Zombasite Previews and Interview
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A few more hands-on previews of Soldak Entertainment's zombie-infested action RPG Zombasite have hit the Internet this week, but before we get to those, let's first check out this Q&A with Soldak's Steven Peeler on Co-Optimus:
Co-Optimus: One of the more interesting features of Zombasite, to me, is how the world doesn't seem to wait for you to act. Quests will come and go (which may lead to some serious problems for your clan), NPCs will fight with one another, and clans/enemies will act in their own interests to further their power. It's very impressive but I can't help but wonder why. Why go to such lengths for an action-RPG?
Steven: Why wouldn't you want the game world to dynamically respond to everything? :) Personally I think the dynamic world makes everything more immersive and adds a lot of replayability. You never quite know what is going to happen. I'm even surprised sometimes and vow to get revenge on some NPC that betrayed me when I wasn't expecting any trouble.
The first preview comes to us via Skewed & Reviewed:
But you aren't alone in your adventure. As you progress through dense jungles, deep caverns, and sprawling ruins, you'll encounter NPC's who may be convinced to join you on your adventure. You can ask these players to join and watch your back as you adventure or they can be sent to town instantly and be initiated into your clan. In town, your clan helps monitor the place and keep any transgressors at bay. Clan members also help you by looking for food, supplies, and additional gear while you are busy hacking and slashing zombies and demons. It is a necessary element of gameplay to recruit these NPCs and send them on gathering runs, otherwise the remaining human populace in town runs the risk of running out of food and water.
The second is at Hardcore Casual:
If there is one big drawback to the game its the graphics. Indie games can't be expected to look amazing, but at least for me an ARPG does rely more on how it looks than other genres, and nothing in this game really jumps out and impresses or looks particularity memorable, which for me means a quicker path to the click-click repetitiveness feel. Worse still, in some of the environments its very difficult to tell what's a '˜wall' or whats just some vegetation you can pass over, to the point that I was often looking more at the minimap to see where I could go instead of the actual game world (dungeons are much better in this regard, and for that reason far more enjoyable). That's not good. Hopefully as the beta rolls on something can be done to improve this, as I think it will be the biggest thing pushing people away from the game.
And then the third has reared its head at The Gamers Lounge:
The world is also dynamic and persistent. You can start a new game in an already-generated world, with all that would entail, and as you go along, the world will change. Sometimes people will kill your targets before you can get to them. Clans are constantly shifting in alliance and loyalty between each other, and will go out on raids. Your own clanmates have specific weapon and armor preferences, all of which impact how well they'll be able to fend off invasion and join you on raids. Clans may leave you alone, or they might rush full-on towards you, or spawn demon gates, or any number of things. When you pop someone into a new instance of the world, they take up a new region, but use the same lore and other features of the older space.
