World War Z [Review]
World War Z is a first-person zombie (Zeke) shooter developed by Saber Interactive. It’s very reminiscent of Left 4 Dead. Everything you can do in Left 4 Dead and more is in this game. World War Z is a love letter to the fans, it’s a much more modern and updated version of an already great game. There are many similarities that aren’t just “they’re both zombie games”. Like how there are some parts of the level that you have to hold your ground and use turrets to keep zombies back. Both games also have a great co-op that goes up to four players online. If you don’t have enough players an NPC will take the place of the other player so you won’t be left for dead against the many zombies that will bombard you. And trust me, this game can be difficult. When we first started playing we didn’t realize we were on the more difficult option until we failed the first mission three times, we had to put the difficulty down just so we could properly get through the game! World War Z does an incredible job at giving the players a “Oh Shit” moment when the screen get completely flooded with running zombies, making you and your team scramble to battle positions.
While Left 4 Dead is a product of its time, with bare bones customization if any at all. World War Z adds more modern game mechanics like a class system which adds a lot of technical aspects to the game that are pretty helpful. There are even extra classes added for the online multiplayer modes. But for the co-op, we stuck with the classes that would help us the most. The one I used was Slasher which was insanely helpful for co-op. That’s because of a trait you can earn once leveling up the class that allows you to be immune to friendly fire. The Slasher class is mainly used for melee combat so it’s very easy to be shot at since you’ll be right up against the zombies your teammates are trying to kill. It’s helpful to pick a class you like and stick with it since you can level them up, which gives you the ability to use traits like the friendly fire immunity that’s so helpful.
Now while the story itself is just a normal zombie apocalypse story, it’s a bit more unique as there are four different chapters (without counting the DLC) that take place in different parts of the world. This makes it so there are many different environments and it isn’t just the same level copied. It also follows different stories and characters in each chapter, though when selecting your class you can also change your character. It doesn’t affect the story and is just a cosmetic change but it’s nice that you’re able to do so in the story mode.
The co-op itself is amazing. It’s not complicated and you can play through the entire story with three other people. It’s nice to see games that have co-op that isn't just an online versus mode like most games with their live service push nowadays. this game is fantastic on the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck! I played it on the Steam Deck. Yep, that's right the game supports cross-platform play. It also follows different stories and characters in each chapter. This game has a ton of replay value and is a total bang for your buck.
World War Z is available now with DLC on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series S/X, and PC.