World War Zero

About

World War Zero is a single player shooter game with a violence theme. It was developed by Rebellion and was released on December 3, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

The World War began in August 1914. It is now March 1964, and war still wages on. The Russian October Revolution has taken place, but the Bolsheviks were crushed by the mad Baron Ugenberg. He plans to build a huge Russo-Mongolian empire that stretches from the Atlantic to Vladivostok, crushing any opposition in his wake.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 106 reviews

story7 positive mentions

stability6 negative mentions

Interesting alternate history setting where WW1 never ended, providing a unique lore and atmosphere.
Wide variety of weapons with upgrades and satisfying gunplay, including some cool features like controlling turrets and disabling alarms.
Runs well on modern systems with improved visuals over the original game, and is a straightforward, fast-paced old school FPS experience suitable for a few hours of play.

Short game length with limited content and cutscenes, resulting in a weak and sometimes confusing plot presentation.
Poor level design characterized by repetitive and linear layouts, with bland textures and low visual fidelity even for its era.
Clunky controls such as weapon switching only via scroll wheel, no quicksave feature, and awkward save system; additionally, bugs and occasional crashes hamper the experience.

story
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
67%
10%
The story is built around an intriguing "what if WW1 never ended?" premise but is frequently criticized for being weak, confusing, and poorly conveyed due to many cutscenes and character interactions being removed. While some find the narrative elements and world-building tidbits interesting, overall the plot lacks depth and immersion, with a short campaign and minimal character development diminishing its impact.
- “A story and narrative driven FPS action shooter, with an interesting plot about 'what if WW1 never ended?'.”
- “Many minor cutscenes were also removed, instead most of the story is conveyed to you through radio messages.”
- “The backstory is interesting but did require a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief.”
- “Many cutscenes and NPC interactions have been removed, so the plot is far weaker; although optional mission objectives have been added to make the game feel a little less linear, the dialogue indicating that you’ve received one has been cut from this version, making it easy to miss them unless you’re constantly watching the top of the screen or spamming the info button.”
- “- Most of the cutscenes from the original are cut out, and the story makes no sense anymore.”
- “The plot is boring and confusing because the cutscenes are missing from this version of the game.”
graphics
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
80%
10%
User reviews indicate that the game's graphics are generally dated and basic, resembling early-to-mid PS2 era visuals with low-resolution textures and crude models. While some note improvements like more vibrant colors, revamped enemy models, and updated options, others criticize the reduced graphical settings, lack of widescreen support, and overall poor polish compared to contemporaries. The art style has a retro charm for some, but overall, the graphics are considered mediocre and less immersive.
- “The art style is also something I actually came to adore throughout my playthrough.”
- “Enemy models have been completely redone, with higher polycounts and in many cases a slightly different art style.”
- “The graphics are more vibrant with new texture models and new color schemes.”
- “It looks worse both style-wise and graphically.”
- “The graphics are basic, the controls are clunky, and the overall design feels rough compared to its contemporaries.”
- “The graphics are dated, the textures suck, and the cutscenes are awful FMVs, all three of them.”
gameplay
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
76%
10%
The gameplay is largely seen as a simplified, slower, and more linear version of the original Iron Storm, with many key mechanics and puzzles removed, resulting in a repetitive and less satisfying experience. Enemy AI is basic, controls are limited, and mission difficulty is generally low, making the game feel more like a run-and-gun FPS from the early 2000s rather than a polished, engaging title. While some appreciate the updated graphics and minor improvements, the overall consensus is that gameplay changes diminish the original’s nuance and challenge.
- “Skips some parts that made the original Iron Storm a properly nuanced depressing World War 1 vibe game, but matches it with balanced gameplay and quick action!”
- “Gameplay is quite different than Iron Storm; you can carry all guns at once instead of having a limited loadout (only exceptions are straight upgrades such as discarding the machine pistol for the assault rifle), gunplay is more run-and-gun than corner peaking due to the reduced damage and more frequent medkits, enemies don't dodge around as much (enemy behavior has overall changed from being Half Life 2-like to more Red Faction 2-like).”
