Yes, the links are "weird", but they do actually link to ZombiU stuff. The first is the text review, the second is the video review, and the third shows a score of 4.5. It clearly didn't do anything for the reviewer. I'll be curious to see what other sites end up giving it. I wanted it to be good, personally, but I did feel like it seemed pretty clunky and boring. Plus, the video review highlights an "amazing" use for the Game Pad: tapping on the screen 4-5 times to remove wood planks barricading doors and to remove sewer grates! I had really hoped developers had gotten over crap like that with touch screens...

http://m.gamespot.com/epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two/reviews/epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two-review-6400225

http://m.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/videos/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii-capture-the-flag-gameplay-movie-6400269

http://m.gamespot.com/zombiu/

It's like Red Steel all over again.

Weird, I saw Nintendo Land getting mediocre reviews and Zombie U doing well, turns out I'm always wrong.

that's disappointing... it was the only game that looked interesting at E3.

Hey look a third party Nintendo game is bad. Which is too bad I was thinking about buying Wii U this spring.

Thankfully I went for the ZombiU pack for the pro controller with the game as a useful extra. Still Im sure I'll get some fun out of it. I'm like the WORST horror game player ever, Im not the bravest of men so I didn't expect to get much gametime out of it my plan was to trade it in early and get something else!

I wonder if the difficulty is high and it turned off the reviewer.

Awwww...

God damn it. I really love a well-executed zombie game, and Zombie U was about the only Wii U launch game I was interested in.

While watching the videos and gameplay of ZombiU that have been shown so far, I never really understood what people were getting so excited about. It seemed, and still does seem, like a mediocre shooter with WiiU gamepad gimmicks forced in almost as a sort of tech demo.

I'm curious to see what the impending Giant Bomb review and quick look have to say about ZombiU, but...not surprised by this.

@ChadMasterFlash said:

Hey look a third party Nintendo game is bad. Which is too bad I was thinking about buying Wii U this spring.

My thoughts exactly. It's like everyone seem to forget the crappy relationship Nintendo has with 3rd party publishers/developers. I for one will remain skeptic, for the next two years at least, then see what the situation is with Nintendo. I'm not gonna invest in another Nintendo dust collector.

@mordukai: In a couple of years, the WiiU will have seen a price drop or two, and there will probably be a good handful of games that are worth picking up that you can't experience on any other console that make fun & interesting use of the gamepad. Probably. At least that's what I'm holding out for anyway.

@MB: This. I thought I'm the only one that didn't find this interesting.

@muralbat said:

Thankfully I went for the ZombiU pack for the pro controller with the game as a useful extra. Still Im sure I'll get some fun out of it. I'm like the WORST horror game player ever, Im not the bravest of men so I didn't expect to get much gametime out of it my plan was to trade it in early and get something else!

Still seems worth it considering how much that Pro Controller is going for separately (seems like £40-50 here in the UK).

I was expecting possibly some roguelike charm - will see how the GB crew talk about it, I'll likely just shove mine straight on eBay if it's truly terrible.

TL;DR "Not enough guns and shooting"
 
e: Yeah that's what I get from the review re-reading one more time. If you, the reader of this, likes rogue-like games and you're okay with taking time and effort to do things and get places and not killing everything you see, this is be your kind of game. Some valid criticism of back and forthing pad to screen though.

@familyphotoshoot said:

It's like Red Steel all over again.

Nah, it's not actually broken like Red Steel.

@SpaceKangaroo: Yeah that was my thinking paying £50 for a controller which I probably wont use TOO much but I want for my more...I hate to use this word "hardcore" gamer friends and not force them to use the Wiimote for some games if I pick up fifa or something like that.

I'll defiantly give it a chance, I use reviews purely as a "Should I pay full price for this" scale and not a "I'll either play it or not" scale. But I don't hold much hope from Positivity from the GB crew on a Nintendo product. I would LOVE to be wrong about that though.

However I do want to read a second review just to make sure this guy wasn't 'playing it wrong'.

@MB: I really hope that's the situation. Nintendo really need to change their attitude toward third party developers. Grabbing Bayonetta 2 is a good start but the whole mystery around Mass Effect 3 has me worried. My fear is that after so many years of targeting mostly casual gamers that they [Nintendo] now are doing an almost 180 degree turn and targeting mostly "hardcore" (I really hate that term btw) audience. I really hope Nintendo pushes third party support like crazy because if they lose that one then the WiiU will be largely forgotten and ignored once MS and Sony come out with their new consoles.

Never seemed like my kind of game, I can see survival horror fans eating this up though. They seem to like poorly implemented combat and clunky controls.

@Brodehouse said:

Calling it a rogue-like is not an acceptable answer for a gameplay loop that is simply not any fun to do.

