What You Gain And Lose When “ZombiU” Becomes “Zombi”
ZombiU is the best game that no one played, and Ubisoft wants to give it a second chance by porting the game to other consoles and the PC. The major problem is that the game was designed around the Wii U hardware — how can you effectively port gameplay that requires a second screen in your lap if no other system has such a thing? It won’t be easy, but they’re going to try.
A big reason why ZombiU won over critics was its innovative use of the Gamepad screen to heighten tensions by forcing you to look away from the TV set at times when you really, really needed to see the danger you were in. Ubisoft had to come up with a compromise now that they have just one screen. The map will now be brought up on the main screen, and will be as “minimal as possible” when it’s not required. The game will still be running whenever you bring up the map, so the tension is sort of still there, but the advantage remains Nintendo’s as the Gamepad let you access the screen at all times by simply looking down.
It was even tougher to port over the multiplayer mode, where one player used the Gamepad to spawn zombies on the map while three other players tried to fend them off. They ultimately couldn’t do it: this feature has been cut from the ported game.
If you’re wondering what’s better, graphics are (obviously). The game has also been tweaked and balanced out. The shovel can hit multiple zombies in one swing, the nail bat does more damage and the flashlight can now be adjusted to shine its light further (at the expense of its battery).
If you want to play this game, the Wii U version will remain the superior experience, but if that console’s not on your shopping list, a chopped-down game is better than no game. ZombiU becomes “Zombi” later this month. It’ll be released digitally (no physical release is planned) for Playstation 4, XBox One and PC.
[Source: Gamespot]