Zombies Overloaded is an upcoming horde survival game by Vinterm Games. With a pleasing graphic novel-esque art style, a lemony announcer celebrating your undead killing spree, and a Duke Nukem-esque grizzled protagonist, the game hits several marks for being a fun romp not to take too seriously. NeverMore Niche was granted early access to the demo thanks to Vintum Games. Playing more during Steam Next Fest, I have enough of a grasp on the game and its mechanics to talk about what works and areas where there could be some improvement. Let’s dive right in.

Next Wave Incoming!

The map for Zombies Overloaded is square and has a top-down perspective. There is an entrance at the top from which zombies spawn and two warp tunnels on the left and right that the player can enter to teleport to the other side. Every five waves is a boss wave. In the demo’s level, a huge zombie throws a large mace and then charges at the player. While the enemies cannot enter the warp tunnel, the mace can wrap around the other end if the boss throws it through and will one-hit kill. At the same time, if it hits the boss on the way back, it’s stunned. This offers some excellent risk-reward play.

After the first boss wave, the enemies will become faster and harder to fight. Additionally, two new enemy variants begin spawning. The rats are fast but frail, circling the player to throw off their aim. Some bulkier zombies move slowly but will eat up a lot of ammo in the process. At the time of writing, my highest attempt was around wave 18. There have been a few crashes on a brief technical side, but most were due to the leaderboard not loading in. The developers are aware of the gameplay-related crashes.

Your Arsenal of Choice

Zombies Overloaded has five weapons with different functions. The pistol is your standard mid-damage but reliable sidearm with infinite ammo. The shotgun is the standard close-range spread shot. The assault rifle trades weaker damage for a higher rate of fire. The flamethrower is very close range, but sweeping through a horde is deadly. The space gun deals powerful, piercing short bursts, but fires a laser in a thin line. The most substantial part of the weapon line-up in Zombies Overloaded is how balanced they are. Each of the guns is situationally strong, switching between them on the fly is important. 

Alongside the weapons are the pick-ups. The adrenaline increases your damage for a short time. The shoes will significantly increase your walking speed. The ammo replenishes the ammunition of the current gun picked up. Lastly, the nuke will clear the current screen of zombies and deal a significant chunk of damage to the boss if they’re active. I have a few suggestions. I would like to see collecting the ammo with only your pistol do something – as there currently is no effect – such as dual-wielding or giving it a short power boost by turning it into a revolver, flare gun, or something similar. The second is to have it so the nuke will not explode the explosive barrels that occasionally spawn or warn that it would happen. A few stupid and amusing deaths happened the first few times because of that.

In addition, two types of currency can also drop. Trade bones in to buy the guns and power-ups (sans the nuke) to use instantly. This can be a real lifesaver in a pinch, especially in later waves. The other type of currency is a skull token, which allows you to unlock permanent upgrades. This leads to the next point.

The Hard Part About Writing This Review

So, I had early access to Zombies Overloaded because Vintum Games gave Nevermore Niche a review key before Steam Next Fest. I had about an hour of playtime. It was fun. But there is a reason why this Zombies Overloaded review was saved for Steam Next Fest and had been in writing hell for the past two weeks or so. 

Many features in Zombies Overloaded are not accessible to the player yet. With a lot of other games, this is fine. It is only a demo, a demonstration of what the full experience would be like. With Zombies Overloaded, what is locked away could change my overall feelings about the game and add replayability. The lack of replayability is the biggest weakness of the demo. With the alternate costumes and character upgrades not being in the demo, you can experience the fullness of the demo within 1-2 playthroughs. Depending on how these features are implemented may also drastically affect the score in a proper review.

Final Thoughts

Overall, what holds Zombies Overloaded back the most is how barebones the demo is. I would love to give it a higher rating, but it lacks content. That said, the foundation of Zombies Overloaded is quite good. I have played about a dozen games and enjoyed my time with it. While I have to dial my overall recommendation back, I look forward to seeing what else Vintum Gaming is cooking for this charming little arcade shooter.

You can wishlist and try the demo for Zombies Overloaded on Steam! The game has a release date of April 4th. Early review key was graciously provided by Vintum Games.