PC Game review - Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2
My reviews are split into 4 sections that are rated out of 10, CONCEPT (The aim/idea/plot of the game), VISUALS (What the game looks like), GAMEPLAY (How the game plays and how fun it is), SOUND (The sound, funnily enough) and then given a final score out of 10.0 .
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| £9.99 on Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/247910 |
Concept
Firstly let me point out that I personally feel this game is not to be taken 100% seriously. It is pitched to be played with friends and has a fairly tongue in cheek humour about it, as well as creating creepy and disturbing moments in certain chapters.
Nazi Zombie Army 2 is set in Europe during a hypothetical World War II. You and 3 others form a squad that are trying to track down 3 parts of an artifact in the now undead city of Berlin, that will put a stop to the zombie hordescreated by Hitler as an attempt to win the war.
You can play through the campaign with up to four players, or you can play it by yourself. Both have advantages, but I will come onto that later on.
Unfortunately Nazi Zombie Army 2 is not much different to its predecessor.
Although it does include new environments, some new enemies and a few disturbing surprises, it does act as a sort of expansion to the first rather than a full blown sequel. However that being said, it still has the massive fun factor that the first included, and does feel slightly more polished in certain areas.
Also the game itself only costs £9.99 on Steam, which is a fantastic price, and with the excellent replayability (Which I know is not a real word), it really is a steal.
Also the game itself only costs £9.99 on Steam, which is a fantastic price, and with the excellent replayability (Which I know is not a real word), it really is a steal.
For these reasons I give the concept a 7/10, down to the fact that it is brilliantly fun, and priced very well, however not enough has changed from the first to make me be able to give anything higher.
Visuals
Visually Nazi Zombie Army 2 is nothing groundbreaking.
However it has some brilliantly artistic moments and superb lighting effects.
An example here is when you are playing through certain levels, the screen will flash from the thundery weather, and as it flashes everything turns black and white. Obviously this is a small design option, but effective nonetheless.
There are also some strange environmental effects that do really help the game's atmosphere, especially when you are trudging through a small block of flats, and suddenly there are floating corpses and blood going upwards towards the ceiling. This normally ends with some terrified friends arguing about "Who's going first" or "Oh my God guys have you seen this creepy doll, I wonder what happens when you shoot it.."
Overall not much has changed from the first game visually, the characters look more battle worn, but everything looks the same. From the start menu to the safe houses, most things look identical to NZA 1.
This at first is slightly off putting, as the start menu is the first thing to greet you, however it is quickly forgotten when you're with your mates blowing zombie's heads off and enjoying the interesting environmental effects.
For these reasons I am going to give the visuals a 7/10.
Gameplay
Fortunately NZA 2 makes up for it's flaws in its hectic and fun co-operative gameplay.
Comparing it back, NZA 2 is again hugely similar to NZA 1. However there is something about strategically setting up with your friends, ready to face a huge horde of zombies that is so brilliant that it is often hard to stop playing. Also one thing that has changed since the first game is that if one of your friends gets downed and doesn't make it, you DON'T have to restart the checkpoint. This was one thing I hated about the 1st, because it was a nuisance to have all these different variables to keep control of, especially on the harder difficulties and with maximum players, or if your friends are just God awful at gaming.
Shooting feels satisfying, popping off the heads of hundreds upon hundreds of undead nazi's never gets old, and you do it a lot in this game. The slow mo x ray bullet cam returns in the single player mode at the expense of friends to play with, making the game a lot less hectic, but more stylish.
There is still the "Sort of" bulletcam in Co-op however similarly to NZA 1, it feels gimmicky and unnecessary.
The game also suffers from repetitive-iteis. After a couple of chapters you're facing the same level structure for the third time in a row and it does get tiresome. Survive the siege, pick up the relic, survive the siege, keep moving, survive the siege etc.
Fortunately the level structure is fun as it is an arcade game after all, but by yourself and when you are trying to pick up those remaining gold bars and blood bottles, it does get slightly boring.
Luckily also, the game is packed with genius achievements. The way they pop up with progress every now and then motivates you to do certain things, like kill more zombies with shotguns or try and get that last shot which gets you one step closer to killing 20 elites. They really are great and with brilliant satirical titles, it gives the game a lot of replayability.
There are new enemies among the old, you have the Big firey ones and the Scary running fire ones both names which I came up with myself as I am a genius.
One is a big zombie. Sort of like an elite without the armour and the LMG. He punches the ground and every zombie in its blast radius get turned into scary flaming running zombies, which are a slight pain in the arse as they swarm you within seconds.
One is a big zombie. Sort of like an elite without the armour and the LMG. He punches the ground and every zombie in its blast radius get turned into scary flaming running zombies, which are a slight pain in the arse as they swarm you within seconds.
These two new enemies are brilliant, and make the game trickier as a result of panicking and trying to keep alive whilst getting overrun by running zombies, whilst getting shot in the face by an LMG, whilst being punched by skeletons, whilst having your face eaten by zombies, whilst having a suicidal zombie explode in your face.
You can guess it gets hectic.
Which is brilliant.
Which is brilliant.
Overall as the gameplay is samey, however fun and hectic with some brilliant achievements, I give this section a 7/10.
Sound
The soundtrack to this game is phenomenal. The wonderfully created guitar riffs that come on at what seems perfect times, makes the game so much more enjoyable.
If you haven't listened to the soundtrack from this game, go and find it somewhere because it really is great.
Not only that, but the zombies sound perfect and the creepy voices that you hear every now and then are expertly created and come again at perfect times.
Unfortunately there is no speech from the characters, which isn't a huge thing because it isn't really story driven, but can make the cutscenes seem strange.
Also the sound effects of various things sound cheap, like picking up ammo, and sometimes even firing certain guns.
Also the sound effects of various things sound cheap, like picking up ammo, and sometimes even firing certain guns.
The sound is almost great and the soundtrack is unbelievably good, and for that alone, i give the Sound an 8/10.
Nazi Zombie Army 2, is less of a sequel and more of an expansion pack of the first game. It is nothing new, and is not without its flaws.
That being said it offers hours of mindless fun with or without friends, and at £9.99 you can't really complain.
