’ve ever played

 

Not in a million years do I expect to like it that much (vying with Mario World and 64). It'll be interesting to see where we all fit on the spectrum when people get their hands on the game...

[Dcubed]

That's really encouraging coming from NWR! They don't piss about when it comes to reviews and aren't afraid to blast anything they don't like.

 

It's clear that this game is something special. I reckon this'll stand alongside Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil as the best 3 games they've ever made

[khilafah]

6.5 gametrailers

 

http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/qedsa2/zombiu-review

[Kav]

6.5 gametrailers

 

http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/qedsa2/zombiu-review

 

Yep, already mentioned a page or two back.

[Wii]

Forbes - ZombiU: Why Ubisoft's Divisive Wii U Launch Title Is Misunderstood.

 

ZombiU is a misunderstood game. The exclusive launch title from Ubisoft Montpelier for Nintendo‘s new Wii U console has garnered some divisive critical reaction. While it shouldn’t be heralded as the second coming of survival horror the point is that ZombiU is survival horror, a genre which has been diluted and, in many circles, completely forgotten.

 

I’m not here to suggest that reviewers who pan the game are wrong, but I am suggesting that their expectations might be.

 

In ZombiU your player character is tasked with surviving a zombie outbreak in London and nothing more. Aside from multiplayer bullet points, the game’s packaging further drives this home. In its heyday (think Resident Evil 1 and 2, Silent Hill) survival horror titles gave the player no false illusions of being an invincible soldier or fearless bad-ass.

 

Unlike modern day shooters, classic survival horror games didn’t empower the player; rather, they removed all hope and made sheer survival the ultimate success. Some survival horror purists would even argue that handing the player any weapon whatsoever dilutes the experience.

 

Several reviews of ZombiU fault the game for its clunky, lumbering combat. My response is this: Why should a zombie apocalypse be fun? Your avatar doesn’t have military training and is utterly clueless about the chaotic world around them. Their accuracy with firearms gradually increases throughout the game, but fumbling with a pistol while being forced to execute your former self to reclaim your precious inventory (players who are bitten turn into one of the infected, and retain all the items they died with) seems par for the course.

 

Another complaint leveled at Ubisoft seems to be the game’s scarcity of ammo and its reliance on a cricket bat as weapon of choice. The lack of ammunition isn’t sloppy game design, it’s purposeful game design.

 

Giving the player buckets of ammo detracts from the importance of survival, and negates the satisfaction gained from achieving said survival. And the crack of a firearm in an eerily silent alley isn’t exactly zombie repellant. Using a flare to distract a group of walkers away from you is a more viable strategy than diving in guns blazing.

 

Yes, you’ll be bludgeoning hundreds of zombies with a cricket bat, and it will take anywhere from 3 to 7 hits to finally put them down. This isn’t the weapons buffet you’ll be treated to in games like Black Ops 2; this is “reality.” It’s repetitive, it’s visceral, and it’s necessary. Combat is the hallmark of a first person shooter like Call of Duty, not a survival horror game like ZombiU.

 

The question I hear you asking is: “So what is fun about this game? Why should I play it?” The answer is in the Wii U’s GamePad — for all intents and purposes your survival kit. At times you’ll use it (with the risk of attracting zombies with light) to scan the environment for items of interest. Tension mounts as you fumble through your virtual backpack for the right item. In other instances you’ll hack electronic doors in real-time with zombie hordes fast approaching at your back. Inventory management, sniping, weapons crafting, and radar round out its many uses.

 

To put it another way, the enjoyment comes via the challenges presented to the player. How you choose to tackle them, and the inherent satisfaction that comes with successfully surviving, is ZombiU’s crowning achievement. Hours into the game, I still feel chills shoot down my spine at every zombie encounter because my survival is anything but guaranteed.

 

Ubisoft has aimed ZombiU squarely at core gamers, and especially at fans of old-school survival horror. Don’t pick up this Wii U launch title if you’re expecting a snappy shooter along the lines of Left 4 Dead, and don’t trust reviews with that expectation either.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2012/11/20/zombiu-why-ubisofts-divisive-wii-u-launch-title-is-misunderstood/

[Mokong]

Just finished reading the Giantbomb review and really enjoyed it.

I liked that the reviewer purposfully took his time with the game and review and didn't try to rush it out for launch day.

I remember him mentioning on the livestream the other day that he didn't want to finish the review without having updated the game first to see how the "when your friends die in their game their zombies can be found in yours...with their equipment" (is there a shorter way to describe that?) effects the game.

 

Also I didn't know the Gamepads radar motion sensor can give false Zombie readings with other things like crows an rats being picked up by the motion....damn I cannot wait to have that first moment when I have a dot on my radar take my time to turn a corner, gun or bat at the ready and all it is is a crow

[Zechs Merquise]

Just finished reading the Giantbomb review and really enjoyed it.

I liked that the reviewer purposfully took his time with the game and review and didn't try to rush it out for launch day.

I remember him mentioning on the livestream the other day that he didn't want to finish the review without having updated the game first to see how the "when your friends die in their game their zombies can be found in yours...with their equipment" (is there a shorter way to describe that?) effects the game.

