Yet Another Zombie Survivors Preview: Survival Combat With Upgrades

Action roguelike games have been popular and many variations have come out, applying their own spin on the genre. Yet Another Zombie Survivors takes that theme and runs with it, sending hordes of zombies at you. The biggest difference is that you can build a team of three individuals with unique abilities.

Rather than fighting with one individual, having a team of three makes it easier to create new strategies. Combining different classes together gives you more options to try out and new ways to approach the genre. It’s more entertaining than if you were just fighting solo. Everything else is similar to other action roguelikes, but there’s potential to build on which is exciting to look forward to. 

Yet Another Zombie Survivors is available on Steam’s Early Access for USD 9.99.

Story – Survive Against Hordes Of Zombies

The story of Yet Another Zombie Survivors isn’t different from other games such as Brotato. Your goal is to survive for 20 minutes against a horde of undead. While the enemies are simple zombies at first, you get more advanced undead creations attacking you. Do your best to hold out against the enemies or die trying.

It’s not a real story in the narrative sense and action roguelikes have never had strong stories. You aren’t fighting through different maps yet or completing objectives. Your main goal is survival and it’s either success or failure. There are no deviations from the formula and no driving narrative for the story.

You start by yourself, but eventually find comrades to fight back.

It’s not necessary for the game to have a story because that’s not what draws players. They are more interested in the gameplay mechanics that stand out. While there is room for a potential story to be added, it might never be implemented. For now, the focus is on the gameplay and the current roster of characters.

Gameplay – Staying Alive Until The Timer Ends

Yet Another Zombie Survivors plays similarly to Deflector in terms of gameplay. You enter a location and must do your best to fight off enemies. Unlike Deflector, you don’t have objectives to fulfill or a narrative to pursue. You are fighting to stay alive and ensuring that it remains that way. Zombies will constantly spawn but will do so out of view. That helps you keep track of zombies currently attacking you without distracting you.

Every character has a weapon and a set of abilities. They also come with inherent qualities such as faster reloading time or more armor. These characters are also built to specialise in certain areas. For example, the Engineer is good at making abilities more powerful while the Medic helps you stay alive. Finding the character that fits your preferred playstyle is a treat, though everyone deserves a fair go. That’s because as you proceed through a run, you get the option to add more characters to your team.

Every class has different abilities which work well with other classes.

There are currently only six classes you can use, but that’s over a hundred possibilities for team combinations. By combining several classes together, you can survive longer by finding synergies with abilities. The Tank and Medic are great for surviving long periods of time, while the Ghost and Huntress are critical experts.

Adding in the team experience makes Yet Another Zombie Survivors unique. While surviving with a single character is possible, working together with teams is a more interesting layer of strategy.

Teamwork – Working Together Effectively

Most action roguelikes are meant to be completed with a single character. Yet Another Zombie Survivors isn’t an exception, but it doesn’t focus on the single survivor. Being able to work with different classes at once is fun and entertaining. It fits the zombie survival narrative perfectly and it makes you think how classes can work together.

There aren’t any horrible combinations, though some are better than others. You will find classes that complement each other perfectly or work together in unexpected ways. It’s fun to experiment and see what works, especially when you don’t expect combinations to be effective.

A full team of three is capable of great devastation.

For example, Ghost and Huntress are great for critical damage. SWAT can help the two attack faster and inflict more criticals. Tank and Medic can keep them alive by resisting damage or healing. Engineer allows the two to utilise their other abilities for critical damage as well.

Being able to mix and match classes and find new combinations is exciting, especially because there isn’t a wrong answer. While you will have your own opinions on optimal combinations, there isn’t one that would be completely terrible.

This helps keep gameplay interesting, especially as more areas and characters are added. You will have more options for experimentation which keeps you looking forward to future updates.

Audio & Visuals – Dark & Pressuring

The visuals in Yet Another Zombie Survivors are dark and gritty. The entire conflict takes place at night and it looks ruined. It’s the zombie apocalypse with a few survivors. Almost everyone is equipped with combat gear and doing everything they can to survive. The streets are abandoned and ruined, with makeshift barricades everywhere. It’s not a clean area and the zombies don’t help.

The audio is also somewhat minimal other than some combat music. You hear the gunshots and some enemy attacks, but there’s not much sound other than zombie moans. It’s not as if battlefields would have anything unique when everyone’s trying their best to survive. Zombies will come and attack and it’s nothing musically gratifying. You will be listening to ensure you aren’t attacked or enemies aren’t coming towards you.

There will be more maps added in the future that add more visuals and sounds, but it’s currently just one location. New character interactions or audio could be added in, but only time will tell. Character abilities will be expanded upon, which introduce more opportunities for visual development.

Yet Another Zombie Survivors was previewed on Steam with a code provided by Awesome Games Studio.