Zombie Army 4 Is Some Bombastic Fun

Yes, you can shoot zombies in the nuts.

Zombie Army 4
Zombie Army 4

There’s certainly no shortage of zombie games knocking about these days. From remakes of classics to the handful of asset flips that end up on Steam each week, the undead gaming genre is as saturated as its cinematic counterpart. The Zombie Army series has always been a decent option for anyone wanting some mindless brain-popping, but how does Zombie Army 4 stack up so far?

Pretty well, as I discovered during my time with the game at EGX 2019. One of the most in-demand games during the event at Rebellion’s cool-ass stand, Zombie Army 4 really doesn’t reinvent the simple joy of exploding zombies in slow-motion, but I always have time for mindless yet engaging third-person shooting in a wacky alternate universe.

If you’ve never played a Zombie Army game before, the simplest comparison to make is that it’s a lot like Sniper Elite, but far more direct and featuring zombies. There’s no need to plan out your attacks and scope out the environment for minutes at a time with Zombie Army, just get the hell in there and mutilate some zombie genitals. Zombie Army 4 is ultimately more of the same, though with a more arcade-y and generally accessible feel.

Playing with Will, my fellow Vulture, in co-op (the full game will let you play with three other players), we had a blast running around what seemed to be the introductory level as a train full of zombies crashed into Resistance HQ. Before this, we had the chance to wander around the HQ and play around with a few things, so it will be interesting to see what Rebellion adds for you to customise during your downtime for the full game.

The demo build of the game did feature the option to customise perks and weapon upgrades, though just a few were enabled. Just from the amount of possibilities greyed out, it looks like Rebellion are going all out to help you create the ultimate zombie slayer however you please. We made full use of the ability to add electrifying shots to our rifles, which did decent AOE damage and made the hordes a little more manageable.

Though it didn’t seem that important in the demo build, I got the impression that a necessity for tactical play will come the deeper into the wacky story you go. After Will went down in the demo, I pulled the zombies away from him and then laid down some mines before going to him to attempt the revive, leading the zombies on my tail to get nice and exploded. I’d be fascinated to see how things work with four players; the game was getting pretty hectic with two, so it’d be interesting to see how dense the zombies become.

My only complaint about my experience with Zombie Army 4 was that I didn’t really get enough time with it during the event to dive deep into what’s changed, or enough time in general to get really invested. What I played was certainly fun, I just wish there was more of it — maybe that’s a good thing.

Zombie Army 4: Dead War launches February 4th, 2020 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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