Generation Zero, the review

Generation Zero undoubtedly starts with an intriguing opening: we are in Sweden, in an alternative 1989, and we discover that something disturbing happened while we were on a boat trip. There is no one on the streets, the houses are empty, some vehicles lie abandoned and threatening presences move among the trees or in the middle of the fields: quadrupedal robots that are alerted by the slightest noise and attack anything that moves using a machine gun . Unfortunately, this is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg, because the mechanical troops that have invaded the country are not only very numerous, but made up of even bigger and more dangerous machines, armed with blades and missile launchers. Surviving their attack will not be easy, in a desperate attempt to understand what happened and where they all ended up: we will be alone to deal with a particularly large and evocative scenario, which measures in its entirety over ten square kilometers, or we can choose to face the adventure in a cooperative along with three other users, transforming the experience into something very much like an expedition and adding some strategic depth to the gameplay. Whatever our approach, there will be a lot of walking.



Setting and interaction

After trying Generation Zero during the early access period on Steam, we expected the introduction of a narrative structure able to make the most of the idea behind the adventure. However, the authors decided otherwise, dismissing everything with a few lines of text during the first few minutes and projecting us into the same situation, near a house apparently abandoned in a hurry, while in the distance the lights of a police car are visible. stops in the middle of the road. A few moments to become familiar with the system that regulates the loot: it is possible to access the vast majority of buildings and collect objects of various kinds directly or by rummaging inside boxes, crates, containers and trunks.



Generation Zero, the review

That way they can be found weaponry, ammunition, useful accessories (for example binoculars or appendages for pistols and rifles), medical kits, radios and various types of flares: tools that take on a certain importance when enemies there are many and it is possible to distract them with lights and fireworks. The use of the inventory has unfortunately remained quite cumbersome, the slots immediately available are sufficient to carry a lot of stuff but the assignment of certain resources to the hotkeys (the directions of the d-pad, using a controller) it must be repeated every time the stocks run out and it becomes frustrating to have to repeat the operation over and over again when it comes to the medical kits, which cannot be consumed at the same time as the inventory check. When the backpack is full you have to leave something on the ground, but nothing is wasted: the objects remain available to our possible companions or in any case to those who will join the game, an event that never occurred during our tests with the final version of the game.

Generation Zero, the review

Lo scenario, as mentioned, it is huge and also quite evocative: boundless plains, coasts overlooking the sea, rocky and forest areas, small urban gatherings and even some tourist attractions. In short, it seems that the developers have reproduced specific places in the country, but without a clear idea of ​​how to make the most of them to set a story of this type. In fact, what you will find yourself doing most of the time in Generation Zero will be walking, covering large distances without the possibility of using vehicles and without this being justified in any way (who knows, by an electrical signal that has put all the motors out of order). Furthermore, once near the urban areas, it is difficult not to notice how the houses are all identical to each other, divided into very few types that are repeated to the bitter end and undermine the interest in exploring them. There are also no characters alive who are not our eventual companions, and the missions they are limited to being scouting assignments for the gathering of clues and information.



Generation Zero, the review

Combat system and enemies

Between a walk and the other you will inevitably run into some enemy. The placement of the robots follows a progression principle that sees only the quadrupeds in the first areas, after which the reconnaissance drones, the giants armed with missiles and then again the huge bipeds that are seen in some artwork of the game begin to arrive. To eliminate them we will be able to use the different weapons found around: pistols, shotguns or precision guns, machine guns of various sizes but also explosive objects, which we can place as traps to be blown up if necessary. The sensors of the hostile units are sharp, but it is possible to fool them by lowering and moving slowly, keeping at a distance, in a sort of stealth approach.

Generation Zero, the review

The problem is that there is no advantage: experience points are earned by completing fights, and although escape is also rewarded, the unlocking of upgrades for the character it is already slow of its own and does not require further uncertainties. After the first eight hours, after all, we had unlocked very few improvements, trying to favor physical endurance and health over the use of weapons and engineering skills. In short, it is clear how the Generation Zero experience was designed to entertain for a long time in a sort of perennial endgame, and the dimensions of the map are a clear proof of this. The problem is how time is spent, because finding ourselves crossing long stretches of road on foot without encountering anything along the way does not correspond to our personal idea of ​​fun.



