The Slaughtering Grounds

About

"The Slaughtering Grounds" is a horror-themed shooter game that offers both single-player and multiplayer modes, where players battle against hordes of zombies in arena-style levels. Despite its potential for hilarious and emotional moments, the game is known for being quite buggy, which can sometimes detract from the overall experience. The game's official description calls it a "multiplayer and singleplayer arena shooter with zombies," highlighting its focus on fast-paced action and undead enemies.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

36%

Audience ScoreBased on 717 reviews

graphics19 positive mentions

music24 negative mentions

The game is incredibly cheap, often available for less than a dollar.
Some players find humor in the game's poor design and enjoy it as a joke.
The game offers Steam trading cards, which can be sold for a profit.

The graphics and animations are extremely poor, resembling outdated technology.
Gameplay is repetitive and lacks meaningful objectives, with many bugs and glitches.
The developer has a history of poor customer service and has reacted negatively to criticism.

music
95 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
54%
25%
The music in the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players criticizing it for being a repetitive and annoying loop, often described as a short track that becomes grating after a few minutes. While some players found it catchy or enjoyable initially, the consensus is that the lack of variety and the constant repetition detracts significantly from the overall experience. A few reviews noted the option to mute the music, which many players resorted to in order to alleviate the irritation caused by the soundtrack.
- “I love this game; it has everything you need, from cool songs to thrilling gameplay. It really is the full package.”
- “The soundtrack to the game is a revolutionary phenomenon, and I really couldn't have seen myself saying that five minutes ago while reading all the liars saying how bad the game is. 5/5, 10/10, 100/100—take my money, I love it.”
- “The music is just a single track that keeps on repeating, but I just let the music play in the background while browsing the web; it's nice :)”
- “The music is just a single track that keeps on repeating.”
- “The music is a 30 second endless loop.”
- “Echoing across dimensions, there was this awful soundtrack that looped infinitely and seemed to burrow into your ears after the first two times of listening to it.”
graphics
85 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
58%
20%
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users describing them as low-quality, reminiscent of outdated systems like the PS1 or early Xbox. Despite some claims of "stunning" visuals, the consensus leans towards a lack of optimization and poor performance, often resulting in low frame rates even on capable hardware. Overall, players express frustration with the graphical fidelity, suggesting it detracts significantly from the gaming experience.
- “The graphics are truly to die for, the gameplay is earth-shatteringly unique, and always a challenging experience with the randomized maps.”
- “The stunning 3D cutting-edge graphics just make it better by perfectly rendering a beautiful looking city in such a spine-chilling atmosphere.”
- “It offers insane realism and amazing graphics.”
- “The graphics are terrible and the ammo mechanic is the worst.”
- “The graphics in this game look like absolute shit.”
- “Overall graphics are terrible and cannot be redeemed because it's not old graphics, it's lazy graphics.”
gameplay
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
66%
16%
The gameplay of this game has received mixed to negative feedback, with many users citing slow pacing, broken mechanics, and poor AI as significant drawbacks. While some appreciate the unique elements and potential for fun, the overall consensus leans towards a lack of polish and depth, resulting in a repetitive and frustrating experience. Many reviews highlight issues such as low-quality graphics, clunky controls, and a lack of engaging content, leading to a general feeling of disappointment.
- “I love this game; it has everything you need, from cool songs to thrilling gameplay. It really is the full package.”
- “The slaughtering grounds is the perfect zombie shooting game you are looking for, stunning graphics, great controls, and great gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is phenomenal and the story too.”
- “The gameplay is bad and the graphics too.”
- “It feels incomplete and rushed; graphics are low quality, gameplay is very lacking.”
- “The game mechanics suck, collision detection is awful, everything about this game is pretty terrible.”
story
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
62%
16%
The reviews highlight a stark divide in opinions regarding the game's story. Many users criticize the lack of a coherent plot or character development, describing it as generic and minimal, with some stating it has "no story" at all. Conversely, a few players appreciate the immersive environment and suggest that the narrative can be inferred through gameplay, though this sentiment is overshadowed by the overall consensus that the game lacks a substantial storyline.
- “I love this game; it has wonderful graphics, a great storyline, an immersive campaign, and balanced guns in multiplayer. Pretty sure it's better than World at War.”
- “The story is gripping, immersive, and the characters are truly likeable and very complex indeed, with detailed backstories and living relationships with other characters and the zombies, who felt like family to me.”
- “The game doesn't provide a lot of initial backstory, but that's an illusion as the story is told through the living environment and engrossing world.”
- “Story-wise, Slaughtering Grounds has none.”
- “There is no story, plot, or really any main objective.”