And you've played ZombiU and can vouch for the accuracy of this statement, yes? Or are you objectifying somebody else's opinion?

@familyphotoshoot said:

It's like Red Steel all over again.

So, ZombiU 2 will be so much better?

@Brodehouse said:

Calling it a rogue-like is not an acceptable answer for a gameplay loop that is simply not any fun to do.

And you've played ZombiU and can vouch for the accuracy of this statement, yes? Or are you objectifying somebody else's opinion?

I think people were hyped because its a new platform, yadda yadda yadda. Now that we have the shitty launch titles out of the way, there can be some good games!

What a bummer, I haven't played it but it sounds like it had potential. Just from that video though I cannot believe there seems to be only one swinging animation and a slow one at that.

I ordered the Wii U ZombiU pack, mostly to get the packed in Pro Controller. I think the Versus Multiplayer alone will be enough value in my case, though, and that will be FPS without any of the gimmicky stuff.

I have a tendency to be able to enjoy most games even though they've got flaws all over, and I think that'll generally apply to this game.

I don't get the poor AI complaint.
 
They're zombies.
 
"when target spotted, proceed towards target", no "bypass barricades" or "climb shit to reach target" functions in their code.

@Hugh_Jazz: I agree, I tend to just enjoy games for what they are, dont get me wrong I get bummed out when I hype a game and its not what I expected but like, I enjoyed Downhill Jam, I enjoyed alone in the dark and stuff like that I just have fun with what I've got, although If I payed full whack for it I'd probably have a bit more of a cynical view towards it.

@SomeJerk: Aye I agree, smart zombies would just make no sense, I like my zombies walking dead style, walk forward, if theres a wall, try to get through wall and if not, stand at wall.

The idea of pulling zombies away and dealing with them sounds totally fine to me, what I'm glad its not is another Left4Dead of ZombieZombieZombie no strategy just shoot and run, pulling away, dealing quietly, working my way around a level sounds okay.

@muralbat said:

The idea of pulling zombies away and dealing with them sounds totally fine to me, what I'm glad its not is another Left4Dead of ZombieZombieZombie no strategy just shoot and run, pulling away, dealing quietly, working my way around a level sounds okay.

Saying Left 4 Dead has no strategy just makes me think you've been playing it on easy, in which case you aren't in a position to state that as there's plenty of planning and strategy on advanced or expert. (not to mention the vs modes)

and y'know, there's no such thing as "another Left 4 Dead", Left 4 Dead is a pretty unique game, the only other games I can think of that are truly similar are Killing Floor and Alien Swarm.

Im sorry but seriously who the Hell did not see this coming? The walk through of the game looked terrible and coming from Ubisoft... I am astound by some people who get hyped over obvious crap.

I've played it a lot on the highest difficulty (although not as much as some I will admit) and it has no strategy other than gather a group, pipe bomb, and go go go. I really enjoy left 4 dead I just don't want another one (and I didn't state there was one) I just don't want "oh you made a noise, heres 60 dudes, oh you didn't make a noise? We'll send a boomer out so we can send more enemy's" which is totally cool and I love that Left 4 Dead exists

Versus mode is slightly different but that's multi player human on human so I cant use that a basis to judge the AI zombies from because people have (generally better strategy and make it more fun)

I just like the idea of "Oh shit, theres a lotta walkers, lets pull on of these dudes over here, fuck him up and try to sneak past without being caught"

However that only sounds fun in a game where its implemented correctly so I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes!

I thought it was a neat concept. Oh well.

@mordukai said:

@MB: I really hope that's the situation. Nintendo really need to change their attitude toward third party developers. Grabbing Bayonetta 2 is a good start but the whole mystery around Mass Effect 3 has me worried. My fear is that after so many years of targeting mostly casual gamers that they [Nintendo] now are doing an almost 180 degree turn and targeting mostly "hardcore" (I really hate that term btw) audience. I really hope Nintendo pushes third party support like crazy because if they lose that one then the WiiU will be largely forgotten and ignored once MS and Sony come out with their new consoles.

or maybe there will be enough great first-party stuff that no one will care

I didn't expect it to be good. I thought it had a neat premise, and I never really watch a ton of pre-release coverage for games I'm not super hyped about so that wasn't a factor in setting expectations. I just hoped it would turn out to be the Wii U launch game diamond in the rough. Not to say that everything else is bleak, but aside from a pack-in tech demo disc, there's a ton of ports and and games that just generally don't appeal to me, including yet another New Super Mario Bros.