Generation Zero, the review

But let's go back to the combat system: our character can equip three weapons by selecting them from the inventory and using them to overcome enemies. With a sniper rifle it is possible to eliminate robots from a great distance, centering their battery, but when the hostile units approach it is better to take up a more immediate weapon, for example a shotgun, and move quickly to avoid frontal charges or bursts of machine guns, which in fact follow fairly predictable trajectories. L'artificial intelligence unfortunately it is not the best, indeed it happens all too often that the machines get stuck somewhere or that they cannot understand that we are behind a shelter and cannot hurt us, ending up being targeted without problems other than the quantity of ammunition a at our disposal.

Graphics and sound

After introducing us to the initial menu with an exciting electronic track, Generation Zero presents a simple editor for creating the character (the presets appear generic and with an old-gen flavor, unfortunately), after which we find ourselves projected inside the map. The rendering of nature and the lighting system undoubtedly represent the flagship of the production, which thanks to the Apex Engine manages to offer truly evocative views, a convincing day / night cycle and a great atmosphere. You know theHunter: Call of the Wild? It is practically identical, so much so that in some moments it happens to identify with the character, dispersed in the middle of nowhere, with the wind blowing and perhaps the rain falling, while in the distance you can see some houses that are manned by hostile robots.

Generation Zero, the review

As anticipated, the construction of the urban gatherings and the insipid bunkers betrays a frankly excessive copy-paste work, and there is a great desire to dive back into nature, which however fascinating it is soon revealed to be not very suitable for the context, too dispersed, too dispersed. wide in its expanses so that you can walk through it and get some fun out of it. You only feel the fatigue, mental rather than physical, and the game over is welcomed as a real curse: unless you have a syringe of adrenaline, following the landing we will have to select a location where to carry out the respawn and travel again the path that brought us to the point where we were defeated, however, also finding enemies that we had already eliminated.

Generation Zero, the review

On the test configuration the game runs at 1440p with all effects at maximum and 60 frames per second solid, but if you want you can opt for 2160p using a dynamic solution that behaves fairly well, scaling the resolution to keep the target frame set. Among the most interesting visual options there is undoubtedly the screen space reflection, which projects the real reflections of the environment around us into the puddles: deactivating it the effect is replaced by simple cubemaps. The design of the robots is interesting although not very original, while the concept of persistence is used very little: the fights tend to end them and it is therefore rare to find an enemy after some time, finding the damage we have inflicted previously. Beyond the initial music, the sound accompaniment appears essential.

PC System Requirements

Test Setup

  • Processor: Intel Core i5 6600K @ 4 GHz
  • Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Memory: 16 GB of RAM
  • Operating system: Windows 10

Minimum requirements

  • Processor: Intel Core i5
  • Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, AMD Radeon HD 7870
  • Memory: 8 GB of RAM
  • Hard disk: 35 GB of space required
  • Sistema operativo: Windows 7 SP1 a 64 bit

Recommended Requirements

  • Processor: Intel Core i7
  • Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, AMD Radeon R9 280
  • Memory: 16 GB of RAM
  • Hard disk: 35 GB of space required
  • Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

Comment

Tested version PC Windows Digital Delivery Steam Price 34,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

5.0

Readers (10)

6.1

Your vote

Generation Zero undoubtedly boasts a fascinating setting, rendered very well in its landscapes and atmospheres by the Apex Engine. A huge map, which however shows the side of excessively generic solutions when the buildings begin to repeat the same design, and above all it is tedious to cross on foot: the spaces to be covered are too large and therefore boredom comes inevitable, whether you play alone or in a group of four. The fighting in the early hours is actually mundane, although taking quadrupedal robots too lightly can get you into trouble. Only with the arrival of further types of enemies, however, does it make sense to use certain objects in addition to conventional weapons, even if often some glitches and a lacking artificial intelligence end up sending everything to hell.

PRO

  • Wide and charming setting
  • Excellent rendering of the scenarios
  • Different types of enemies ...
AGAINST
  • ... but artificial intelligence is what it is
  • Spaces too wide and empty, you walk for hours
  • Little incentive to explore, buildings are often the same
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