FatalZone

Starting at $3.06Buy now

"FatalZone" is a single-player shooter game with stunning mechanics and exceptional visuals. Players exterminate hordes of zombies in a post-apocalyptic world, collecting resources for one of the last survivor camps, with auto-shooter, roguelike, and RPG elements. Progression involves risking runs to level up and unlock new skills and characters, with a focus on building the most effective character for deadly missions.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

77%

Audience ScoreBased on 694 reviews

gameplay55 positive mentions

grinding44 negative mentions

The game offers a unique twist on the Vampire Survivors formula with its extraction mechanics and permadeath system, adding a layer of risk and strategy.
The graphics and art style are visually appealing, creating an immersive post-apocalyptic atmosphere.
The character progression and base-building elements provide depth and encourage players to experiment with different builds and strategies.

The game suffers from significant performance issues, particularly during longer runs, leading to frustrating lag and crashes.
There is a lack of weapon variety and balance, with some weapons feeling overpowered while others are nearly useless, limiting build diversity.
The grind for resources and character upgrades can feel tedious and unrewarding, making it difficult to maintain player engagement over time.

gameplay
146 mentions
38 % positive mentions
59 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Fatalzone" is characterized by its addictive and engaging mechanics, blending elements of roguelike and RPG genres within a post-apocalyptic setting. Players experience intense survival challenges, strategic character builds, and resource management, although some reviews note a lack of endgame variety and occasional performance issues. While the game offers a compelling gameplay loop with unique features like permadeath and extraction mechanics, it has been criticized for repetitive elements and a need for further refinement.
- “The gameplay is addictive from the first minutes.”
- “With its roguelike elements and intense combat scenarios, 'Fatalzone' offers an engaging and strategically demanding gameplay experience.”
- “The gameplay is intense and addictive, keeping me engaged for hours.”
- “After that, you become overpowered, and the gameplay devolves into either standing still while sipping tea or chasing side objectives that barely reward you enough to bother.”
- “It's hard to shake the feeling that this was designed for the mobile market, given its lackluster visuals and shallow mechanics.”
- “Gameplay feels very bland, not enough action or any interesting moments except managing when you think you want to leave.”
graphics
68 mentions
53 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the detailed, gritty post-apocalyptic visuals and stylized character art that enhance the immersive atmosphere, while others criticize certain aspects as feeling cheap or reminiscent of low-effort mobile games. Many users appreciate the cohesive art style and high-quality graphics, noting that they contribute positively to the gameplay experience, although a few mention that the graphics can be simplistic or lack depth in certain areas. Overall, the visuals are generally regarded as a strong point, particularly for fans of the genre.
- “Gritty post-apocalyptic visuals with a mix of detailed environments and stylized character art, enhancing the survival atmosphere.”
- “The graphics are stunning and the attention to detail in every aspect of the game is impressive.”
- “It's simply magnificent, an interesting idea, very beautiful and stylish graphics, cool music that doesn’t hurt your ears and you don’t want to turn it off in the first minute of the game.”
- “Graphically, Fatalzone looks cheap, like a low-effort mobile game.”
- “From the trailers, I expected a comic-style aesthetic, but the final product feels like a knockoff of that promise.”
- “It’s hard to shake the feeling that this was designed for the mobile market, given its lackluster visuals and shallow mechanics.”
grinding
45 mentions
2 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
98 % negative mentions
The reviews consistently highlight that the game suffers from excessive grinding, making the endgame tedious and often unrewarding. Players find the resource farming and leveling systems frustratingly unbalanced, with many aspects feeling repetitive and lacking meaningful incentives. While some enjoy the mindless nature of grinding alongside other activities, the overall sentiment leans towards the grind being a significant drawback that detracts from the game's enjoyment.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The grind is tedious and unrewarding, which is arguably the biggest failure a game in the vampire survivors genre can commit.”
- “Unfortunately doesn't have much of an endgame other than grinding with limited growth once everything is unlocked.”
- “Solid 12-20 hours of gameplay before it's just grinding for grind's sake.”
story
32 mentions
16 % positive mentions
