Generation Zero

Generation Zero is a cooperative first-person shooter set in an open world. The game takes place in an alternate 1980s Sweden. Robots have invaded the country, and you must stop them, either alone or with a team of up to 4 players. Lure, cripple, or destroy enemies in a complex sandbox. The game features dynamic day and night cycles, changing weather conditions, realistic ballistics, and high-quality sound.

The cooperative shooter with action and sandbox elements in an open world, Generation Zero, was released in early access on Steam in October 2018, with a "full" release on March 26, 2019.

The developers simply did not have time to add the promised content, functionality, and fix bugs, so the public was presented with a beta version of the game, which should have stayed in early access for a long time.

Avalanche designers did a great job and created a huge game world for Generation Zero, divided into large levels.

The picturesque mountainous landscape of Sweden is implemented in the best way: constant elevation changes, rocks and cliffs, as well as small land plots with villages, farmland, forests, and even secret bunkers. The moderate climate perfectly conveys the cold character of this country.

Players especially noted the quality of the graphics: Generation Zero boasts detailed grass, foliage, and trees, realistic water, high-resolution textures, and vibrant effects.

However, at the time of release, the game world lacked detail, it was empty or deliberately stretched. Players complained that the distances between settlements were too great, the number of houses and buildings was generally small, and the variety of buildings and any objects was zero.

Moving from one place to another, the question inevitably arose — did anything really change? Although the developers perfectly recreated the atmosphere and spirit of 1980s Sweden in clothing, weapons, music, and style.

The events of Generation Zero take place in the Swedish countryside in 1989. The player, in the role of a young man or woman, returns to the mainland after a trip to nearby islands where they spent the weekend, unaware of what happened at home.

Surviving an attack just before arrival, the hero realizes that no one is left around, and the quiet and measured rural life has been disrupted by an unexpected invasion of bloodthirsty killer robots. Now the hero (or team) must survive the fight against various enemies and uncover the truth.

In the release version, there was no real storyline; players were given a general explanation of what happened and where everyone went. And that, after very long searches — consider the size of the game world and the fact that the scenario boiled down to three points: go to point A; find out everyone went to point B; go to point B.

Another drawback was the delivery of the story through notes and audio recordings, with no cutscenes or in-game NPCs, the entire level was simply populated with enemies.

While exploring the world, players need to be constantly on guard, move stealthily, and avoid attracting attention with noise — enemy scouts and drones are everywhere. To survive, you have to examine every house and corner in search of ammunition, equipment and cartridges, and also get used to the role of a partisan whose land has been captured by enemies of unknown origin.

Robots were promised in a variety of variants, types and sizes, but at the time of release only six types were invented. They are equipped with numerous sensors, such as thermal imaging, night vision and x-ray. The simplest ones are protected by light armor and are destroyed in a couple of shots. Players can use some visors for their own purposes.

Bosses are armored in several layers and have redundant systems - to defeat one you will need persistence, heavy weapons, precise interaction with friends, combinations of skills, as well as support for the wounded.

Generation Zero has a large selection of weapons - several types of pistols, three rifles and shotguns, a variety of assault and sniper rifles. Weapons can be upgraded by installing locally produced sights and silencers, or high-tech components dropped by robots. Everything is divided into rarity levels - an item that is “legendary” in rarity is much cooler than an ordinary one.

When starting a new game, a character is created in the editor (you can set gender, appearance, skin color and clothing style), after which the player finds himself on an island and must gain experience points to invest in four branches skills:

Leveling up one branch does not cancel the opportunity to invest points in another branch next time; on the contrary, skill branches complement each other. Also, each skill can be upgraded several times to get an additional bonus.

The leveling system is the only gameplay mechanic that fully worked in the release version of Generation Zero. At the same time, for teamwork it is enough to upgrade “support”, and the other three branches of skills are needed by the player himself.

The co-op in the Generation Zero beta focuses on tactical shooter mechanics: run around an island, spot a group of robots, plan your moves, and attack. For example, while enemies are distracted by the noise of one player, their allies surround them and shoot them, after which they take away the loot that the robots were guarding. Find another place, repeat.

Realistic ballistics from the first minutes allows you to feel the difference between shooting from a pistol, shotgun or rifle. Each member of the squad can use the weapon that he likes, but it is better to divide into classes - someone will be a sniper, and someone will have to become an attack aircraft and get under bullets.

There is no crafting as such in the game, which means that most of the loot found will simply be thrown away as unnecessary, although every self-respecting sandbox allows you to process loot into components in order to collect something new. You have to search buildings in search of weapons and equipment only because there are always not enough supplies; it is often better to bypass the enemy rather than get involved in a fight.

На геймплей влияют динамическая смена дня и ночи, погодных условий — ночью и в дождь воевать сложнее, чем в сухую и ясную погоду. Элементы выживания в огромном мире реализованы весьма примитивно. В целом, контента на релизе было немного, буквально на пару вечеров и только с друзьями.