I started playing GZ in early 2020 when the Covid shutdowns began, I have completely enjoyed the game, glitches and all. I have completed the game 3 times now including the DLC’s and now moving on to play other games. It’s clear there are no real plans to release more DLC’s with missions [Alpine Unrest, FNIX Rising] which is disappointing. My thanks to the development team and all involved with the game at any level! Xbox Stats from 2023 = 216 hours played. In the top 5% of active players. So yes, I love the game!
Here’s a quick recap of some combined stats from the last 2 playthroughs and my experience:
Completed 3 times using 2 Xbox Gamertag’s, but had to delete my original save file due to corruption that made the game playable.
Experience Points: [deleted save game], 898190, 1542387
Robots destroyed:
Tick 1467
Seeker 656
Runner 5258
Hunter 4436
Harvester 281
Tank 380
Wolf 188
Lynx 1257
Firebird 43
Items Collected in my inventory:
Adrenaline Shot 142
Advanced First Aid 706
Ammo Collected in my inventory:
5.56 FMJ 12402
5.56 AP 49130
7.62 FMJ 27241
7.62 AP 58016
.50 BMG FMJ 3156
.50 BMG AP 4440
Things I love:
The game engine was almost cinematic, the environments were beautiful, the day/night cycle changes added to that experience. The setting in the late 80’s/early 90’s was perfect!
The robots were scary [at first] The time I went across the bridge from the first island and heard the distant thumping of the tank/harvester was very memorable.
The ambient music and sound effects are excellent, it really set the mood!
The Alpine Unrest DLC = a solid A!
Sweden designed tanks just look so great, all the components and animation are fantastic. My favorite is the Hunters.
Things I don’t like:
Crafting and base building = this isn’t Minecraft. This is a survival, run for your life, scrounge for items to survive. I crafted very little, only healthpacks at first, then the crafting mechanics changed and the skill point function broke for my save game. My perks for looting were high so I had plenty of stuff.
*Almost everything implemented since Alpine Unrest is generally an update for the worse. [except the weapon wheel, that was an improvement] But all the terrain changes in the region seemed like an after thought. I see this in a way like the special editions of Star Wars, adding extra content that didn’t compliment the original release but added because ‘we can’. Only completed the one base assault that was made into a mission but didn’t continue or craft a base. No interest in that at all. Again this isn’t Minecraft, we already have Minecraft and other similar types of games, this is Generation Zero = a completely unique game!
Enemy AI. Often a battle starts and a Tank or Harvester starts attacking then loses interest, even when other robots are attacking a barn I am hiding in and attacking from one door. The Soviet and Swedish robots attack each other but seem to ignore me. Hate to say it, but loved the original vision of the Swedish robots under the FNIX AI attacking me – it was me vs. the entire robot army!
The game needs:
Robot quantity selection. Like the difficulty levels, there should be an option to min or max out the number of robots to personalize the gameplay! Imagine a squadron of 25 Hunters coming over a ridge, now that sounds like fun!
New Islands/New Missions. Other islands show roads and ‘work’ being done, maybe this is underway secretly or has been abandoned. This is the most asked for wish from the community in the forums - for a reason.
New Robots. The soviet robots are just ok, how about some NATO robots?
Xbox achievement fix. Unable to complete ‘Running Wild’ and ‘From a Distance’. [tried using 2 separate accounts on 2 separate Xbox consoles (one and X) deleted the actual game and the save files = no luck]
For me, it’s time to move on. Keep up the good fight resistance fighters! I’m not going to play again until there is a “real” DLC release of new missions, new robots, new islands, etc. I’ll check back in 2025. Death to the machines!
