Hey folks, I’m thinking of maybe getting Generation Zero. I’ve been looking into some reviews, and I wanted to ask for some opinions on this game. I’m usually into single player games, but I’ll very occasionally get into multiplayer from time to time if it’s fun.
The idea of the game sounds awesome, I really love the idea of an open world post-apocalyptic alternate 80’s shooter with killer terminator-esque robots and an 80’s soundtrack. But while the game has it’s praises, some folks and reviews have said the game gets boring and repetitive after a short while, lacks content, and has issues ranging from bugs to gameplay.
I got burned with Fallout 76. I’ve been playing and obsessing over that franchise since the first game in the 90’s, but after Fo76, I won’t touch that franchise ever again (outside of the first two and New Vegas at least) . With it’s lack of content and stale repetitive gameplay, the ridiculous amount of bugs, and to top it off, it’s microtransactions, I won’t ever go back.
I really really want to like GZ, it looks like a beautiful game with some rad ideas behind it. By what I’ve heard in some reviews, the groundwork for an amazing game is there, but that it’s currently a little barren and too repetitive. I’m just a little worried about spending my money and investing myself in this game, especially after past experiences with bad games (and bad reviews of good games too I might add, Alien Isolation being one example of that), so I wanted to know what some other folks who play the game think, particularly on the regular, and if they think it’s worth investing time and money in. Also wondering if it has a lot to offer in terms for someone who mainly plays single player games, or usually plays solo on muiltiplayer.
The only Avalanche game I’ve played is Mad Max, which I liked for the most part, but I think mainly because I’m a massive fan of that whole franchise in general.
Thanks to any and all for reading, and thanks heaps in advance for any feedback.
Hi.
It all depends on what you need from a game. I’m a single player guy, and I also like low-paced games like hunting and survival games. I love The Long Dark. If you compare GZ to Fallout 3, NV, 4, it will of course feel empty, even though you fight more enemies in GZ than you do in Fallout. In GZ you roam freely around in swedish countryside, farmlands and small villages, set in the fall/winter of 1989. The Apex engine is gorgeous, and you can literally find yourself slowing down and just enjoying the scenery. The game is definitely playable solo, but it’s also fun to team up with someone. You begin poorly equipped against powerful enemies, and some casual players may be discouraged just out the door, but the game feels more and more rewarding as you push on, gain better equipment, and gain the upper hand. The fights are smaller at first, and you need more time to loot for ammo, health and gadgets than you do later on.
You follow a set of main missions and a bunch of side missions, but at your own pace. These don’t necessarily drive the game. Hunting for better equipment is also exciting. Or just exploring. The action in itself is good fun, the shooting feels good, and taking down a powerful group of enemies feels great.
You can easily play GZ for 100 hours, which is good payoff compared to the price. I have played for 63 hours, and now I’m level 25 (31 is cap.), and I have finished the main missions at a calm pace. I can easily spend 40 hours more looting for better weapons and upgrades.
Remember that most of the reviews are from the games release in march. The developers have updated the game monthly ever since, except for july. Bugs are being rooted out, and new content is being added. The dev’s pay close attention to what the community wants. The reviewers also seem biased toward AAA games in my opinion, and they won’t really take games like GZ for what they are.
Some players experience several bugs in GZ, others like myself has almost never encountered a single bug or crash. I don’t know why this is. Some find it repetitive, I don’t. Some find it too slow and boring, but maybe they were expecting something the game wasn’t meant to be. Some love it, many like it, some throw a fit here at the forum and get a refund.
It’s impossible for me to say if you’ll like this or not. It all depends on what kind of gamer you are.
I’d give it a chance if I were you. The reviews from march are becoming irrelevant. Regular updates and more content is on it’s way. 
Hello @HariSeldon
I am a solo player myself and I love games with large open worlds to explore… and I enjoyed G.Z. through my entire solo campaign (it took me about 120h to complete all missions).
At the start is important not to go full Rambo mode on the robots, because You will simply die… a lot 
After that I started joining other people games in coop ant that can be a little bit boring and repetitive (different people have different play styles)… but it is stil a lot of fun 
Up till this moment I spent 260h on this game and the clock is far from stopping 
It’s worth noting GZ is nowhere near an AAA-game. It’s being worked on by Avalanche’s in-house studio in Stockholm which is very small compared to the other teams they’ve hired for bigger games in the past. This is a passion project for many of them, and this allows them to be more in touch with the community.
The game has some issues; very few have been gamebreaking, most are related to missions ingame; we have a List on the Bug Reports forum that counts the ones one need to be careful about if you want to be sure.
