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Before we knew it, December was upon us and all the games had arrived in stores in time for everyone to buy them as presents. We’ve got the reveal of our Game of the Year coming after Christmas, but for 24 days starting December 1 we’ll bring you a new contender for the title. Please note that these games are in no particular order, but feel free to speculate on where they might appear in our final list.
David Scammell, Deputy News Editor
I still can’t sit down to play ZombiU without first asking myself, ‘Do I really want to play this?’. Ubisoft Montpellier’s apocalyptic London is powerful stuff, and arguably more evocative than any other game I’ve played throughout 2012. And because of that, I do want to play it – but it makes for a sensationally unnerving play session.
It’s the intense atmosphere and nail-biting tension that really gets me – the fear of what could lie around the next corner, and the omnipotent fear of death. Of course, there’s no denying that ZombiU can rely on jump scares to create horror, too – a tactic that I’d quite often deplore, but that works well here due to their relative infrequency and inspiring use of the Wii U GamePad. Provided Ubisoft doesn’t do a Dead Space or Resident Evil for any of its potential sequels, ZombiU could well go on to be the survival horror series to beat.
Neon Kelly, Video Production Editor
A grey, misery-inducing London, populated by aggressive zombies. Boy, what a vivid imagination they have over at Ubisoft!
If I’m honest, I think I didn’t pay enough heed to ZombiU. I always liked the idea, but I don’t think the game’s survival horror charms had much chance to shine through the half-awake fug that hangs over many of my appointments at gamescom and the like. In any case, I like the end product. It comes close to being a bit gimmicky in places, and the controls seem annoyingly sluggish at first but overall it works well.
It would have been easy to style this out as a casual friendly adventure game, but Ubi has ultimately reaped great rewards from its decision to follow a roguelike-like path (like). Along with The Walking Dead, ZombiU helped to restore the fear factor to one of the most overused enemy types in gaming. There’s a genuine sense of terror when you find yourself overwhelmed, especially if you’re sitting next to Dave, massive coward that he is.
