XBOX REVIEW | Welcome to ParadiZe

“should this have been one Zombie game that should have been left in the grave?”

I’m a huge fan of the horror genre; it’s no secret. But I also enjoy comedy. So when a game comes out with what would appear to be a mix of the two genres I rubbed my hands together in glee. When I started Welcome to ParadiZe I was quite impressed, it felt like a cross between Stubbs the Zombie and, to a small extent, Overlord 2. To me, it seemed as through it was going to be a fun combo. Unfortunately as I was playing, I started to feel a little like a zombie myself, the repetitive tasks, the same zombies appearing over and over. and well, I started to think to myself, should this have been one Zombie game that should have been left in the grave? The premise seemed decent enough, and the trailer gave a tongue in cheek view of how the world should have looked. But the game itself just felt a bit bland and tasteless to me. However the more I played the more I noticed some of the more subtle elements of the game coming through and I started to understand that you were meant to feel like a zombie, you might have been in control of the dead but you were still performing menial tasks just like they were for people higher in the food chain than you. I understand how conflicted this review is but that is how the game made me feel. On one hand I felt myself losing the will to live with some elements but on the other I was having a blast with some of those self same elements. I’m actually finding it hard to place this in my head as a game I love or hate. I suppose though in a way that kind of sums up the whole apocalyptic Zombie genre, you can’t help but wonder though: who are the real zombies???

Today we see fashion model Gregg sporting his new Leisure suit.

Things I liked!

• The combat | The combat was actually quite good fun and as you progress through the game you will unlock better weapons, armour and more for both yourself and your Zombots. Using your Zombots effectively does not come easily, but once you learn the different skill sets and suit up your Zombots to become more efficient drones, you will quickly gain the upper hand in any battle as you progress through the game. I do have a love/hate relationship with AI assistance in games, but at least in this game you can understand why your helpers are a little braindead. The great thing is though even if you lose one of your Zombots in battle, you can recruit pretty much any other zombie to take their place giving you an infinite amount of cannon fodder, as long as you remember not to neglect your main character. I found using projectile weapons made the game a lot easier, but I am a sucker for the good old fashioned melee weapons and because of my stubborn refusal to remember to heal I died quite a lot at the start. Anyway, the combat while tricky at times can be an enjoyable part of the gameplay and as you progress further and further your Zombots should pretty much do all the work for you.

No Zombots Allowed

Neither good nor bad

• Crafting | The in-game crafting mechanics seem straightforward—just a click and hold of a button. It’s convenient, which suits me well. But is it too easy? Let’s delve into it. Resource abundance is apparent; loot is everywhere, except when you desperately need it. Picture this: you’re on a mission, and suddenly the loot you require can only be found at specific points. Why does this happen? Perhaps it’s tied to story progression, but honestly, it baffles me. Now, if you’re a fan of crafting games and enjoy hunting down obscure materials, this game might scratch that itch for you. However, I can’t shake the feeling that other games have executed this better. The unique twist here lies in your Zombie helpers, diligently gathering resources for you. In the grand tapestry of gaming, this crafting system feels like a patchwork quilt—some parts well-woven, others frayed at the edges. But hey, isn’t that the essence of survival in a zombie-infested world? Adapt, scavenge, and make do with what you’ve got!

• Story | The storyline is about as fresh as the zombies themselves, relying on a lot of cliché tropes and for some reason a lot of 80’s style wisecracks. This is by no means a bad thing as the game doesn’t really pretend to be the next Shakespearean play or anything, but I gotta be honest and say a lot of the character background stories could have been left blank and I wouldn’t have noticed. I mean it’s not really a game with a lot of big questions to it, you can control zombies with tech, and that’s cool but that really could have been the whole premise without including any other background and I would have accepted it a lot more. The zombie genre is as a whole a very easy to understand concept, leave a little mystery for us to think about and we will be hooked for months, explain everything too quickly and boom there goes your attention. So yeah a little more subtlety would have worked in the games favour.

At least the water looks clean

Things I disliked!

• The camera | You can’t change the camera angle, not even a little and trust me, you will forget that you can’t change it and use your right stick to try and reposition it to a more favourable position and end up using some of your precious ammo. I understand why some games don’t allow it, but in this day and age I think it’s kind of got to the point where moving the game camera is an automatic response and it feels rather jarring when the option isn’t there. It took me long enough to get used to the concept from my days playing games in the 90’s to now, so please reimplement it in this game if you patch it any time soon.

• The quests | Quests as a tutorial are fair enough but these just seemed to drag on for ages… I checked and they didn’t take too long but they felt like they would never end, top it off with the quest markers randomly disappearing as you progress leaving you stranded and then some quests leading you to enemies you have no chance of beating, unless you know the exact order in which to find them. I don’t know why but I feel like there could have been more fun to be had, You can control your own army of Zombies and you spend most of your time fighting or base building. why not have fun quests where you can hold a zombie dance off or something?