I’ve compared GZ to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games in the past for their rugged looks and similar gameplay. Some parts can be a bit wonky but it’s fully playable and can be incredibly immersive. Especially on PC, since you can really push the Apex engine to it’s limits. Generation Zero is in a constant state of evolving, much feedback that has been suggested by the community here on the forums has made it into the game, for example.
One thing that’s not mentioned very often but deserves more recognition; the game world is entirely seamless. Once you load into the game there are no loading screens and you can roam where you want.
And the fact that you can play this co-op with friends is amazing. Either wage guerilla war on the machines or take the stealthy approach. Infiltrate military bases in the dead of night, take out enemies at long range with sniper rifles and explore abandoned underground facilities. Play either with strangers, or with friends.
I’m a huge FPS fan, and I’ve played most first person shooters on PC since the early 90’s. And I play them still. This game definitely adds to that list. So far I’ve clocked in 450 hours into Generation Zero, I doubt I’ll stop anytime soon.
Long after you have forgotten the price, you will still be playing the game.
You are alone against an army, but that army will do different things in every contact. They will be in different combinations and will act differently depending on the combination. Every battle is different, and they will work together to defeat you. The trick is to make the enemy fight on your terms and not to fight them on theirs.
Don’t get caught in open country against multiple enemies - they will win! Take your time, and it will be deeply satisfying.
Everyone here is pretty spot on about GZ. If you’re into to huge sandbox games this is for you brother. I prefer mainly co-op games but have found myself just getting immersed in the lush country side exploring on my own when my friends are unavailable to play. You can burn up 4 to 8 hrs easy playing this game and not even realize it. It’s very addictive. The only problem I have in the game is i can’t concentrate on the missions for getting side tracked with everything else going on in the game. There is just so much you can get into in this game and you can’t beat the price. I’ve played 60 plus dollar games that couldn’t keep my attention like this one does , yeah the games a little buggy from time to time but the devs are always solving problems and are constantly working on issues that arise so a lot of the problems you may have read about are in the past. Plus we got an update coming up so everyone is on the edge of their seat about that. And if you ever get stuck , the community here in the forums is always on tap. I say roll the dice and get it, you won’t regret it.
Thanks so much for the feedback everyone, I really appreciate it! I reckon I’ll give it a try.
Good luck with the game, hope you’ll like it. 
I also “wanted to like it”, I even pre-ordered it, which I never do. I was already a big fan of their game The Hunter COTW, and I was really hyped by the setting and the trailers, and couldn’t wait for the game to release. Happily I really enjoyed GZ right from the start. My 63 hours of playtime is litte compared to others in here, but that’s only because family has to come first. I will play GZ for what few hours I can spare, at least until Borderlands 3 and The Outer Worlds is out.
(I completely agree that Fallout 1, 2 and NV are the only ones that matter. I enjoyed Fallout 4 a little bit, but it never felt like a Fallout game. I have never, and will never touch Fallout 76! Bethesda and Todd Howard has ruined the franchise, in my humble opinion. All my best wishes now go to the team working on Fallout 4: New Vegas, my last hope for the franchise.)
Hello new person , back in the early day’s G-zero we had fun with science here is a link Getting to the unavailable islands yes early day’s was a buggy in places so we made our own fun , cheer’s
Buy the game. Today. Especially if you’re from Sweden!
This is a game is a big open world game that looks amazing and you can tell that they game has been carefully put together and nicely thought out. The enemies react awesomely and each are unique and very well done, they definitely put work into them and make them feel more alive. I’m really enjoying the game with friends and we are really looking forward to the updates. But reading your post about being a single player guy and being into the AAA titles makes me think that you might want to think about it and watch a little gameplay, the game feels like a mostly empty big open world game, well it has lots of building and is filled with enemy robots, other than that the map doesn’t feel like a lively world with critters, animals, or other NPC’S. And besides the different robots variations its limited right now to about 6 or so different robots but with great variations.
Dont get me wrong I love the game and the machines/robots, world graphics, huge map and especially the nice 4 player online co-op has me hooked, but it does feels like a preview program game thats still updating with major features and decent bugs. I’m a co-op online person, if its not 4 player co-op I don’t buy it.
Everything covered here pending August update.
I would say watch some gameplay videos and if it looks like the type of things you normally enjoy, go for it. The game is not very expensive, the devs seem receptive to feedback and have been improving the overall experience so far. I personally think it is a good game. It is a better experience if you join matchmaking or join with friends so if you have an aversion to multiplayer experiences the game can get old quick unless you like helping out new players or want to try and collect all of the gear in the game at the highest tier available (pretty much what i do at this point)