- “It adds nothing new to games; all the mechanics, textures, and settings are the bare minimum of generic. When this happens, games tend to add an enthralling story to help you forget about that, but this game has none; it's just a kill room.”
humor
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is largely derived from its absurd physics, ridiculous zombie models, and intentionally poor mechanics, which many players found amusing, especially when playing with friends. While some reviews noted that the humor can wear thin and may not elicit genuine laughter, the overall consensus is that the game offers a comedic experience that can be enjoyable, particularly for those seeking a lighthearted, "so bad it's funny" gaming experience. Despite its flaws, players felt it was worth the low price for the laughs it provided.
- “From the weird physics and crazy zombie models and animations, it made me laugh and I kept playing. Suddenly an hour went by, and I was like... hm, this kept me busy for an hour, not bad if it did that.”
- “The only thing completing objectives seems to do is spawn a 'boss' which looks hilarious because of the way it runs at you. The notable difference is how much more ridiculous these bosses look, as they die with very little effort.”
- “On the other hand, if you are looking for a hilariously bad game to laugh at with your friends or a perfect gag gift, then look no further!”
stability
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
95%
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous users reporting frequent crashes, bugs, and glitches that significantly detract from the overall experience. Many players describe the game as unfinished and unstable, with issues ranging from freezing on launch to bizarre physics problems. While a few users noted minimal bugs during extended play, the consensus is that the game requires substantial fixes to improve its stability.
- “It's bug-free.”
- “The game runs smoothly without any crashes.”
- “I haven't experienced any glitches or performance issues.”
- “I think this game needs to be taken off the Steam market or just fix the glitches and bugs.”
- “It was really buggy for me and crashed a lot; I don't know why.”
- “Simply running this game shows how buggy it is; two of the enemies in the starting screen ragdoll to the floor immediately.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players report a strong emotional impact from the game, highlighting moments of deep connection and reflection on themes of hopelessness and isolation, particularly in apocalyptic scenarios. While some express frustration with gameplay mechanics, the emotional storytelling and character experiences resonate powerfully, evoking tears and profound responses. Overall, the game is noted for its ability to elicit genuine emotional reactions, both positive and negative.
- “Tears welled up in his eyes when he realized what exactly was at stake.”
- “Very emotionally representational of the feeling of hopelessness as would be brought on by a real apocalypse.”
- “It's amazing to see the heartbreaking and emotional events in our protagonist's life.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
67%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users highlighting severe performance issues and the use of poorly optimized Unity assets. Many describe the graphics as outdated and the overall performance as abysmal, suggesting that it sets a new low standard for optimization in gaming.
- “The optimization is significantly better than in Batman: Arkham Knight.”
- “The game runs smoothly with minimal performance issues.”
- “I appreciate the attention to detail in optimizing the gameplay experience.”
- “A bunch of poorly optimized Unity assets slammed together for no reason.”
- “All this topped with state-of-the-art 2015 bad graphics, combined with staggeringly poor performance, this is a game that may just set a new standard... wait... low!”
- “For starters, being poorly optimized is an understatement.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
The atmosphere is enhanced by stunning 3D graphics that beautifully render a chilling cityscape, creating a fantastic overall experience. However, the single music track does not complement the atmosphere well and becomes repetitive quickly.
- “The stunning 3D cutting-edge graphics perfectly render a beautiful city in a spine-chilling atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere is fantastic as well.”
- “It has one music track, which doesn't suit the atmosphere, and it gets old quickly.”
- “The stunning 3D cutting-edge graphics just make it better by perfectly rendering a beautiful-looking city in such a spine-chilling atmosphere.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect somewhat tedious, as the new indication of being attacked from behind—a blood splatter on the screen—does not provide an immediate warning and can persist until death or full health, making it a frustrating experience.
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from low replayability, with players noting that the lack of challenge, poor gun mechanics, and overwhelming user interface contribute to a diminished experience after the initial moments of play.
- “You never die, the GUI is too huge, the guns are terrible, and there is no replay value past the first 10 minutes of the game.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Character development in the game is criticized for its poor execution, with users highlighting issues such as subpar AI, unappealing character designs, and an overall lack of depth. Despite these shortcomings, the presence of zombies seems to elevate the game's appeal for some players.
- “The character development feels shallow and uninspired, making it hard to connect with anyone in the game.”
- “I was really disappointed with how the characters evolved; their arcs were predictable and lacked depth.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices in character development left me feeling detached from the story.”