Review for Generation Zero. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 26/03/2019
Among the most interesting videogame releases of this rich March, capable of offering works such as Devil May Cry 5 and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, there is also the arrival of the new title of Avalanche Studios: Generation Zero, available from March 26 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The setting imagined by the developers of the Just Cause series for their new IP is Sweden, reimagined in the alternative 80s in which the human presence is reduced to the bone, replaced by armed robots that patrol streets and cities, in search of survivors to be exterminated without mercy.
Immersed in the Swedish lands for several hours, accompanied by our trusty shotgun and a threatening noise of moving debris at our heels, we are ready to tell you about our latest odyssey.
Moving around the desolate Swedish plains takes on a very particular aftertaste in Generation Zero: as we have already mentioned, we are at the end of the 80s and hostile machines guard the territory, patrolling relentlessly, day and night, the various localities that have now entered their jurisdiction and attacking anyone they meet on their way. Abandoned cities bear witness to past memories, frozen in a silent stasis that seems to have left everything as it once was, before the advent of killer robots. What really happened? Is there still anyone left alive? It will therefore be necessary to take the first steps in search of our Grail: the survivors.
The task is not facilitated by generous map size, which act as a double-edged sword in the hands of the player: put on comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk far and wide, not failing to prepare ammunition at the same time to clean up places swarming with enemies, who will not hesitate to attack us in groups, putting ourselves in great difficulty in case we were not adequately prepared. However, by exploring it becomes possible to unlock Safe House, buildings placed in key points of the map that can be used as a destination for long-awaited fast travels. A godsend, especially noting the emptiness from which the Swedish lands often suffer, which could discourage even the most hardened lovers of exploration.
It is essential to arm yourself adequately and well suited to the opponent mechanics: assisting guns at the height of the mammoth Tanks - the biggest enemies in the game - with protective equipment, first aid kits, and anything else useful we will find during our explorations, it will be mandatory to avoid making a bad end. Raiding uninhabited houses immediately became a custom, paying attention to better manage an inventory with limited space, but still sufficient to carry everything you need.
In this regard, the management of loot not exactly great, with enemies difficult to take down - especially when you are a beginner and the resources in the player's possession are limited - which often leave unnecessary drops, sometimes making it preferable to run away or hide rather than face open battles that decimate valuable resources. The game itself rewards with experience points - in a character progression system that as you level up can choose useful skills to unlock - both the victory in the clashes and the escape from them, not condemning any kind of approach. However, the objects will be found practically everywhere, even if there are pleasant surprises in the game world, such as hidden areas or bunkers full of resources of all kinds. However, the interiors of the various buildings seem too thick copies of a very small number of basic models, repeated beyond belief and that leave little room for the imagination of those who want to immerse themselves in the world created by Avalanche.
The same robots, which in their own way should be protagonists as an element of interest and main opponent, are present in six different models. Leaving aside the difference in tonnage, the enemies - whose types are already few - they don't stand out for variety of designs, least of all for their artificial intelligence: more than once their behavior in certain situations seemed bizarre to us and can be circumvented with some kind of artifice; however, this does not cause too much annoyance also because, being machines, it is right to expect "mechanical" behavior that is easily readable by the player.
The main storyline also gropes, with missions unclear and too often similar to each other; the single player campaign mode in fact offers few interesting and original ideas. Separate speech instead for the modality multiplayer, where you can face - up to a maximum of 4 players - the main story, in a sort of co-op that becomes with merit the best way to enjoy the experience. As a group, you know, even the most repetitive tasks manage to entertain and face the hordes of robots becomes more sustainable with someone watching our back and able to revive us in case we completely consume the energy bar at our disposal.
Generation Zero does not disappoint from a visual and sound point of view: some views are noteworthy and the music, which accompanies the numerous clashes in which we will be protagonists, help to fuel the tension, in a crescendo of adrenaline directly proportional to the hits scored and the enemies killed. To give an example: a particular mission, in multiplayer mode, faced in an intense night deluge, it left us exhausted and satisfied, in an alternation of frontal attacks and cautious retreats, looking for shelter from the toughest robots when resources have run out. In these moments Generation Zero gives its best, even if it should be emphasized the lack of convenience of a text chat to coordinate and act in a group.
Sore pointfinally is the presence in the game of numerous bugs: in the course of our adventure we have witnessed several stumbles - more than once we have seen the biped Hunter, creatures of fairly large tonnage, enter buildings and get stuck, producing a "cringe" festival of annoying noises and strange spasms of the robotic joints - as well as haggard falls across the map and some problems in interacting with objects, as well as with artificial intelligence which, as already written above, seemed to us to stutter on more than one occasion.
The interesting initial premises of Generation Zero partially shipwrecked from the early stages of the game. The title, despite being able to entertain in its own way - especially if in a group - and present interesting ideas, is however plagued by non-negligible problems, including a considerable number of bugs that make the work look more like a beta than a a complete title. With some adjustments and balancing, as well as some necessary additions, it will be possible to arrive at a more complete and more playfully appealing product.
► Generation Zero is an Adventure-Shooter game developed and published by Avalanche Studios for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 26/03/2019
