The Therapist Gamer

In 2011 a console with an incredibly stupid name was announced and gave many of it's games the letter "U" at the end.  The Wii U didn't particularly appeal to me but there were a few games on the console that I wish I had access to - one of them was called "Zombii U." It was a rogue-like game with a form of permanent death.  In short, you play as a survivor during a zombie outbreak, and if you die then that character becomes a zombie and you have to start from the beginning with a new character.  The game wasn't totally rogue-like, though, because the enemies would stay dead even with your new character.  On the Wii U the game utilized the built-in tablet in a cool way - when you were lockpicking or looking through your backpack (your inventory), the TV screen would show your character in the game and the tablet would show what you were doing, i.e., the lockpicking minigame or your inventory.  During this time a zombie could attack you so you'd have to keep an eye on both screens.  It was innovative but I figured it could be easily duplicated for more traditional consoles - games like Dark Souls don't pause the game when you look through your inventory either.  But alas, Zombii U is exclusive to the Wii U and will never be released on another platform.

 

But Zombi is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from Zombii U.  It's totally different in that it's called something different, but it's the exact same game in virtually every other respect.  

 

You play in first person and there are very limited bullets throughout the game.  It takes place in London so of course you have a cricket bat as a melee weapon.  I personally found the combat a bit lackluster.  It was pretty easy to time the hits against the zombies so that I'd always smack them and they'd never get me.  It was engaging but got a bit boring after awhile.  I did like that the available weapons and ammo were limited, though, as it forces the player to figure out how to ration their supplies.

 

I really like the idea of trying to get through the game with the same person, which means never dying.  I was proud of myself as I made it farther and farther without getting killed.  I was about two-thirds of the way through the game when I whacked a zombie and suddenly died.  Apparently it had a bomb in it's mouth and you die if you hit it with a melee weapon!  I thought this was a pretty unfair way to die and was annoyed at the game afterwards.

 

The game mostly consists of clearing one area and then moving on to the next one.  If there was a story I found it quite forgettable. The graphics were a big step up from the Wii but it's a pretty poor looking PS4 game.  In short, there is fun to be had with Zombi but unfortunately it's fairly lackluster.