@muralbat: I don't believe you. You can't play on the highest difficulty and say there's no strategy; that's the core of the game. Without four people to plan with and watch each other's back, it's a fucking miracle to survive on the highest difficulty. And you can't just pipe bomb over and over again because those down't spawn often. You can hold one and that's all. Not to mention there aren't just set groups, the AI director spawns more and more if it sees fit. Not to mention the dynamic of the special infected and how they affect gameplay.

You don't sound like you know what you're talking about, and I don't think you've played this game on anything other than Normal.

The melee combat looks boring as hell. Looks like only Nintendoland and NSMBWU are gonna be worth getting. At least this will help me not spend anymore money.

@The_Nubster said:

@muralbat: I don't believe you. You can't play on the highest difficulty and say there's no strategy; that's the core of the game. Without four people to plan with and watch each other's back, it's a fucking miracle to survive on the highest difficulty. And you can't just pipe bomb over and over again because those down't spawn often. You can hold one and that's all. Not to mention there aren't just set groups, the AI director spawns more and more if it sees fit. Not to mention the dynamic of the special infected and how they affect gameplay.

You don't sound like you know what you're talking about, and I don't think you've played this game on anything other than Normal.

Even on normal you have to do more than just run and shoot.

@hwy_61 said:

I think people were hyped because its a new platform, yadda yadda yadda. Now that we have the shitty launch titles out of the way, there can be some good games!

Can there be? with a Nintendo platform these days... Since about the N64, it is usually another six months,at least, after launch that anything worthwhile appears on the radar.

@The_Nubster: I know theres not set groups, hence why you...run and gun, kill a group and move forward. You can be as bitchy as you want I have an opinion which im entitled to and its a game I really enjoy.

@Manhattan_Project: And what else is there to do? theres checkpoints to reach and events to trigger, you run to them, while shooting and having a good time.

Im not knocking left 4 dead, its fantastic but you're not going to convince me left 4 dead is some deep strategy FPS.

Anyway, sorry other people, this isn't about left 4 dead if you want to have a go at me for an opinion inbox me lets not ruin this thread.

@hwy_61 said:

I think people were hyped because its a new platform, yadda yadda yadda. Now that we have the shitty launch titles out of the way, there can be some good games!

Can there be? with a Nintendo platform these days... Since about the N64, it is usually another six months,at least, after launch that anything worthwhile appears on the radar.

Rogue-likes aren't funny, they're nasty pain in the ass games for masochists by design that normal gamers would put down the pad for after a few attempts, and everything so far has made this look and sound and move like one so I understand it not clicking with people who expected Blops Zombies.
 
Which was expected, since they rated Project Dark Zero how high when they reviewed it seven years ago?

Extra extra, hear all about it, Ubisoft has published a mediocre launch title.

A launch game that promises something but fails to deliver? I'm shocked! Actually I'm not.

I haven't been watching a ton of coverage, but I thought the concept sounded pretty cool. If other opinions start coming in like this one, that's too bad.

Nice. How did you find the links? They clearly don't want these visible until an embargo is up.

@muralbat said:

The idea of pulling zombies away and dealing with them sounds totally fine to me, what I'm glad its not is another Left4Dead of ZombieZombieZombie no strategy just shoot and run, pulling away, dealing quietly, working my way around a level sounds okay.

Saying Left 4 Dead has no strategy just makes me think you've been playing it on easy, in which case you aren't in a position to state that as there's plenty of planning and strategy on advanced or expert. (not to mention the vs modes)

and y'know, there's no such thing as "another Left 4 Dead", Left 4 Dead is a pretty unique game, the only other games I can think of that are truly similar are Killing Floor and Alien Swarm.

Im more interested in knowing...how did you find this?!?! Heh

I would not be surprised in the least if reviews end up trending this way, as I don't think ZombiU ever looked like anything more than another Red Steel. (i.e. 3rd party exclusive with some measure of hype)

Im reluctant to watch any content until the embargo goes up. Chomping at the bit to watch the GB coverage when it's published tomorrow morning over here.

I'm getting this game one way or another as it is part of the bundle (with the xbox style pad plus the two first party games) I preordered. Some of what Maxwell dismisses as bad are kind of the reasons I'm interested in the game, though some stuff sounds pretty worrying. I love zombies but have never played a zombie game that lives up to what I love about the movies and books etc, although they're often really cool, in most of them you could swap out the zombies for some other enemy and it'd be just the same.

I still want a zombie game which is all about the group tension and finding/reinforcing shelters and searching for information, trying to get to safe camps or refuges or whatever you'd call them, gradually losing party members and all the stuff that you get in the films and so on, but this does seem like a true zombie apocalypse scenario, plus it is set in England which is a big plus point for me. Providing too much of it isn't broken I reckon/hope I should still have a good time with this, but I was hoping it'd be well received.