Developer Rebellion has steadily been bringing more and more of their back catalog over to the Nintendo Switch and if you’re a fan of killing zombies you may be excited for this new one. Zombie Army Trilogy originally released five years ago on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC but now you can kill Nazi zombie scum on the go. I played this game back when it first came out and most recently reviewed the fourth entry but I was still excited to dip back into this on Nintendo’s hybrid platform. How does it translate to the Switch and should you pick it up?
For those unfamiliar with the Zombie Army games they are a spinoff of the Sniper Elite series that Rebellion is known for. In an alternate World War II Hitler has resorted to raising an army of undead soldiers upon Germany. I always found the story in these games to just kind of be there to set the game up as the real point of playing them is to blast zombies either solo or with up to three friends. The campaign mode in Zombie Army Trilogy is meaty and will give you probably around 13+ hours of zombie killing goodness. Then there is the horde mode which puts you on several different maps and tests to see how long you and others can survive for. Online matchmaking is present letting you jump into other players games and you don’t have to finish the game to jump into later parts as they are all open from the start.
Levels in the game are somewhat linear as you move from point to point doing objectives and killing zombies. You have a nice arsenal to do it with to with assault rifles, shotguns, grenades, and of course sniper rifles. Enemy variety is good too with there being normal zombies, suicide bomber zombies, bulky zombies with chainsaws and more. Sitting back and popping zombie heads is still enjoyable and when that slow motion X-ray cam kicks in letting you see your bullet travel and pierce the zombies bodies I always get a good feeling. All that said having recently reviewed Zombie Army 4 I did notice just how much longer the levels in the trilogy felt compared to that game. Some of them really drag on just a bit too long which is why they probably addressed that in Dead War and made them shorter. Also I didn’t play much of this game solo and I do think it’s less enjoyable that way. Playing through these levels alone and blasting zombie after zombie is bound to start feeling repetitive. You don’t notice it as much when playing with others so I’d recommend jumping into matchmaking if you don’t know anyone personally who plays it.
Even all these years later Zombie Army Trilogy still holds up rather well visually on the Switch no matter how you play. The game looks better on the TV screen obviously but even playing it in handheld form I still thought the environments and character models were solid. The performance also felt smooth although it does only run at 30fps. It also has some Switch exclusive features such as motion controls, HD Rumble, and local wireless co-op support. I messed around with the motion controls a bit and aiming by moving the Switch around worked rather well. The wireless co-op I wasn’t able to test out personally but it’s a nice extra option for those who may have people in the same area to play with.
Zombie Army Trilogy on the Nintendo Switch is another great port. The game still holds up visually whether playing it docked or on the go and some of the new Switch exclusive features are fun to mess around with. There is a lot to play through here although I highly recommend doing it with other zombie killers at your side.
*Zombie Army Trilogy is out now on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Reviewed on Nintendo Switch. Review copy provided by the publisher for this review.
Zombie Army Trilogy
$34.99
Pros
- Mindless co-op zombie killing fun that you can play on the go
- X-ray kills are still satisfying
- A lengthy campaign and horde mode give you plenty to sink your teeth into
- Has some neat Switch features such as Motion Controls and HD Rumble
Cons
- Not as much fun playing solo
- Levels can feel too long at times
