• Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Release Date: Nov 18, 2012
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 70 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 416 Ratings

  • Summary: For only the second time in history, a great plague has descended upon London, infecting the human race with a deadly disease. Big Ben tolls as hundreds upon thousands of the unprepared die or are infected by a sickness worse than death... You continue to breathe, for now. But how long will you survive in the labyrinth of London streets and underground as the infected close in around you? The horrifying remains of humanity ravaged by the foul disease shuffle through the streets, waiting to prey on your living flesh at every turn. ZombiU is designed to take advantage of the Wii U and its new controller and will test your will to survive in a zombie Survival-Horror First Person Shooter. So grab hold of the height of survival kits – your new controller – and stock up your Bug-Out Bag with supplies. Make every second count; you only get one chance. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 70
  2. Negative: 1 out of 70
  1. ZombiU will send shivers of fear and excitement up and down your spine in equal measure: it's the perfect showcase for what the Wii U is all about.
  2. Jan 23, 2013
    86
    An intense experience. ZombiU delivers one of the most intense experiences in recent history. Moody, violent and suitably tough, it managed to keep me playing long into the night. [Jan 2013]
  3. Dec 21, 2012
    74
    While far from perfect, ZombiU is nevertheless an compelling launch title that no owner of the Wii U shouldn't at least rent.
  4. Nov 18, 2012
    45
    With an uninteresting world and dull combat, the survival horror game ZombiU is a weak link in the Wii U's launch lineup.

See all 70 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 18 out of 155
  1. 10
    The market is flooded with run and gun shooters and this one sets itself apart. It's more about surviving with limited resources and I mean limited. The atmospheric sounds add a great deal to the experience especially traveling in the dark. There is so much detail in this game I don't know where to begin like the fire and water effects are nicely done as well as lighting. But sure the visuals are not the games strong point but the gameplay is where it strikes. It's about carefully executed events that keep you alive and never rushing to reach the next objective, one small mistake and it's zombie food. Do yourself a favor and try this out. Get ready to jump out of your seat because they come when you least expect it. Expand
  2. Nowadays it's hard to find a true survival horror game. What I like about ZombiU is that the emphasis really is on surviving, not mindless shooting. I found it visually appealing, atmospheric and just fun. My criticisms would be with loading times that often mar the atmosphere, the campaign being a little too short and some harsh combat difficulty (this is surprisingly hardcore for a ubisoft game). A great game if you like to slow down and explore, if you prefer shooting everything you'd maybe be better off with Left 4 Dead or something. Expand
  3. This game is NOT easy. Zombies do not go down quickly. The ones you meet later on are rough. To be honest the only reason why I gave it a low review is because I didn't like it on the WiiU. I didn't like how the gamepad removed me from the action onscreen. It very much removed the sense of immersion that the game works to build. But as far as zombie games go, it's fairly difficult, creepy and there's a fair amount of intensity in some parts of the game. It's not terrible though. I'm just not drinking the koolaid when it comes to a 2 screen experience. Expand
  4. I love this game and this game has game breaking glitches that can completely destroy your progress and force you to restart from scratch several times over. So to be very clear: I love the slow horror-filled progress of the game, the clunky process of killing zombies with a cricket bat, the search for ammunition, all of that. The death of your character and the process of going to kill your old zombified self to get a backpack full of stuff is great.

    The problem is when you go back to kill yourself but can't retrieve from your old self things that are absolutely required in order for the game to continue. Essentially you can take 50 hours worth of game progress and throw it right out the window. This is because ZombiU does not retain any intermediate saves that you could go back to if something goes wrong, and because players have discovered and reported that many game-breaking glitches just crop up that destroy the game. Each time that happens you have to go back to the very very beginning. When you hit a problem like this, contact Ubisoft for support and this is what I got back:
    "Unfortunately, you are most likely going to need to create a new save profile. We are not able to recover lost or damaged saved files from either the cloud or other methods. We have reported this issue to the devs. Contact us again if you have additional questions." [there was no "lost of damaged" save file. My character died and there was no way to obtain a particular item that he was carrying that was necessary for plot progress"]

    Take a look at the ZombiU forums (http://forums.ubi.com/forumdisplay.php/383-ZombiU)
    :
    "Game breaking bug - ladder disappears!!"
    "Another ZombiU Game Breaking Glitch"

    And this nice statement, in a 2-page series of posts by frustrated gamers:

    "Ubisoft, as far I can see, you received your first notifications of game breaking bugs over a month ago on this forum.
    Since then, this forum has been flooded with further reports which have mostly fallen upon deaf ears.
    While admittedly the Forum Manager Ubi-Mush has been acknowledging these reports on occasion and reportedly forwarding the issues described, there has been absolutely no indication that the developers have been acknowledged any of these issues."

    In essence, excellent gameplay is ruined by the complete and total loss of your campaign if you fall prey to any number of serious programming bugs. Ubisoft has not acknowledged the problems, has not issued a patch, and has not offered even a hint as to whether they will patch the game at all. For some who play this, it turns out great and they don't get nailed by the many programming bugs. I have had to repeat 40 hours of campaign twice and after the third game-ending crash, I have to give up.
    Expand

See all 155 User Reviews

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