What is it?
Another zombie game? I hear you cry, didn’t we just get done cleaning the last lot of undead off the wall? And I understand that response, wholeheartedly. We’re constantly inundated with zombie survival game after zombie survival game, barely given time to reload our worn, still smoking shotguns. But that’s what makes this game, this wonderfully designed breath of fresh, partially decayed air, such a joy to play. In an ocean of dreary copies of each other, They Are Billions delivers a surprisingly addictive romp which manages to combine what so many other games have tried, all whilst in the terrible trap of Early Access.
Long story short, you’re a small group of humans pitted against what seems to be a world filled so full of undead you can barely move from the spawn. Seriously, try running off, it’s not going to end well. Your aim? Survive. Survive until the set number of days are up against impossible odds, and you earn the right to puff out your chest and say you clicked yourself through hell. It’s not going to be easy, that much I can guarantee (unless you turn all the settings to minimum, but where’s the fun in that?).
What do you mean, Game Over
You begin said survival mission with limited resources, redundant weapons, surrounded by a sea of shambling zombies, that rather annoyingly, seem to be in the habit of wandering towards your settlement with all the shuffling speed they can muster. On top of the ever-present threat of these initial undead, you have waves that spawn with a wonderfully evident ‘you’re about to be swarmed’ symbol popping up on your map. If you’re on any kind of respectable difficulty, this is where the music ramps up into full force, and as you see that horribly daunting marker of a horde moving towards you, you know you’re in for a rough ride, the adrenaline pumping through your veins tells you so. “Why”, I hear you say, “I’ll just load my last save if it goes bad”, and to that I say just you try. There are no permanent saves here, you lose that fight and all your building up has been for nothing. This is key. This is exactly what gives the game its tension – what makes it how fun it is.
The options to hold off this assault are many, some involving an army of purely snipers, of building up the strongest walls you can and defending them with the rotating destruction of miniguns. You can focus on getting to the mechs… focus on building up more economy for later, focus on building a maze of walls on towers, it’s up to you! At least you get to choose your own demise.
It’s a balance of expansion and defence building, a constant switch between “should I expand for more resources later?” or “I really need more walls or I’m a goner next wave…” and whatever choice you make, it’s permanent. Irreversible. Sound stressful? Well, unlike other games of a similar nature, They Are Billions doesn’t force you to have the finger speed of a professional pianist and the reaction times of Jason Bourne on speed, thanks to its ingenious idea; pausing. That’s right, at any time, anywhere, you can pause the game and reflect on how best to approach your doom, and you’re likely going to have to do this if you have any intention of surviving and passing the more challenging difficulties.
It has a wonderful aesthetic, truly – for an early access game, it looks amazingly polished. The steampunk theme of it suits surprisingly well, and only gets better as the action and stakes roll ever higher. This is all of course complimented by a suitably eerie soundtrack and a couple of terrifically inspiring songs, pumping the adrenaline ever higher as that unstoppable wall of zombies shambles to your totally unready defences.
The base design starts off relatively simplistic, which is wonderful to start learning with. Woodcutters go by the trees… hunter lodges are similar, but can also be placed away from the woods, even if they collect less food. Farms can only be placed on grasslands.. mines by the correct type of rock, and so on. This all makes intuitive sense, and you might start off thinking you can focus on making it look pretty, everything in wonderful little shapes. As you get further into it, however, buildings start buffing each other, giving bonuses in a wide range that completely change how well your colony is performing. It’s a seemingly simple system, but getting it down perfectly is what will carry you into the late game in higher difficulties. However, the important thing to note is that you can still have just as much fun without getting into the complexities of it, you can dive in as deep, or as shallow as you want. It suits casual and more strategic gamers alike, and that’s a great achievement.
To buy, or not to buy
As I intend to do with the rest of the games I review, or preview, I’ll be saving my final verdict and score for after the Early Access phase. However, They Are Billions already shows incredible promise, and honestly, is a game I would pay full price for even at its current stage, let alone after they release the planned Campaign mode, and all the additions they have lined up. I’m excited for it, and I haven’t been excited for a zombie game in a long time. Good on you, They Are Billions.
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