Zombie Army 4: Dead War Review

"Return of the Dead"

Campaign

February 6, 2020 at 7:29pm
By Jason Stettner

This is the fourth entry in the spin-off series for Sniper Elite. Its zombie focused, and aims to be far greater in scope than ever before. It would seem that while we finished off Hitler’s undead form last time around, some evil beings just can’t say in the ground.

This campaign follows the Resistance as they deal with yet another rising of the dead in an Italian scenario. The narrative is actually rather interesting, and quite expansive. It takes place over a number of missions, with various chapters filling those. The best part of this experience is that it can be played alone or in coop. It’s actually designed for the latter, as four players can come together to try and survive. Play privately with friends, or find others online through server browsers which is great.

As mentioned previously this is bigger than ever before, it’s got a great length some replay value to it. It’s a sort of competition almost between players, as you aim for high scores and level up. There are also collectibles to gather as you play through levels. Best to watch for those as you battle on to the next safe room to stock up once more.

Horde

This is a nice side addition to the campaign. It provides a few maps to play on as you battle through set waves and try to survive. It does have a conclusive sort of aspect to it, so you’re not just in an endless battle. As you play the maps will open up a bit, and offer new tools to use in battle.

It’s not as refined as similar other games have been for this type of mode, but it’s a nice addition here and just more great coop fun to take in. It offers a decent challenge, and maps that are somewhat different in comparison to their campaign inspirations.

Gameplay

Everything in the title feeds into a background level system, and that aspect was impressive. They’re really trying to make this game branch out and they do so in interesting ways. You upgrade weapons, can decorate them and have perks. You’ll gain better advantages as you play and level, with these being based on performance to a degree as well. It’s an interesting extra, and does help provide some additional replay value to the experience. There are of course difficulty options, as well as zombie scaling selections for how many players you have present in your group.

The game does look excellent, with two options on Xbox One X. There’s quality for a 4k resolution at 30fps and a performance at 1080p 60fps with HDR support on either. On top of that, there’s a really nicely integrated photo mode that you can use at any point. The game handled well without any issues coming up. The environments were fantastic and while linear they felt big in scale.

They had some truly beautifully desolate and grim locations to visit which were great. Every place felt fresh and new, with every section of the lengthy story being very creepy. There were zombie sharks, an oddly spooky zoo and the realms of places from far beyond. It’s always got something weird going on, and that’s part of the magic of this gritty title.

The zombies are wonderful in how they break apart, as are the action shots which can be witnessed in any mode. I loved how weird the weapons got as you upgraded them, and how there was a nice fine balance between ranged or close combat. A solid variety of special enemy types to take on, and just piles of zombies to mulch on the way towards your goal.

The Conclusion

Zombie Army 4: Dead War is a blast in cooperative play, and a welcomed expansion to this spin-off series showing that it can stand on its own just fine. They nailed this entry with a lengthy narrative driven campaign and some exciting extra horde missions.

The leveling system was a great idea to add value in replaying it and the game is also styled around that. Joining others at any point, the Left 4 Dead style safe room setups and just how it flowed when it came to missions. Every aspect of this felt fresh, and there was a good challenge here. It’s also just a lot of fun and far longer than I had anticipated it being.

It feels like a true full game despite leaning on the refined mechanics of the great Sniper Elite 4. There’s a lot of premise for this series and I can’t wait until the next one or even what they have planned in the future to expand this post-launch.

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Zombie Army 4: Dead War Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Evolve PR

Rating Overall: 8.5