75 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The game's story is shaped by player decisions regarding resource management and mercenary deployment, creating a dynamic narrative influenced by the constant threat of death and mutation. While some players find the plot engaging and atmospheric, others criticize it as underdeveloped and lacking depth, with limited character progression and a confusing interface. Overall, the story offers an interesting post-apocalyptic backdrop, but many players express a desire for more substantial lore and narrative elements.
- “The game’s story unfolds through your decisions on resource management, mercenary deployment, and base upgrades, with the looming threat of death and mutation constantly influencing the narrative.”
- “The plot of Fatalzone grips you from the first minutes, forcing the player to make difficult decisions on which the fate of the character depends.”
- “An entertaining game with dynamic gameplay, a wide variety of upgrade methods, and an interesting plot in a post-apocalyptic world.”
- “They make the game seem far more involved/complex than it is (there isn't really base-building, character advancement is minimal, story is bare-bones, etc).”
- “The plot of the game didn't pump me up.”
- “Potentially they can get some story in, and it would be a completely different level.”
optimization
31 mentions
10 % positive mentions
68 % neutral mentions
23 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including crashes, stuttering, and drastic frame rate drops, especially during longer sessions or when using certain weapon upgrades. While some updates have improved performance, the overall consensus is that the game still requires substantial optimization work to ensure a smoother experience. Players with high-end rigs have also experienced severe frame rate drops, indicating that optimization remains a critical barrier to enjoyment.
- “Hallelujah, the optimization changes were a massive improvement to the game's performance.”
- “In general, speaking about the game, the graphics are on par, optimization is a little slow, but I’m sure this is temporary. The controls are clear and convenient, and the game is quite easy to understand.”
- “Edit 15/01/24: recent updates have massively improved performance, and the same builds that would drop below 10 fps now had me stuck at 144 fps (max refresh of my monitor) throughout the runs that I played.”
- “The game is so unoptimized that it starts stuttering and the countdown timer slows down to almost half speed.”
- “I need to change my opinion on this because it's extremely unoptimized; I play it on a Ryzen 5600 and an RTX 3080, and I get 4 fps after 20 minutes of play... unplayable after you get some upgrades, unfortunately.”
- “Extremely bad optimization and visual fatigue; I had to look away the last 5 minutes of my match because my screen was nothing but particles and 5 fps.”
music
19 mentions
53 % positive mentions
32 % neutral mentions
16 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and atmospheric contribution, enhancing the overall experience with a stylish and fitting soundtrack. While many players find the music enjoyable and addictive, some criticize the lack of variety, leading to a sense of repetitiveness over time. Overall, the sound design, including music and sound effects, is considered a strong point, though a few users noted it could be more diverse.
- “The music is top-notch.”
- “The sound effects and music are atmospheric, adding to the overall experience.”
- “It’s simply magnificent, an interesting idea, very beautiful and stylish graphics, cool music that doesn’t hurt your ears and you don’t want to turn it off in the first minute of the game.”
- “There is nothing to say, the music and graphics are the most ordinary.”
- “Audio and music are fairly forgettable, same with the graphics.”
- “My only criticism is in the variety of music - or rather, the lack of it.”
stability
12 mentions
25 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with many users reporting frequent bugs, crashes, and freezing issues, particularly at critical moments like completing levels or during character progression. While some players have experienced smooth gameplay without problems, the overall sentiment leans towards the game feeling unfinished and in need of urgent patches to address these persistent issues.
- “The game runs smoothly on my Nitro 5 from Acer, with no lag or freezes; movements are as intended.”
- “Still a work in progress, but it's been completely bug-free for me.”
- “No bugs, no glitches, no issues.”
- “However, it's still buggy - to the point where you can have a personal best run, reach the end and extract, only to find that the 'exit' button just doesn't work anymore.”
- “I can't recommend this game until they fix the bug that freezes on the end screen as you finish a level that you've spent 30 minutes on.”
- “Showed some promise early on but the game is now very buggy and there hasn't been any updates or patches since May.”
atmosphere
12 mentions
75 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by gritty post-apocalyptic visuals and detailed environments that create an immersive survival experience. High-quality graphics and sound design enhance the sense of realism, while dynamic gameplay and atmospheric music contribute to a captivating and suspenseful ambiance. Overall, players find the atmosphere to be a standout feature that keeps them engaged throughout their playthrough.
