Zombie Playground

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"Zombie Playground is a cooperative multiplayer game with third-person shooter and action RPG elements, set in a zombie-infested school arena. Experience various enemy types, including a boss fight, and immerse yourself in a fun and immersive gameplay experience, alone or with friends."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

36%

Audience ScoreBased on 199 reviews

graphics10 positive mentions

gameplay9 negative mentions

The game has an interesting concept and a unique art style that appeals to some players.
Character customization options are varied, allowing players to create unique avatars.
The combat mechanics can be fun, especially when playing with friends, providing a light-hearted zombie-killing experience.

The game feels unfinished and has been abandoned by the developers, with no significant updates for years.
Gameplay is repetitive and lacks depth, with limited objectives and a small map.
Technical issues such as poor controls, bugs, and performance problems detract from the overall experience.

gameplay
38 mentions
8 % positive mentions
68 % neutral mentions
24 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that while the core mechanics and art style are appealing, the overall execution is unpolished and repetitive. Critics highlight issues such as clunky controls, lack of content, and a feeling that the game is unfinished, often comparing it to a demo rather than a fully realized product. Despite some fun elements, players express frustration over the limited gameplay variety and the absence of meaningful progression or innovation.
- “The core gameplay is running around whacking zombies with your melee weapon or shooting them with your ranged weapon. Your melee gets combos with finishers, and your pistol has a grenade charge feature.”
- “Great progress from prior builds, fluid gameplay especially when you get the attack combos down (wait for the glow).”
- “With that said, the game still needs a ton of work done on it, but I feel like they have a pretty solid foundation with pretty much all the basic gameplay elements laid out.”
- “The gameplay is very boring; there are two types of weapons and numerous reskins of the weapons you can get. The main combat is essentially just repeatedly left-clicking to swing or holding left-click to fire your guns, but the gun's aim is horrible, so you're better off spamming your baseball bat.”
- “The devs clearly have zero passion for the game they are working on, which is apparent from the painfully boring and poorly designed intro levels, as well as the god-awful mechanics.”
- “Repetitive gameplay, microtransactions in an unfinished game, and absolutely no progress whatsoever pushed out.”
graphics
34 mentions
29 % positive mentions
59 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the whimsical art style and potential for creativity, while others criticize the unpolished visuals and lack of customization options. Many describe the graphics as reminiscent of outdated cartoonish games, leading to a perception of the game feeling unfinished or abandoned. Overall, while the aesthetic has its fans, significant improvements are needed to elevate the graphical experience.
- “The graphics are really nice and fitting for this whimsical world of children fighting the undead.”
- “The good: I really dig the art style and environments, though I realize it might not be for everyone.”
- “Right now (8/5/2015) there isn't a whole lot of 'game' but it's stable and solid, very nice animations and art style, tons of potential.”
- “The graphics are shoddy and look like what you'd expect from one of those old Cartoon Network shows.”
- “The graphics are unpolished.”
- “Terrible graphics, extremely high sensitivity, game ignores character customization choices, framerates around 70/80 at the main menu and tanks down to 5/6 along with the lag.”
story
27 mentions
11 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
26 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely criticized for its lack of depth and coherence, with many players noting that it feels like a series of repetitive fetch quests and mindless zombie-killing without any meaningful narrative. Reviewers express disappointment in the short missions and the absence of a compelling plot, suggesting that the game currently offers little more than basic gameplay mechanics. Overall, the consensus is that the story is virtually non-existent, leaving players wanting more in terms of narrative and progression.
- “It needs more work done to it, but so far it's quite fun. There's not a lot to do at the moment, but there are still a few different missions to complete, and the developers are working towards adding new content.”
- “I understand that this is a work in progress, so here is what I'd like to see: the option for story mode and simple run-and-gun gameplay.”
- “The missions are short, each mission takes less than 5 minutes to complete (if you're rushing, which is how I normally play games). This isn't a bad thing, since they are so short, I really don't mind replaying them like I would in other mission-type games.”
- “The story is one of the worst things I've seen in a game, and progression is terrible.”
- “Lmao, it's basically just running around the school; there's no story and nothing to really do other than kill zombies with no progression at all... please don't waste your time on this.”
- “Just don't expect any sort of quest or story at the moment.”
optimization
11 mentions
27 % positive mentions
36 % neutral mentions
36 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues such as stuttering framerates, unresponsive controls, and various bugs. Despite its appealing visuals and potential, the gameplay experience is marred by technical shortcomings, including poor mouse aim and clunky movement mechanics. While the developers are active in addressing these issues, the current state of optimization leaves much to be desired.
