"Ground Zero Hero is one of the most promising survivor games currently in development, and I am eager to see it live up to its fullest potential."
We were supplied with a free key for the purposes of writing this review, however our opinions are entirely our own.
Ground Zero Hero genuinely surprised me. I’ve played a considerable amount of Vampire Survivors clones and action roguelikes, and normally they’re rather samey.
While I have genuinely been impressed by some titles, for the most part my immediate reaction is, “Oh yeah, it’s a clone of Vampire Survivors with plumbers, chefs, robots, or whatever else people come up with.”
And indie developers who prefer to copy vs innovate are inventive, I’ll give them that; however, it is rare that I find a title in which the developer has taken aspects of the survivors genre and expanded upon it in a meaningful way, for example titles like Brotato ↪, a unique and addictive fresh take on the genre which I fully recommend.
But for every Brotato, you get games like Culinary Survivors ↪ and In Woods ↪, which were frankly awful. From poor performance and poor visuals to lacklustre gameplay, there are a lot of bad games in the genre.
And while Ground Zero Hero is not yet fully released, based on everything we can see at this point, it is a far better “survivor” title than many on the market.
Ground Zero Hero has a fantastic custom art style. Every single aspect of the game looks hand-drawn. No, strike that, it looks designed to be cohesive.
Every part of the art style, from the icons to the enemies, map design, character design, and skill effects, feels like it was clearly designed for this game.
Nothing feels thrown together. Nothing feels like it was pulled from a generic asset pile. It all fits, and that makes a huge difference in a genre where so many games feel like they’re reusing mismatched assets that have appeared in dozens of other titles.
The mechanics are great too, with the ability to unlock Bonkers (ultimate) versions of mutations (skills) based on the number of kills you achieve with said mutation.
While the chance of a single mutation use “going Bonkers” is rather low by default at around 1%, that is fairly balanced considering how powerful they are, with some mutations being able to clear a wide swathe around the player character.
One of my favourite examples of the Bonkers mechanic is its effect on the Vulture Bait mutation, which causes vultures to swoop around your character at ridiculous speeds with big trails of flashy rainbow plumes behind them, destroying enemies by the truckload.
Mutations aside, you also get to ride cows in this game.
And while they only go for a short while before they explode, I’d rather ride a cow for a short while and then have it explode than not ride a cow at all.
Actually, I’m not sure I would.
But in the context of this game, when a cow is basically one of the most powerful units available, I’m glad every time I see one.
While the game has yet to come out, and things could get better or worse, as it stands right now, with the right advertising, Ground Zero Hero could do very well.
And as much as I’m not fond of streamer culture ↪, if a big enough streamer catches this, or if it gets picked up by Game Pass, this could be huge.
Honestly, this would be so good on Game Pass.
Whether through Game Pass, a streamer, PlayStation Plus, Humble Bundle, or even an Epic Games Store giveaway, getting this game in front of enough people would give it a real chance.
Not to beat Vampire Survivors, because that is just way up there, but certainly to compete.
And for a genre as competitive as this, where titles such as Vampire Survivors and Brotato are in a league of their own, being able to compete is a good thing in itself.
Ultimately, Ground Zero Hero looks to be on track to be a fantastic game, and I for one can’t wait for it to come out.
I played a considerable amount of the demo, despite having some really good games in my backlog right now.
Ground Zero Hero’s twisted humour, engaging mechanics, unique setting and vibrant visuals feel like a breath of fresh air for the survivors genre, which is dominated by fantasy titles.
We found the current demo build of Ground Zero Hero to be a masterpiece, meaning it is a must-play for almost every gamer, due to its near-perfect gameplay experience.
Note: This rating is based on the currently available demo build, not a final release. The full game may significantly change our rating.
"Let's Talk" is a more relaxed review format used for games that we do not feel warrant a full in-depth review. While these articles still reflect our honest thoughts and experiences with a title, they are typically shorter, less structured, and more focused on delivering a direct overall impression rather than an extensive breakdown.
Let's Talk articles should not be viewed as representative of the length, depth, or overall format of our traditional review coverage.
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