Operation: Outbreak

About

Operation: Outbreak is a single player survival shooter game with a horror theme. It was developed by DREADMITH Games and was released on December 20, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In Operation: Outbreak, you play as Nomad, the sole survivor navigating a zombie-infested city to reach extraction. Equipped only with a pistol and guided remotely by your squad’s coordinator, you must survive tense combat with limited resources. Strategic use of scarce ammo and careful movement through dark tunnels are key to survival.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 209 reviews

graphics12 positive mentions

monetization8 negative mentions

The game has great graphics, atmosphere, and sound design, creating an immersive experience.
Despite being short, the game offers fun gameplay with some effective jump scares and a solid concept.
As a student project, it shows significant potential and has received praise for its mechanics and overall execution.

The game is extremely short, often completed in under 20 minutes, which leaves players wanting more content.
Gameplay mechanics, such as hit detection and AI behavior, are clunky and can lead to frustrating experiences.
There are limited configuration options, including no keybinding and issues with resolution settings, which detracts from the overall user experience.

graphics
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
31%
14%
Overall, the graphics in the game are generally well-received, with many praising the realistic textures, effective lighting, and immersive aesthetics that enhance the zombie atmosphere. While some players note that the graphics are not groundbreaking, they appreciate the design and detail, particularly in the zombies and environments. A few critiques mention clunky visuals, but the consensus leans towards a positive reception of the game's graphical quality.
- “The graphics are really nice, textures look realistic, lighting and zombies look great too; looking forward to a new chapter.”
- “The graphics and overall aesthetics are very well done.”
- “Good graphics, good design of the level, ugly and terrifying zombies, weapons that feel good and precise.”
- “This is what zombie games were like back in the day, but with worse graphics.”
- “Yea it's clunky and the graphics aren't great but it was a nice little zombie game that was over in a few minutes.”
- “The graphics are a little clunky and the game is quite short, but it was enough for 10-20 minutes of entertainment.”
gameplay
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
50%
14%
The gameplay is generally well-received for its simple mechanics, including FPS, stealth, and resource management, though some players find it clunky and limited. While the atmosphere and graphics are praised, there are criticisms regarding the responsiveness of certain mechanics, such as melee and aiming. Overall, the game offers a decent experience, especially for a free title, but could benefit from further refinement and a more engaging story.
- “I like the concept and the mechanics.”
- “The mechanics are simple: FPS, stealth, managing your available resources, and making it out alive.”
- “Overall, I really liked the atmosphere, the well-chosen shaders, the ability to skip the cinematic trailer, and the gameplay itself where zombies die from 1-3 bullets, the realistic aiming.”
- “All in all, the main gameplay mechanic absolutely blows.”
- “The gameplay is crap.”
- “The gameplay is a bit clunky and limited but the graphics are quite decent.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The story aspect of the game is generally seen as a decent foundation, with players appreciating the environmental storytelling and motivation to progress through the campaign. However, many reviewers note that the narrative is muddled and could benefit from more depth, improved voice acting, and a longer storyline. Overall, while the current story has potential, players are eager for a sequel that expands on the narrative and gameplay experience.
- “Level designs are good, there is a decent story/narration to motivate the player to push through the campaign.”
- “Great experience, a little adjustment to the gameplay and feel of the game and this could be a really good zombie story game.”
- “It was a short game but I had fun, kind of felt like a beta and I think this is a great foundation for a future game that has more of a story to it.”
- “The zombie script could use some tweaking and the story is a bit muddled, but I can see the vision; some might say the constant sway of the gun is annoying, but personally, I like it ... it keeps you alert because you have to correct it, and it adds some difficulty and uniqueness to the playing experience.”
- “While the story and voice acting are weak, that's not a dealbreaker considering why I and others play games like this.”
- “I'd pay for something that has an actual story, not AI (AI voice which this game has), fluid gameplay among some of the good functions of a proper video game.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
11%
22%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its spooky and immersive qualities, effectively creating tension and fear, particularly during night scenes and jump scares. While the graphics may not be impressive, the well-crafted environment and sound design enhance the overall experience, making it a compelling atmospheric horror survival shooter. Players appreciate the intense and engaging atmosphere, which contributes significantly to the game's enjoyment despite its short length.
- “It has the potential to be a good atmospheric horror survival shooter.”
- “Cool school project for sure, got me scared a couple of times! Really cool atmosphere, especially when I got the night vision; it got too creepy real fast.”
- “Great atmosphere and nice transitions between gameplay and cut scenes.”
- “While it's not bad, the graphics are the furthest from mind-blowing, but the atmosphere compensates for that along with its environment.”
- “Overall, I really liked the atmosphere, the well-chosen shaders, the ability to skip the cinematic trailer, and the gameplay itself where zombies die from 1-3 bullets, the realistic aiming.”
monetization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
89%
The monetization aspect of the game is positively noted for the absence of microtransactions, which players appreciate. However, there are concerns regarding the implementation of ads, which are toggled rather than held, leading to a clunky experience that detracts from gameplay. Overall, while the game is well-received, improvements in the ad mechanics and control options are desired.
- “I'm glad you started out on the right track with no microtransactions.”
- “The monetization model is fair and doesn't pressure players to spend money.”
- “I appreciate that the game offers plenty of content without requiring additional purchases.”
- “This game is very good, but one glaring thing I don't like is that the aim down sights (ADS) is toggled and there isn't an option to change it from toggle to hold.”
- “Ads'ing is clunky and slow; a toggle is the only option I saw, and it did not feel like it had any advantage over just using the built-in crosshair when not aiming down sights.”
- “Mechanically, the ADS is useless; you are perfectly accurate with just hip shooting. It is also quite unclear how the shove works for the first time because it can only be used when the zombies are close.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews; while some players praise it for being well-optimized compared to similar titles, others criticize it for poor optimization, attributing the issues to the developers' inexperience with Unreal Engine 5. Overall, optimization appears to be a significant area needing improvement.
- “The best thing is that the game is well optimized; many games of this type are poorly optimized, but this one performs excellently.”
- “The optimization in this game is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
- “I appreciate how well the game runs; the optimization makes a significant difference in the overall experience.”
- “The game is not optimized; it's likely a fault of the developer just learning how to use UE5. Nonetheless, this is an incredibly important issue that needs to be addressed.”
- “Performance issues are rampant, making the game feel sluggish and unresponsive.”
- “The lack of optimization leads to frequent frame drops and long loading times, which severely impacts the overall experience.”