- “There are complaints about the camera controls, though I quite like it as it is, provided that performance is fixed at some point.”
- “Still, the dev remains relatively active in the forums so it's not an abandoned project, and once they fix the performance and add a bit more variety in terms of enemies, it would be quite fun to grind for those unlockables.”
- “Optimization, improve the design level (sometimes not clear where to go).”
- “It's an interesting idea and it looks nice, but it's optimized poorly and gameplay is really unpolished.”
- “This causes a problem in that it's technically loading the whole map every time, just cordoning off sections, leading to a stuttering framerate.”
- “Promising upon first impressions... I customize a little character with a ton of different weapons/clothing/accessories/hair, the menus navigate well enough, and then hop into the first level... massive stuttering during most mouse movement despite pushing >100fps, movement acceleration per key press that resets on direction changes so the movement is unresponsive and incredibly clunky, mouse aim feels completely off, weapon changes and abilities often don't work while making other inputs, etc. the melee combat has no weight to it, and the shooting at least with the revolvers I chose offers some of the least satisfying gunplay I've seen in years irrespective of the stuttering.”
stability
8 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and unfinished elements that detract from the overall experience. Many players describe it as a "buggy mess" that feels abandoned by developers, leading to frustration during gameplay. While some acknowledge that it has potential, the current state is deemed largely unplayable and unsatisfying.
- “Unfortunately, it seems to have been completely abandoned and remains unfinished and buggy.”
- “The controls, graphics, and game itself is a buggy boring mess; still better made than Fallout 76 at least; but this should be a free-to-play on a site like CartoonNetwork.com.”
- “At worst it's a bland buggy mess where you fall through the floor in the starting 'how to play' level.”
music
8 mentions
50 % positive mentions
13 % neutral mentions
38 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received positive feedback for its atmospheric and synthy qualities, with particular praise for Shawn Lee's work on the soundtrack. While some players enjoyed the music and its integration with the game's visuals, others expressed disappointment over the limited variety and quality of tracks, especially in relation to the game's overall development and content. Overall, the music is generally well-received, with a rating of 8/10 from one reviewer.
- “The music I just love; Shawn Lee did a great job on the OST, very atmospheric and synthy. I suggest anyone to get that as it really is a joy.”
- “The soundtrack is pretty good and suits the style of the game.”
- “I like the art style, the options for customization, the music, and a lot of the gameplay.”
- “Instead we get low-res textures, one music track (two if you count the menu track), dull unresponsive gameplay, and two character classes of the promised. $167,590 was pledged and now it's gone into early access. I am sorry, but there is no difference between this and the beta. It feels like the team has been doing nothing for the past 2 and a bit years, and then they did all the work in the past 4 months. Really very, very disappointed. How can you charge £7.69 (in the Steam sale) for this?”
- “I was lucky that I only pledged $30 as I was excited to hear the soundtrack with collaborations from Aesop Rock (old school/backpack San Francisco rapper).”
- “The same goes for music and visuals.”
replayability
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is rated poorly, with a score of 2 out of 10, indicating that players find little incentive to revisit the game after completing it.
- “Replayability: 2/10”
- “The game lacks any meaningful incentives to play through again.”
- “Once you've completed the story, there's little reason to return.”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy has drawn criticism for its reliance on microtransactions and ads, particularly in an unfinished game that features repetitive gameplay and offers little to no meaningful progress for players.
- “Microtransactions and ads for Alienware.”
- “Repetitive gameplay, microtransactions in an unfinished game, and absolutely no progress whatsoever.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highlighted by its exceptional soundtrack, praised for its atmospheric and synthy qualities, which enhances the overall experience. While the concept art and visual style are noted as superb, some users feel that the game's current state lacks polish and depth, suggesting it feels unfinished and still in development.
- “The music I just love; Shawn Lee did a great job on the OST, very atmospheric and synthy like love. I suggest anyone to get that as it really is a joy.”
- “The original pitch and concept art was absolutely superb. Interesting classes and abilities, fantastic style, color choice, and atmosphere.”
grinding
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Players generally feel that the game involves excessive grinding, which can detract from the overall enjoyment and pacing. Many reviewers express frustration with the repetitive nature of tasks required to progress.
- “The game feels excessively grindy, making progress feel tedious.”
- “I spent hours grinding for resources, and it just became a chore.”
- “The amount of grinding required to level up is overwhelming and detracts from the overall experience.”
character development
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Reviewers praise the character designs and concept art as exceptional, highlighting their quality and creativity.
- “The character designs and concept art are excellent.”
- “The depth of character development truly enhances the overall narrative experience.”
- “I love how each character evolves throughout the story, making their journeys feel authentic and engaging.”