Day One Generation Zero Gameplay in 2024 + Saving The Game

Feedback/Feature Requests
1

Original CD Install experiment in 2025.

On a whim, I purchased Generation Zero for Xbox on ebay, I have an extra Xbox One to do this.
I uninstalled my purchased copy and created a new gamertag/account, and don’t have wifi/ethernet enabled, so my system is offline. Installed the original day-one disc release…and started a new game.
It was….awesome! [buggy but still awesome]
See some random gameplay from my adventures. https://youtu.be/IlWtJN2vxpU

Pros:
Robots are aggressive, really, really aggressive!
Loot replenishes quickly, just fast travel.
Robots enter buildings through doors!
It’s eerie, very open and quiet, you are totally alone.
*More randomness of robots appearing in areas vs. spawning in the usual areas.
Lots of robots in quantity, you are totally outnumbered.

Cons:
No Plundra
No bikes
No weapon wheel
No experimentals
Inventory is clunky for sure
No visual indicator [white, yellow, red icon] that a robot is sensing you on screen

Generation Zero in 2024 seems close to the end of a good run. The game had, so much potential in 2019- 2020, it’s hard to see what could have been. [I’ve completed the game through 4 times, and have hundreds of hours just playing for fun] Here’s my idea I hope the developers see to maybe re-invent/re-release/re-imagine the game and save it? Main game missions would have to be completed to ‘progress’ to the next DLC so the story progresses naturally.

Generation Zero: 1989 [Original game day one release. Plus Plundra expanded storage, plus 5-6 difficulty level choices, plus 5-6 level quantity of enemies choice, [to customize how easy/hard players want the game to be] weapon wheel/inventory management improvements, bug fixes, basic bike, etc.]

Generation Zero: 1990 [DLC. Introduces rivals, experimental 5 crown weapons, US/Nato Weapons Pack, Alpine Unrest island]

Generation Zero: 1991 [DLC. FNIX Rising, introduces The Reaper]

Generation Zero: 1992 [DLC. Last remaining islands with lots of new missions, new Swedish robots that are more advanced and tougher! Plus a ‘completion’ of the story where FNIX is eventually defeated [maybe with the help of some NATO advanced/expermental weapons that are airdropped in, missile strike, hint/hint?] and Sweeden is liberated. Where the game is over, but players can still choose to continue battling robots endlessly in ‘Adventure Mode’ just think Diablo 3 adventure mode where the game ends, but you can just keep playing.

*This way the story progresses just as it did for those who played the game from the start [in 2019/2020] with the release of new DLC’s. Right now, a new player starts the game and it’s ‘progressed’ through the story line already with the base game plus DLC’s. The above concept would only work where the missions and DLC areas are open after completion of the ones before - so the story flows and makes sense.

**No base assaults, no base building [this isn’t Minecraft], no later weapons packs, none of the hokey DLC stuff that virtually no one wants, no recycling items, no blueprints, no skins, no crafting anything, no hand holding tutorials, no motor bikes, just exploration, looting, dropping items you don’t need or use, running for your life. No Russian bots, those bots just battled the Swedish bots, were glitchy and ignored you anyway while battling each other. Keep the game the original vision and not adding stuff just because we can.
Simply the game as it was at the release of Alpine Unrest with a few quality improvements.

I know this is a wish of wishes. I want this game to succeed where players are resisting the robots years from now in sequels = Generation One: USA 2012, Generation Two: Korea 2037. Etc!

4 Likes
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I agree with much of what you wrote, especially the story and its progression… Not just the order of the missions, but also how the world and machines were affected by every update.

If you experienced this progress or evolution live by playing all over the years, it was cool. But these feelings and experiences are impossible to get if you started later. This leads to a feeling of senseless/mindless and chaotic game design.

Although some of the newly added features like bases don’t fit into everyones expectations, I think nowadays, that it belongs to GZ. Maybe not exactly the way it is now, but especially with introducing the vulture the bases (assaults) became a real sense. There is more potential for improvement in my eyes…

One more word about potential. Yes the game had and still has much potential. But keep in mind that the potential anyone sees always is bound to their personal expectations and opinions.