- “While few things were added to the actual gameplay, the graphics were updated and many bugs from the PC version were fixed, and some new weapons were introduced, such as the flamethrower and the minigun.”
- “This is basically the PS2 version of the game Iron Storm but with a different title and different gameplay. The levels here are almost identical to the original, but the gameplay is heavily changed and is now much slower and simpler. There are no more puzzles, so the game becomes very repetitive, linear, and boring pretty fast. The gameplay simplicity reminds me of the FPS game 'Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior.' The game is definitely mediocre at best. The original Iron Storm was harder and maybe even frustrating at times but much more satisfying to play.”
- “The gameplay is more Wolfenstein 3D (1992) than Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001), mostly due to dumb AI, simple maps, limited enemy variety, and inadequate controls. There's no way to bind weapons to specific keys/buttons, which would have improved the experience. Enemies fire in place or charge at you. Missions are really easy even on the hardest difficulty. The campaign is short, taking less than 4 hours.”
- “The original had some issues and instead of fixing them in this 'remaster,' they removed some content, cut levels by probably a third, straight up disabled certain mechanics, and it managed to look and play worse than the original.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
86%
The game shows noticeable bugs and minor glitches, but the remake significantly improves stability by fixing most game-breaking issues, resulting in a mostly smooth experience. Despite some lingering imperfections, it runs well on modern systems and maintains enjoyable gameplay, especially for fans of classic FPS titles.
- “It still plays awesomely polished today if you have a soft spot for FPS from the old glory days and runs great on modern systems!”
- “+ Iron Storm had tons of game-breaking glitches which made the game almost impossible to beat.”
- “It's good, I guess, really quick to finish and full of glitches and not very polished, but I had a fun enough time with it.”
- “The game was still a buggy mess, despite some interesting background.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game lacks any music, leading to a bland audio experience that detracts from the overall atmosphere. Players often rely on external music or podcasts during gameplay due to this absence.
- “You can start with a song to a powerful machine gun.”
- “♬ Music ♬”
- “There's no music and I'm hesitant to say whether that's due to the game itself or because it's an older, poorly ported version.”
- “To be honest, World War Zero isn't very good; the plot barely exists, the AI is hilariously bad, it's dated as heck, the level design is pretty poor, and there is no music at all, making the audio really bland.”
- “Alt+tab to pause your music/podcasts.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by the absurd design of oversized clown-like enemies and a hilarious end boss, along with amusing lore snippets for history enthusiasts. However, the comedic elements stand in contrast to other dated and poorly executed aspects of the game.
- “Most of the enemies now look like oversized clowns, and the end boss is hilarious.”
- “The little lore snippets you can glean from the checkpoint system are janky, and also hilarious if you are a wartime history buff.”
- “Funny bots.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is praised for its gritty and immersive design that complements the game's narrative, enhanced by impressive enemy and weapon visuals. Players also appreciate the good gun variety and occasional intriguing story elements that enrich the overall experience.
- “Because of this, the enemies and weapons look pretty dang awesome, building a gritty atmosphere that perfectly fits the game's narrative and works well.”
- “Good gun variety and atmosphere with occasional tidbits of interesting story.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is perceived as tedious and slow, with repetitive tasks feeling drawn-out. Certain elements meant to enrich the experience, like terminals revealing past events, are often overlooked due to their unengaging presentation.
- “Control is tedious and slow moving.”
- “There are some terminals that show how events in the past play out in this different timeline, but those I found rather tedious and ignored for the most part.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is criticized for relying on exaggerated, stereotypical designs reminiscent of Rob Liefeld’s style, featuring overly muscular enemies, impractical armor, and sexualized female characters with scant clothing.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from poor optimization, lacking support for modern display resolutions and widescreen monitors, and has not been updated to run smoothly on contemporary gaming PCs.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is generally criticized as a cash grab, perceived as exploiting nostalgia or abandonware to generate profit without offering substantial new value.
- “This seems to have been put on Steam as a nostalgia gouge, or just a cash grab to try profit from abandonware.”