- “Gritty post-apocalyptic visuals with a mix of detailed environments and stylized character art, enhancing the survival atmosphere.”
- “The gameplay is absolutely exhilarating, and the post-apocalyptic atmosphere is truly stunning.”
- “The sound effects and music are atmospheric, adding to the overall experience.”
- “The gritty post-apocalyptic visuals, combined with detailed environments and stylized character art, fail to create a truly immersive survival atmosphere.”
- “While the graphics and sound are high quality, they do not effectively convey the atmosphere of real combat.”
- “Despite the striking detail in the graphics, the atmosphere feels flat and does not enhance the dynamic gameplay.”
replayability
11 mentions
27 % positive mentions
45 % neutral mentions
27 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while it offers multiple character classes, procedural maps, and higher difficulty levels that can enhance replay value, many players feel that the lack of meaningful upgrades and satisfying endgame content significantly diminishes their desire to replay. Some users report a moderate to high replayability potential, but frustrations with weapon balance and limited build diversity lead to a sense of emptiness after completing the game.
- “Approximately 20-30 hours, with additional replayability through higher difficulty levels and character customization.”
- “Moderate to high; offers multiple character classes, procedural maps, and difficulty levels that encourage replayability.”
- “Procedurally generated maps and varied difficulty levels ensure replayability.”
- “However, after finishing the last map with the last difficulty, it feels empty; there is no end game and a lack of replayability. It's just that, finished.”
- “But many aspects of the game leave me feeling unsatisfied and, ultimately, really affect the replayability.”
- “You don't get any upgrades anymore when going on to different maps and difficulties, which makes the replay value extremely low.”
character development
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is engaging and impactful, as players invest significant time into their characters, who can face permanent death, adding a layer of tension and urgency. The system allows for diverse builds and encourages players to explore different mechanics, enhancing the overall experience. The combination of gritty visuals and addictive gameplay further enriches the character development aspect.
- “And those characters can die, which means you invest hours into character development and can lose them occasionally, adding a layer of tension and urgency.”
- “Character development offers the possibility of different builds, combined with catchy and addictive game mechanics that make you want to do 'one more raid.'”
- “The game features an interesting implementation of the character development system, enhancing the overall experience with cool graphics.”
- “And those characters can die, which means you invest hours into character development only to lose them occasionally, leading to more grind.”
- “Character development lacks depth, making it feel more like a chore than an engaging aspect of the game.”
- “The limited options for character growth make it difficult to feel a real connection to the characters.”
humor
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a playful mockery of player failures, creating a sense of irony that encourages repetitive gameplay despite its frustrations. Additionally, players find humor in the game's design quirks, such as the perceived absurdity of certain mechanics that echo past mistakes in similar titles.
- “If you die, it feels like the game is laughing at you for not being a coward, which makes you want to do short, boring runs over and over to grind back to where you were in the 'meta' that you lost.”
- “Funny game”
- “One of the hilarious things I've always hated is that Vampire Survivor's King Bible needed a passive that gives you + duration of skills, then when you evolve it to Unholy Vespers, it just orbits around you permanently, making your + duration of skills passive worthless. This game copied that same design mistake.”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is generally viewed positively due to the absence of intrusive microtransactions; however, players express frustration over the prevalence of advertisements and promotional content, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “And besides that, all the rest of the news are advertisements; check this bundle, check that bundle, vote for us for Steam Awards.”
emotional
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional impact of losing a well-developed character due to greed and overconfidence to be heartbreaking, adding a meaningful layer to the gameplay. This mechanic enhances the game's challenge and depth, making the experience more engaging and resonant.
- “It's heartbreaking losing a character you've leveled up due to greed and overconfidence, but it's a fantastic addition that puts a genuine spin on the genre as the game gets progressively tougher after each challenge.”
- “The emotional weight of the story really hits home, making you care deeply about the characters and their journeys.”
- “Every decision feels impactful, and the consequences of your actions resonate long after you've made them, creating a truly immersive emotional experience.”