Well, in fact many of the introduced features and dlcs were based on community feedback, wishes and suggestions. Not often 100% the way they once were brought up, but basically based on it.

I once made this similar suggestion:

And regarding the smaller dlcs and weapon-packs, where it doesn’t make sense of always get them instantly into the plundra, I made this suggestion:

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Few things I would like to see removed is the control points and bases, doesn’t go with the story and Gen Zero never started out to be base defense or base building game. I don’t like being forced to level up and take out bases to call in the tyrants…No story in the game supports them other than the resistance started… shouldn’t we be fighting back the machines and only have temporary defensive positions that we can set up as we push the machines back? We can make use of the tactical PORTABLE defenses like the remote turrets.

I would also like to see the machines smarter as the class goes up, not just more ammo sponges. And could do without so many DLC weapon packs. Then would change back to when the inventory management had the filters added and the slot wheel.

Dev then produces a way to add the vulture. It could be the same way the reaper was spawned, via region points and less than 8 rivals. Maybe 50/50 chance a rival/reaper or vulture spawns when the conditions are right and the vulture only in the areas the soviets occupy. Maybe destroy enough soviet machines and you spawn a vulture instead of a reaper.

I really like the idea of the story progression adds DLCs and better weapons and tactical defense weapons. End game players have a chance of finding all DLC weapons owned.

1 Like
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Doesn’t the same goes counts for the reaper and the vulture themselves?

Well, I can live with those bases.
Some changes of course would be appreciated:

  • Less control points
  • control points in every region
  • also soviet control points
  • more sense in having resistance bases other than just another fast travel location (like a bonus on some values for example)
  • an impact on the machines appearences. More soviet bases = more soviet machines, more FNIX bases = more FNIX machines in the region for example)
  • bases as lategame content: No control points before finishing the main story and the soviet Landfall

This brings me to an alternative thought. What if we could be able to upgrade the existing safehouses instead of building own bases within a small perimeter?
Less and smaller structures for being able to defend safehouses and some cosmetics to customize them. Not more.

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I think this game needs more switches to konfigure your game environment. I’m playing since Dec 2020 and played at some times new. I added all the DLCs except all weapon DLC’s. But as i progressed that Game the more it losts the feeling of desparation, the feeling of beein totally alone. I’s only that you encounter more robots that can easyly overwhelm you. I think that game needs a switch to switch of the bases, the russian machines and the nerving firebirds. I don’t like them, they disturb the game more than bringing something to it. You can only escape them by walking through a dense wood or riding a motorbike. If you fight them you need tons of ammonition to down them. They hold you up to exploring the game and the beautifull landscape. Many of us like to sneak around the robots without starting a fight. Entering a bunker by duping the guiding robots without giving a shoot is more exiting than looooooooonnnnng battles with use of tons of ammunition. Having a fight sometimes is ok but the fight must be something worth and not encounter the next robot and battle him.
For the people they like run and gun add a switch and let them their kind of playing. So the best is add more switches to configure they so has every faction what she wants.

1 Like
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Agreed.
But I think I mean different switches than you.

This is a problem of the missing evolution/progression while playing the story. Everything is just there.

When we played the story, we were able to sneak through the lines of machines, to lay traps… To go the ways we wanted to go. And to hide when we wanted to. We had to. We were not as powerful, as we were hundreds of hours later. Now, currently, with the state of my character, I really like the firebirds. But if I think back, when I still was exploring the world and looked for blueprints and schematics and every single secret they would have been more than just annoying.

That’s how newer players must feel.

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The mission on the island where you see the reaper connected to all the cables is the story about the reaper and before it came on the map a lot of traffic about it on all the media sites. And at the time it came on the map, it was expected to be the max boss, which it did not disappoint.

But it also makes sense that the Soviets would come up with a counter measure machine.

The bases should be fnix and soviet strong holds that have machines pouring from them and really strong defenses other than just turrets. Even when they can’t be disable we can get pass them.