ZOMBIE ARMY 4: DEAD WAR
Undead and loving it
Format PS4 ETA 4 Feb Pub Rebellion Dev Rebellion Developments
As weird and crazy as its premise is – post-war Europe is threatened by a Nazi army of the dead led by a zombie Adolf Hitler – playing Zombie Army 4: Dead War it’s clear everyone involved is taking this at face value. It’s got the tone of the excellent Overlord mixed with peak House-Of-The-Dead-era Sega. There are hordes of zombies to shoot, and a whole lot of quipping and blood and bangs between you, your friends, and the game’s end.
Playing Zombie Army 4 brings back memories of the dev’s previous co-op shooter, Strange Brigade. “There are links,” teases
Tim Jones, head of creative at Rebellion Developments. “Some of which, if you’re very observant, you will notice in the game.”
While the tone draws on the developer’s love of “goofy fun”, Rebellion is harnessing the controls of its more realistic shooter, the excellent Sniper Elite 4, as a solid foundation upon which the chaos can be built. It’s fitting, then, that we choose to play this game as that series’ sharpshooter, Karl Fairburne.
Each hero has a unique weapon with a unique skillset, ensuring four-player co-op requires a splash of tactical forethought as you pick the right people for the mission at hand. Karl favours a sniper rifle and Thompson for both distance and up-close zombie smushing.
BLOOD SHOT
Leaning into the arcade nature of the premise, the gunplay is responsive and fun. You’ll be relying on swapping between your rifle and close-quarters weapons to control the horde. But Rebellion never lets you forget that this is a pulpy, fun spin on the zombie genre, so when the ammo runs dry you can pulverise skulls with an electrical shock glove.
While the characters don’t have assigned skills – Karl and the returning Boris, as well as female newcomers Jun and Shola are cosmetic skins – abilities can be unlocked and upgraded for the weapons and roles. One character can tear the gun turret off an armoured car and pepper the crowd of zombies closing in, while another can make the most of the second-chance ability to keep death at bay – every last-second kill regains a little health.
It’s in the approach to its guns that the game’s arcade sensibility is revealed. You can enhance weapons with upgrades unlocked by meeting goals in the game, or from XP earned for comboing kills or pulling off impressive shots. Want larger magazines, zombiestalling electrical rounds, or horde-clearing explosive bullets? Then you need to earn them.
ZOMBIE ZOO
Every level boils down to the same goal: shoot as many zombies as you can and survive to the end of the mission. And it’s so much fun. While the backdrop to this carnage includes cities such as Milan and
Venice, within these locations are some eye-catching set-pieces, such as an abandoned zoo of zombified animals.
In our hands-on we play in the streets of Milan, beginning in a partly demolished train station.
The level is fairly linear, but with layers of depth as we need to flip switches and weaponise areas of the environment in order to push forward.
There’s a moment when we see a Thing-like disembodied hand scurry across a train carriage roof; shooting it rewards us with bonus points and a sense of satisfaction. The more undead we slay, the more quickly our Weapon Assist mode builds, ensuring we can unleash a gun-specific special attack. The sniper rifle fires an explosive shot but the revolver is more fun: we tag a crowd of enemies and as they shuffle towards us, our backs against the wall, we spin-off its six chambers and watch the heads pop.
“SWAP BETWEEN YOUR RIFLE AND CLOSE-QUARTERS WEAPONS.”