izigame.me

This game falls very in-line with the L4D/L4D2 franchise, and many games alike as a 4-player apocalyptic-esque survival shooter. The developers, themselves, recognise the game similarities to the mentioned franchise, urging those that like those games to give it a try. The difference here is that the game doesn't try to be hyper-realistic and goes down a cartoon-y vibe with a retro 70's style which actually works amazingly and for the most part, looks like fun design.

Pros:

- Mods: Maybe it's just my style of games that I pick out, but you don't often see too many games utilising the workshop feature on steam, which is a real DAMN shame (in of itself). The Anacrusis, however, DOES utilise this. Allowing players to have full customisation power over maps, cosmetics and challenges - which is a really nice touch to the game as it allows the community to keep the game alive, with it's creativity whilst adding endless replayability potential to the game. It's an awesome feature that you don't see much nowadays due to the industrial standard shifting towards F2P + Full Monetisation models so it feels refreshing to see modding as an option.
- Player Diversity: There's obviously a higher demand in diversity, and the main cast are pretty diverse in their own right. Giving a fair chance for people to feel represented (Though of course, this could be improved on if they decide to introduce more characters down the line as there are currently only 4 choices).
- Gameplay: As for how the game runs and feels, it is surprisingly smooth with very little issues. Considering that this game is still in early access, i was pleasantly surprised by how smooth it feels to move and shoot.
- Free Battlepass (?): I initially got to play this game when it was free for a weekend, and purchased it after the deal ended. The game has a feature called 'Chapters', which looks as if it is just a battlepass, but there doesn't appear to be two tracks like in most game, but just one. You have about 15 Chapters, and to complete each chapter, you need to do 3 challenges which equals to 45 challenges, which is not too bad at all. Considering that the battlepass is not a paid feature, the content within it is satisfying, as it consists of titles, name banners, outfits, emotes, gun skins and gun buddies. I hope they reconsider splitting the 'Legendary' skins as they currently come in a bundle throughout the battlepass, and you can choose one skin per character, but it's only one bundle across the entire battlepass.


Cons:

- Map Design: Generally, the maps are designed very well and I have no qualms. But there are specific areas within the maps that you can get stuck in and can't get out. This may be something that they fix considering that I've encountered areas like this mostly on EP4 - which at the time of this review is a BETA level and they may still be play-testing/fault finding things on this 3-levelled mission. But my suggestions for this, is to potentially add a climb feature into the game.
- Side Missions: Generally, there isn't too much to change about them, other than one thing that feels slightly disappointing. I've played the game with friends so I've noticed that everyone's side missions are randomised, that's okay if it weren't for the fact that some missions feel really awkward and would generally prefer to see if this could be reworked. A lot of the challenges simply include killing aliens a certain amount or with a specific amount. But there are side missions that involve killing specific elites (Elites are like mini-boss aliens that have unique powers). Spawners and the Eggs sometimes feel a bit awful to get as a challenge as both Spawners and Eggs have a low spawn rate, and the Elites can also spawn in locations that are not accessible to the players, considering that the Eggs need to be 'awakened' for them to move and Spawners actively run away from players, if they spawn in those areas, it can almost feel as if you are being cheated, whilst everyone else around you is rushing through easier challenges that they get by RNG.

Improvements/Suggestions:

- Character prefer system: There are only four characters, and you can only choose which character you prefer to play. If someone else in your lobby prefers that character, it dwindles down to RNG as to who gets that character. I think a better system would just be a first come, first serve or to allow duplicate characters in a lobby/mission.
- Quickplay: There is an option for QP, and I am assuming that they received feedback on EP1 for being too long, because the later missions are no-where near as long. But the QP option just seems like a lobby joiner, where it will just throw you into the first match it finds. This can be fine if it's some of the later episodes but if you get EP1, that mission can easily last up to 50 minutes. QP should definitely be reworked to have smaller missions, or to prioritise lobbies that are closer to finishing as most people's idea of QP are matches that are 25 minutes MAX.
- AI/AFK Pathing: Currently if you are playing with AI, their pathing is completely dependent on you as they will follow you around. I get what the devs were trying to do and actively avoid which is the AI getting stuck or refusing to come to the mission area. But I do think that AI should have a designated pathing that they closely follow which leads towards the mission area, with a loose following system of the players. As of right now, the AI have a tendency to steal items from under your nose, which can be pretty infuriating.

Overall:

The game feels very smooth and easy to pick up - it follows a basic premise of a shooter with mostly easy and accessible controls. Any players of LFD2, or any other apocalyptic shooters will find themselves at home with this game, the idea/premise of the game sets it apart a bit as most games in this genre tend to opt for a zombie approach, whereas this game goes for a Retro/Futuristic 70s Alien break-out. There are little personal touches such as the game sequences being presented as a show, as if an audience is watching the players on a TV at home, with room for goofiness through emotes.
In it's current state, the game is in early access and paying for it in full can feel a bit daunting. But as long as the developers. The developers do have a discord, which they seem to actively use and reply to people - especially with bug reports, and asking for volunteers for playtests. As long as they flesh out the game to it's potential whilst listening to the community, I think this game is worth purchasing and playing with friends as a fresh reset from old games.

Final Rating:

7/10