We’ve seen plenty of zombie games grace virtual reality platforms. Arizona Sunshine 1 & 2 were a lot of fun. So was The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. Zombie Army VR not so much, but there’s still something so captivating about being thrust into an undead apocalypse. All of the previous titles have tense moments where you’re almost overcome by groups of zombies. With World War Z VR, that group of ten turn into hundreds flying off of skyscrapers, building towers with their own corpses, just to get to you and rip you apart.
I recently played a preview build of World War Z VR, and that moment when you see them fall through the sky like rain is terrifying. At first, the action is routed in following various objectives through buildings or open spaces with a team of two others. Reloading your weapon and aiming is excellent. It’s quick and responsive, meaning you can get ammo in your gun efficiently when facing runners or bigger enemies. From what I saw, there were plenty of weapons I was able to fire. All of which had their own way of reloading.
Pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, and machine guns: they all served a purpose, however, they’re so easy to take down. It becomes more of a challenge when you’re overwhelmed by a bunch of zombies. You have your two teammates, but if you want a challenge, aim for medium to hard difficulty. On easy, you can almost stand back and let them do all the work. You can also use grenades to dispatch pockets of zombies if you’re in a pinch, but you’re never really overwhelmed until the herds arrive.
You’ll face standard bullet sponge zombies; ones that throw explosives at you or fire weapons; and let of a poisonous gas that can drain your health. I’m sure there’re likely more in the full game. From the preview, there are enough challenges that keep you on edge. My biggest wish is that there is more danger in the singular zombie. It’s understandable given the excitement and terror of the herds, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I am sure is to come.
Halfway through the first mission, I had to disable a cage that housed a zombie that screamed, attracting attention from nearby undead. It offered something different from simply skulking around trying to survive. When I reached the end of the same mission, I was on top of a building, and a warning that an incoming swarm started to blare out. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as I started to see hundreds of zombies fall off a distant building, I started to panic. They eventually reached our building and all hell broke loose.
Despite it being relatively easy to kill them, it was tense. You’re not only trying to keep them from attacking you. Keeping your team alive is an important part of World War Z VR because without them, you’re cooked. There’s still a month to go until the full game releases, but it feels pretty complete. There were no real bugs to speak of, and it looks good, with locations filled with plenty of detail. I’m excited to see where they go with the full release, as well as experiencing the apocalypse in a brand new way.
World War Z VR will be released on August 12th.
