World War Z: Aftermath Review

World War Z: Aftermath

Release: January 1, 1970
Publisher: Saber Interactive
Developer: Saber Interactive
Genre: PlayStation 5 Reviews, PS5 Reviews, ReviewsXBox One ReviewsXbox Series X Reviews
PEGI: M
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World War Z: Aftermath is the ultimate co-op zombie shooter inspired by Paramount Pictures’ blockbuster film and the next evolution of the original hit World War Z that has now captivated over 15 million players. Turn the tide of the zombie apocalypse on consoles and PC with full cross-play. Join up to three friends or play on your own with AI teammates against hordes of ravenous zombies in intense story episodes across new zombie-ravaged locations around the world. Take back Vatican City in an epic confrontation in Rome, and join forces with survivors in Russia’s snowbound Kamchatka peninsula.

Overall this is a collection of the game from 2019 and all the DLC with a few extras added for Aftermath. If you’ve played World War Z, you largely know what you are getting yourself into. I will say though, playing it on a next-gen console for the first time, I can see some improvements in performance, graphics, and the like. World War Z is similar to many other games in the co-op shooter survival genre, similar to Left 4 Dead. Your team of 4 drops into a scenario, need to take down hordes of zombies, survive and move on to the next place. The game is best played with others hands down as the AI for your teammates isn’t that great when faced with the hordes coming out in masses. Unfortunately, they didn’t do anything to the narrative of the game which was one of the biggest downfalls of the original version, you just didn’t know really what was going on, or really care for that matter. They did not make any enhancements or changes to that for this go around either. Which listen, I get it, the game isn’t a narrative-type game, but I would still like some cohesion or semblance of understanding as to what’s going on.

So let’s talk about what’s new here:

There are two new story missions added: One where you fight to take back the Vatican city in Rome, which unfortunately is nowhere near as cool as it sounds and is largely forgettable. The second is a mission in Russia’s snowbound Kamchatka peninsula, which was pretty awesome honestly, and one of the highlights in this game, damage from blizzards as well as your Zombie enemies keep you on your frostbitten toes.

There are enhancements to the melee combat, giving you more unique moves and perks as well as some dual-wielding weapons to add to the fun. Making Melee a much more feasible approach to survival in this game vs the original.

As far as enemies, you now have rats….yep…they will swarm and overcome you out of nowhere and you need to rely on your teammates to save you. Not a real game-changer per se but definitely something that can hinder your approach and can sometimes be frustrating due to its size.

They added first-person mode as well, but honestly, this was a HUGE miss. You cannot look down the sights of your weapon when in this mode, which just doesn’t make any sense. If you are a melee combat person then it’s completely broken as the camera continuously switches between first and third person for combat. A cool idea for sure, but not executed that well.

Lastly, there is an addition of a new class the Vanguard, which comes with an electrified shield that can be used for both defensive or offensive combat as you can ram your way through hordes like some sort of mental Captain America.

All in all World War Z: Aftermath is a great time with a group of friends for sure, if you enjoyed the first game then this is a very easy recommendation, while the quality of life and other improvements are great if you weren’t all in before nothing here will sway you either.