Yet Another Zombie Survivors arrives at a time when the survivors-like genre has become almost as crowded as the zombie apocalypse itself. The basic ingredients are familiar: an arena, endless waves of enemies, automatically fired weapons, experience points and a steadily escalating arsenal of increasingly ridiculous abilities. Awesome Games Studio, however, has found a reasonably clever way of putting its own stamp on the formula. Rather than building a single increasingly powerful survivor, the game revolves around assembling a three-person squad whose members can complement one another through their different weapons, abilities and upgrades. It is hardly a reinvention of the genre, but that extra layer gives Yet Another Zombie Survivors enough personality to make another trip into the undead hordes worthwhile.
There isn’t much of a traditional narrative here, and that is probably for the best. The premise is exactly what the title suggests: civilization has fallen to a zombie outbreak and a collection of heavily armed survivors must fight their way through increasingly dangerous hordes. There are no elaborate story sequences or attempts to turn the apocalypse into an emotional character drama. Instead, the personalities of the survivors are gradually established through the game’s camp and its short exchanges, with just enough humor to give the cast some character without getting in the way of the action. That tongue-in-cheek attitude works particularly well because Yet Another Zombie Survivors understands how inherently silly its setup is. The game is happier making the player smile while mowing down thousands of undead than pretending that another zombie outbreak is going to reinvent the genre’s storytelling.
The core gameplay is deliberately straightforward. Characters aim and attack automatically, leaving movement as the primary direct responsibility. Zombies drop experience, levels provide a selection of upgrades, and each run gradually transforms a relatively ordinary survivor into an absurdly powerful killing machine. This makes the controls an excellent fit for the genre, particularly on PlayStation 5, because there is very little friction between picking up the controller and getting into the action. Positioning becomes increasingly important as the horde grows, forcing the squad to weave through gaps, avoid incoming threats and make use of the space around them. There is, however, a noticeable limitation in the absence of a dedicated dodge mechanic, especially when the screen becomes crowded and surviving depends on squeezing through increasingly narrow openings.
The squad system is where the game earns most of its individuality. A run starts with a single leader, while additional survivors can be rescued during the battle until the team reaches three members. SWAT provides a straightforward firearms-focused approach, Tank brings heavier weaponry and durability, Ghost is more comfortable at close range, Pyro specializes in flames and area damage, while Engineer turns the battlefield into an electrical playground, among other options. Because the characters move as a single unit rather than being controlled independently, the system doesn’t suddenly turn Yet Another Zombie Survivors into a squad-based strategy game. Instead, it expands the build-crafting possibilities without sacrificing the immediacy that makes the genre work. Finding three characters whose abilities complement one another can be considerably more interesting than simply hunting for the strongest individual weapon.
That build experimentation is also responsible for the game’s most satisfying moments. A weapon can start out modestly and become something considerably more destructive after a handful of upgrades, while passive bonuses and character-specific abilities can be combined into increasingly potent configurations. Some upgrades encourage riskier choices by trading one advantage for another, and the permanent progression systems give successful runs meaning even when the current squad eventually gets overwhelmed. There is a good sense of escalation here: early encounters can feel almost leisurely, whereas later stages can turn the screen into a mess of bullets, fire, electricity, explosions and shambling bodies. We particularly enjoyed the point at which a carefully assembled squad stops merely surviving and starts actively dismantling the horde.
The problem is that the underlying decision-making isn’t always as deep as the presentation of all those numbers and upgrades might suggest. Once a particularly effective combination has been discovered, some progression paths can feel predictable, with certain choices offering much more obvious value than others. The basic structure also remains inherently repetitive: move, kill, collect, upgrade and repeat. That is hardly an indictment unique to this game, since repetition is the foundation of the survivors-like genre, but it does mean that Yet Another Zombie Survivors depends heavily on the player’s willingness to chase new characters, builds, modes and higher difficulties. Fortunately, the game provides plenty of reasons to do exactly that, including multiple maps, characters, gameplay modes and difficulty levels. The repetition can therefore become less of a weakness and more of a deliberately meditative loop, provided the underlying progression has managed to hook the player.
Visually, Yet Another Zombie Survivors takes a functional rather than spectacular approach. The three-dimensional presentation and conventional military-zombie setting aren’t especially distinctive, and the environments don’t possess the kind of detail that would make them memorable in their own right. Some of the biomes can also feel relatively compact. Yet the simplicity serves an important purpose: readability. Even when dozens upon dozens of zombies are converging on the squad and the screen is being assaulted by special effects, it remains reasonably easy to identify the characters, enemies and available escape routes. That matters considerably more here than visual fidelity ever could. The increasingly extravagant abilities also provide some welcome spectacle, with the Engineer’s electrical attacks standing out particularly well.
The audio follows much the same philosophy. Weapon effects provide adequate impact, zombie noises reinforce the setting and the energetic soundtrack keeps the pace moving, while particular audio cues can provide useful feedback during a run. What it lacks is a particularly strong sonic identity; the music and effects do their job without becoming a major reason to keep playing. That is a recurring theme throughout Yet Another Zombie Survivors. Few individual elements are likely to leave a lasting impression, but the pieces fit together remarkably well. The automatic attacks, responsive movement, escalating builds, readable visuals and squad synergies all feed into the same uncomplicated objective: survive long enough to become ridiculously powerful.
Yet Another Zombie Survivors doesn’t need to be the next big evolution of the survivors-like genre to justify its existence. Its zombie setting is familiar, its presentation is fairly ordinary and some of its upgrade paths could offer more meaningful variety, but the three-character squad gives the formula a useful twist. We found the process of experimenting with different combinations and watching those characters develop into increasingly outrageous zombie-killing machines consistently enjoyable, while the straightforward controls make it an especially easy game to pick up for a quick session that can unexpectedly turn into several more runs. It is, ultimately, a game that understands why this genre works and doesn’t burden that formula with unnecessary complexity. For anyone who enjoys the simple pleasure of watching an increasingly ridiculous build turn an entire zombie army into target practice, that is more than enough.
Score: 7.8/10