 

Also I didn't know the Gamepads radar motion sensor can give false Zombie readings with other things like crows an rats being picked up by the motion....damn I cannot wait to have that first moment when I have a dot on my radar take my time to turn a corner, gun or bat at the ready and all it is is a crow

 

I don't really like Giantbomb as they're too pompous and have their heads up their own arses. But it seems with this review they've taken their time and played the game as it should have been played.

[Agent Gibbs]

I really like that Forbes editorial regarding the reviews, it certainly makes a lot of good points regarding current and old survival horror and the "realistic" approach to ammo and weapon choices.

 

I think far too many people expect COD style elements in all games these days

[-Dem0-]

There at it again.

[Zechs Merquise]

It's awesome that the development team are monitoring progress in the game and leaving messages for people! I really like the sound of this game and even the negative reviews make a lot of criticisms that I actually think are positives - like lack of ammo!

 

Although, saying that, I do like to go through a game a second time with all ammo and all weapons Rambo style. So I hope on completion you get the option to do crazy stuff on a second play through!

[Retro_Link]

Isn't it the opposite? I thought after completing the game you unlocked the 1 hit and you're done scenario?

[Mokong]

Isn't it the opposite? I thought after completing the game you unlocked the 1 hit and you're done scenario?

 

That "Survivor" mode is available from the start.

 

You can choose either "Normal" or "Survivor".

 

I just might make my very first go be on Survivor and see how far I get... I want the Dev tam to leave a message with my name on it, haha, that is my goal now or might play a bit on Normal to get used to the controls then after an hour start a new file with Survivor.... does anyone know how many save files the game has? Or is it 1 save file per Wii Account on the system?

[Hero-of-Time]

Coming from Ubisoft's Guillaume Brunier...

 

Only 15 people finished #ZombiU in normal mode to date. The fastest in 8hrs, the slowest in 15hrs.

 

Coming from Ubisoft's Bignoz jipé caro...

 

...and for the moment no one finished the survivor mode.

 

Could Franklin be the first to finish it?

[Mokong]

Could Franklin be the first to finish it?

 

 

I am now determined to to get my name mentioned in game by the devs

[Wii]

Nintendo Life - ZombiU - review

 

8/10

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/wiiu/zombiu

[Mokong]

Does anyone know, if when playing survivor mode do your friends zombies (and loot) still appear in game?

[dazzybee]

Does anyone know, if when playing survivor mode do your friends zombies (and loot) still appear in game?

 

Yup!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dcubed]

There's an Iwata Asks for ZombiU out now!

 

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-asks/Iwata-asks-ZombiU/ZombiU/1-Two-Zombis-And-U/1-Two-Zombis-And-U-676539.html

[Lens of Truth]

Yves Guillemot:

That said, in ZombiU, we’ve actually created an ultra-high-difficulty mode called Survival mode where you only get once chance, one life. When you die, the staff credits play and it’s ‘game over’. You get no continues, there’s no saving, nothing like that! (Laughs) However, in my opinion that’s how this game should be played. If you know that when you die you lose everything, then each and every zombie becomes the biggest threat.

Flippin heck, so you have to do the whole of survival mode in one 20 hour stint?!! Surely not. Is it shorter than the main story mode? That would reduce me to a quivering wreck!!

[Mokong]

Hold the phone...so if I wanna try Survivor and put a good effort into the being the first to beat it I'll have to play for 20 hours straight? That can't be right surely there must be some save points...maybe just fewer than the normal game....or maybe you can save to take a break but if you die when you continue you lose your last save too so you have to start again and can't just reload the save. If it were like that I'd be fine (and what I expected)

 

If that is true there goes my plans

 

Guess I'll just give teh normal mode a good play and finish that first so at least I'll know what I'm doing in survivor...find a way to get rid of the wife and kid for a day so I can try a 20hour marathon on Survivor mode, haha

[are1981]

You get no continues, there’s no saving, nothing like that! (Laughs)

 

To use a word whose connotations I do not agree upon, but whatever:

 

That is hardcore!

[-Dem0-]

What could it be?

[Mokong]

Holy crap, what are they up to? Wonder if this applies to European players too or just US?

 

Where do they leave all these notes? I'm assuming in or near the hub safe house?

 

EDIT

 

I hope come Friday there's a note along the lines of "Welcome to all our European players" or something like that

[Londragon]

There's an Iwata Asks for ZombiU out now!

 

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-asks/Iwata-asks-ZombiU/ZombiU/1-Two-Zombis-And-U/1-Two-Zombis-And-U-676539.html

 

That's a nice read, it's really good to see Iwata and Nintendo reaching out to embrace other development teams, to share philosophies, etc.

 

Now, when do we get get to read the EA Iwata asks;

 

Iwata: Good morning, and welcome to the new Iwata asks. Now EA personnel why have you changed your philosophy and made retarded buggy games for the Wii U?

EA: Fuck you!

[Jamba]

That's a nice read, it's really good to see Iwata and Nintendo reaching out to embrace other development teams, to share philosophies, etc.

 

Now, when do we get get to read the EA Iwata asks;

 

Iwata: Good morning, and welcome to the new Iwata asks. Now EA personnel why have you changed your philosophy and made retarded buggy games for the Wii U?

EA: Fuck you!

 

I would ask why they have taken David Cameron to be their role model. You know a man whose spine is so liquid that he can constantly u-turn back on his previous statements and start doing impressions of Jake: