After giving the game an honest fair try, I can say for certain that there's potential here but it's uncertain if the new developers will carry the torch. The game receives updates on a monthly basis and from it's launch has definitely improved. But there's still a lot to be desired here.

The biggest issue here is optimization. I have a 5060 build and this game has moments where FPS TANKS like crazy, and in a perma death game with high stakes, this is a huge issue. Opening up your inventory with frame gen can cause FPS to plummet like crazy, which is a huge core factor of the game. Bugs are an issue as well. I have a friend who'll play with me and guarantee he's disconnecting the first game we play on start up. He has a 5070TI so not sure why that happens. Zombies can get stuck in between windows of maps and rubber band up and down really quick...

No balancing for less members in your game, the game is pretty much designed to only be played with 8 players. If you finish a mission with you and 2 other buddies, it can take over an hour and you'll maybe get a handful of levels, but if you play with 8 players you'll get 20+ levels to your character and clear the mission in 20-30 minutes, even on the harder difficulties. I've lost characters on casual or hard playing with just 3 players so many times, but getting a full 8 stack lobby feels like a walk in the park. They're doing a major balance update this month so this could change.

There's 4 maps at the time of this review. They're huge maps, with lots of objectives to complete that are RNG. Even the escape fight and the escape itself can be different per map. Compared to the 1st game? This is bad as the OG had 33 maps to play on. It's in Early access and they are adding new ones, but if you've played the first you'll definitely feel this. No solo play either but again, could change.

That's not to say this game isn't bad. It's a fun game honestly. Melee combat is fun, gun play is a little wonky but is satisfying, plenty of melee weapons to choose from that works with other perks to help with dismembering limbs or knocking undead down. Kicking zombies down is a new ability and it's really satisfying knocking zombies down and finishing them off. It's fun having to look for specific ammo types (.45, 9mm, etc..) for guns. High intense moments are fun! It's cool dodging zombies roaming the streets and I love how the game really makes you feel like a survivor against the undead, even if you're a fully kitty leveled up survivor, you can still very easily screw up and die. It's fun seeing you become infected, symptoms getting worse until you eventually seize up, and become one of the undead. It's not like the first screen where it's just a grey screen with feint yellow veins eventually coming up until you turn. Now your character coughs, their voices change and distort, you'll get headaches and audio distortions, audio hallucinations, eventual screen flickering and red veins... They really have the blueprint here for a really good zombie game here.

I have hope for this game and would love to see if they can carry the torch of the first game eventually. It has the core fundamentals of the first, but it's just lacking that content and polish it deserves. I'm only giving it a good review because I like the game and want to see it grow. It could be considered one of the better new gen George A. Romero zombie styled games, but if you can stomach the older gameplay of the original, you're probably better off playing that until there's just more polish and content to the game, at least for $30. I got it on sale for $20 and I'm happy at that price point.

TL;DR 6/10 needs polish and more content but gameplay can be satisfying and fun.

For the developers but somethings i'd like to see is maybe an option to reroll the 3 perks you get when leveling up with the in game currency. Maybe another option to reroll all perks a character has with random ones? Would add more use to the in-game currency. Chainsaws, molotovs, energy drink for infinite stamina for a short time, of course more weapons and maps...

After giving the game an honest fair try, I can say for certain that there's potential here but it's uncertain if the new developers will carry the torch. The game receives updates on a monthly basis and from it's launch has definitely improved. But there's still a lot to be desired here. The biggest issue here is optimization. I have a 5060 build and this game has moments where FPS TANKS like crazy, and in a perma death game with high stakes, this is a huge issue. Opening up your inventory with frame gen can cause FPS to plummet like crazy, which is a huge core factor of the game. Bugs are an issue as well. I have a friend who'll play with me and guarantee he's disconnecting the first game we play on start up. He has a 5070TI so not sure why that happens. Zombies can get stuck in between windows of maps and rubber band up and down really quick... No balancing for less members in your game, the game is pretty much designed to only be played with 8 players. If you finish a mission with you and 2 other buddies, it can take over an hour and you'll maybe get a handful of levels, but if you play with 8 players you'll get 20+ levels to your character and clear the mission in 20-30 minutes, even on the harder difficulties. I've lost characters on casual or hard playing with just 3 players so many times, but getting a full 8 stack lobby feels like a walk in the park. They're doing a major balance update this month so this could change. There's 4 maps at the time of this review. They're huge maps, with lots of objectives to complete that are RNG. Even the escape fight and the escape itself can be different per map. Compared to the 1st game? This is bad as the OG had 33 maps to play on. It's in Early access and they are adding new ones, but if you've played the first you'll definitely feel this. No solo play either but again, could change. That's not to say this game isn't bad. It's a fun game honestly. Melee combat is fun, gun play is a little wonky but is satisfying, plenty of melee weapons to choose from that works with other perks to help with dismembering limbs or knocking undead down. Kicking zombies down is a new ability and it's really satisfying knocking zombies down and finishing them off. It's fun having to look for specific ammo types (.45, 9mm, etc..) for guns. High intense moments are fun! It's cool dodging zombies roaming the streets and I love how the game really makes you feel like a survivor against the undead, even if you're a fully kitty leveled up survivor, you can still very easily screw up and die. It's fun seeing you become infected, symptoms getting worse until you eventually seize up, and become one of the undead. It's not like the first screen where it's just a grey screen with feint yellow veins eventually coming up until you turn. Now your character coughs, their voices change and distort, you'll get headaches and audio distortions, audio hallucinations, eventual screen flickering and red veins... They really have the blueprint here for a really good zombie game here. I have hope for this game and would love to see if they can carry the torch of the first game eventually. It has the core fundamentals of the first, but it's just lacking that content and polish it deserves. I'm only giving it a good review because I like the game and want to see it grow. It could be considered one of the better new gen George A. Romero zombie styled games, but if you can stomach the older gameplay of the original, you're probably better off playing that until there's just more polish and content to the game, at least for $30. I got it on sale for $20 and I'm happy at that price point. TL;DR 6/10 needs polish and more content but gameplay can be satisfying and fun. For the developers but somethings i'd like to see is maybe an option to reroll the 3 perks you get when leveling up with the in game currency. Maybe another option to reroll all perks a character has with random ones? Would add more use to the in-game currency. Chainsaws, molotovs, energy drink for infinite stamina for a short time, of course more weapons and maps...