Yet Another Zombie Survivors is a bullet heaven survivors roguelike. With just over two years in early access, developer Awesome Games Studio (Fury Unleashed, I, Zombie) is rolling out the 1.0 red carpet. Choose your team leader and embark into various biomes, gaining squad members and power the longer you stay alive. You can pick it up on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation starting August 20th.
Zombies… Always Zombies in Yet Another Zombie Survivors
Of course its another roguelite. They’ve kind of just become my thing I guess. More than anything, the ease in which to pick up my Steam Deck for a short gaming session just leans toward this genre in particular. Yet Another Zombie Survivors is another that had come across my Steam store time and again. With a full release ahead, what better time than now? Check out my thoughts on the latest in zombie slaying below.
Gameplay
Yet Another Zombies Survivors is just about what you expect it to be from the title alone. It’s a survivors-like roguelite, akin to others in the Vampire Survivors realm. Throwing in some bullet heaven flavor and zombies to boot, the player takes on endless waves until the timer maxes out or your squad can survive no more. But per the genre, death is merely a means to further power and advancement.
While other games have a certain character or class you generally select for your run, Yet Another Zombie Survivors takes it to a different level. Instead of one class or character, you choose a team leader for your squad as your starter, then pick up two others to round out your squad. Each character has it’s own set of synergies, skills and abilities that are advanced via pickups and leveling up during the run. The characters also earn their own experience, so they also advance and improve between runs independently.
Yet Another Zombie Survivors takes the standard formula and adds depth without making it overly complex. Optimizing your run means choosing skills and pick-ups that compliment each other well. Depending on what game difficulty or mode you’re running (as there are several to choose from), as well as whether you’re on a mission or not for a certain character, also helps shape your build. I think of everything; the only thing I found out of place from similar games is the apparent lack of a dodge action.
Graphics & Audio
The game will be available on consoles as well, but for this review I was playing on both PC and Steam Deck. Yet Another Zombie Survivors plays quite well on both with the default settings, and I spent most of my time with it on the Deck. I don’t recall encountering any visual issues and could clearly see my abilities and most hazards with ease. There are several different biomes, each full of detail enough to set them apart from one another. My only complaint here would be that in comparison to similar games, the biomes feel smaller than I would like.
The audio track is equally well-rounded. A consistent drive carries you forward in the background amongst the same zombies’ groans most of us have become familiar with. Certain audio cues, such as the sound heard when an S.O.S. is active (very important toward the start as this is where you pick up your squad mates), are also welcome tools to assist in the slaying.
Longevity
Yet Another Zombie Survivors boasts nine different characters/classes to unlock. Each of those classes has its own set of skill trees to also advance. This variety, in addition to five biomes, seven gameplay modes, and three difficulty levels, provides an egregious number of hours of gameplay. I won’t be surprised if the average player sinks at least a minimum of 100 or more hours in. A completionist significantly more so.
Final Thoughts
I’m pretty sure at this point I should just name my Steam Deck the Roguelite Deck. Yet Another Zombie Survivors will likely join the ranks of others that have taken up permanent residence there. It features depth, design and gameplay just unique enough to make it stand apart from its peers. I’m looking forward to continuing to unlock and progress through the various modes over time. I don’t think I could give its 1.0 release anything less than the Thumb Culture Platinum Reward!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out my other reviews here.
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