Generation Zero GBAtemp review
Computer
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): March 26, 2019
- Release Date (EU): March 26, 2019
- Release Date (JP): March 26, 2019
- Publisher: Avalanche Publishing, THQ Nordic
- Developer: Avalanche Studios
- Genres: Action, Adventure
- Also For: PlayStation 4
Game Features:
Review Approach:
Generation Zero is one of those games that grabs your attention from the get-go. It's an open-world action-adventure game set in rural Sweden in the 1980s with beautiful, lush environments and faithfully created fishing villages. Immediately, I was excited; the game was beautiful and had a very unique, distinctive setting with exciting combat against mechs. Unfortunately, Generation Zero fails to keep your captivation in its surface-level beauty - and that's a real shame, because the game has so much to offer, so why does it fall short?
You are dropped straight onto an island off the coast of Sweden. You've woken up and you have no idea what happened; where is everyone? What's going on? You search the first house in front of you for clues and answers, but you find a weapon and vague information that something wrong has transpired. You run up the road to an abandoned police car and dispatch a wandering hostile mech. This is effectively all you need to play of Generation Zero to get the feel of the game. As you traverse the colossal map and environment, a few things become very apparent. For one, the game is beautiful; there was a passionate art team behind this game and it shows as the game hooks you in with stunning scenery. The bad news is, this is the extent of the game's depth. What it offers in presentation it lacks in substance, and for all its beauty Generation Zero feels very empty.
There is a certain parallel to be drawn here with Shadow of the Colossus. The world is empty in both Shadow of the Colossus and Generation Zero, and hypnotically beautiful in two different ways. To continue the comparison, Shadow of the Colossus also has no interactive NPCs with the exception of enemies. So what gives? Why is Shadow of the Colossus massively more interesting? Well, Shadow of the Colossus has a purpose - you have your mysterious girl's life to save (or revive). Generation Zero has no NPCs and no drive; your purpose is to complete hollow objectives which only exist to keep you playing. In reality, they are repetitive, menial and useless objectives that do little to engage the player at all.
Generation Zero has no depth as a single player game. There is nobody to interact with; your only task is to move forward and shoot mechs indiscriminately. And frankly, as a multiplayer game, it hardly improves. There is more fun to be had if you throw together a squad, but nobody in the squad feels particularly motivated to do anything. On top of this, multiplayer outside of private co-op is poor too; there's no server list and I've only had one person randomly join my game, only to leave because they spawned 4km away from me at the original spawn point.
The gameplay itself is actually quite alright; the combat is hardly frenetic, but it has its moments that gets your adrenaline going. The weapons are reasonably varied and the ability to pick your battles is nice as well. The mechs have different parts that will get damaged independently (with a very convenient gas canister on most of them), and if you destroy a mech's shell it will still be destroyed if you return to the area later. Unfortunately, mechs become sparse in many areas and outside of mechs, there is absolutely nothing. Regularly while I was walking through the dense fields I wondered "Why am I doing this?" because my objective was to move to another objective, and no doubt that was going to become my next objective as well. The tasks become incredibly mundane and combat is the only thing that occasionally gives the game life.
It's a shame I have to slam Generation Zero like this, because it had potential and most people really wanted the game to be good, myself included. The environments are some of the most beautiful I've seen in any video game, the combat feels decent, the atmosphere is thick and the sound design is well executed. Unfortunately, the game just doesn't offer the player enough to do to justify playing it, save for pretty scenery.
Verdict
- Beautiful visuals
- Enjoyable combat
- Unique setting
- Empty world
- No purpose or drive
- Sparse story
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