Zombie Army 4: Dead War Hands-On Preview – Fun And Frantic

I’ll be honest, I haven’t played much of the Sniper Elite games and didn’t know too much about the Zombie Army games, but given my love for zombie games and old school horror movies, I was super keen to give Zombie Army 4: Dead War a go.

Above all, the game delivered on exactly what I was hoping for. It’s a tonne of fun, especially with three other players (you can play on your own or co-op) and there’s a lot to like about the game. Here’s a few of the things that I took away from my time with the game.

INSANE WEAPONS AND THAT EPIC KILL CAM

There’s a huge amount of guns in Zombie Army 4, but it’s the ridiculously overpowered ones that are super fun to use. Guns like the flame thrower or the chainsaw launcher will have you mowing down insane amounts of zombies in no time. They’ll allow you to rack up great combos, that are otherwise unachievable and take you from feeling super vulnerable to overpowered.

There’s also a number of traps and tripwires that you can use to your advantage to keep zombies at bay, as well as a number of environmental factors that you can use to your advantage. Certain guns also have elemental features, like a lightning bolt, which you can use to slow down the undead.

The kill cam is present and it’s better than ever. It’s an upgraded X-Ray Kill Cam which lets you see headshots playing out in super slo-mo and the dismemberment that a lot of these weapons can cause can now be seen close up. It’s brutal and brilliant.

HUMOUR

The story of Zombie Army 4 is absolutely insane. It takes place in Italy in the 1940s and basically sees Hitler summoning a horde of zombies. Each of the levels in the campaign mode are made to feel like its own old-school horror movie. The two levels I got to play were called Meat Locker and Molten Nightmare and they were extremely different to each other and had their own look and feel.

The art style as well is extremely reminiscent of old-school horror movies in the best possible way. It’s a little bit cringe and over scripted, which is exactly what you want in this type of horror game.

INSANE VARIETY OF ZOMBIES

In my short time with the game I got to witness a huge variety of zombies, which constantly kept me on my toes. There’s standard zombies which you’ll be able to take down quite easily, snipers, zombies with the aforementioned flamethrowers and chainsaws as well as bombers. The bombers in particular are ones you have to keep an eye on. If they get too close, they can ruin your entire play through.

There’s also killer zombie sharks, zombie tanks and other ridiculous undead enemies which will keep you laughing the entire time. There’s going to be some insane set pieces in the final game, and I can’t wait to see the campaign play out.

CUSTOMISATION

Zombie Army 4 will let you choose how you play. Ammo will always be hard to come by, but there’s a number of weapon classes that come with their own abilities (like slowing down time or lining up quick fires Red Dead Redemption style).

Playing through Zombie Army 4 will let you unlock perks and upgrade them, which will be essential for surviving. Similarly, you’ll keep unlocking new weapons as well as new ammo which will make mowing down zombies even easier.

There’s also a huge tonne of cosmetic items which you can unlock along the way to give your character its own look and feel.

HORDE MODE

Horde Mode isn’t new to these types of games, and it’s just as fun here as it’s ever been. You’ll start with a small section of the map and have hordes of the undead coming at you. You’ll get to play with three other people and a lot of the insane weapons and customisations that I’ve mentioned above at all present here.

The mode is brutal, so I’d definitely recommend spending time with the campaign before jumping in. It’s frantic, fun and pretty damn terrifying.


Zombie Army 4: Dead War releases on February 4th for PS4, Xbox One and PC.