I have been a long term Contagion gamer so feel qualified to write a fairly unbiased review.

TL;DR Each of the reviews you see below praising the game but critcising the developers are accurate. It is that simple. Also, team killing is rife which completely destroys the gameplay and forces individuals to use the easier non-TK servers which quickly become boring. The developers have also taken no action against the numerous trolls who use certain choke points in the levels to ensure that gamplay is stopped. The game community is almost completely extinct largely due to the developers shocking attitude to their customers.

LR; When I first started playing Contagion last year the Developers were embroiled in a lengthy update process. The community was disnechfranchised including certain individuals who had supported via Kickstarter and were still waiting on rewards. I decided to let that slide and decide for myself.

The gameplay is good with tense moments and very acceptable graphics using the CS engine. To the developers credit some of the levels are huge, the biggest in the Steam library by some estimates. Nice use of fire and shadow makes for interesting human versus zombie battles.

Once killed a human player becomes a zombie and must attack and kill/turn the remaining human survivors. However this creates a unique dynamic because once killed you drop your weapons and ammo. Players naturally want certain weapons or more ammunition and team kill individuals to get it which forces the majority of the community to use non-TK servers which are far easier to beat because the zombies and objectives are easier to achieve with more abundant ammo.

Zombies are blessed with the ability to track humans, summon NPC zombies and direct zombie hordes. Quite often the zombie players win if they are experienced and know how to ambush. However if the humans are experienced then becoming a zombie is chore because the humans bunch at choke points...due to the fact that once a zombie is killed a certain number of times they become a spectator to the game. So experienced players simply find an alley/corridor and wait. They kill zombie attackers over and over forced into the alley until they become spectators then continue with the objectives. The only way to win is hope that a new player is within the crowd and will make a mistake leading a gap in the team.

Because of the dev attitude, the team killing and the trolling, the game's user base has dwindled and you will often see the same 10-20 people hopping between servers some of which alleviate their boredom through trolling the levels to make them uncompletable. Examples include stopping people from using critical elevators or preventing NPC characters from being rescued by leading them away from the exit zones.

Unofrtunately the user base has also dwindled in part due to the shocking attitude of the developer Tatsur0. I had read numerous reviews on Steam and on the gaming press about his attitude to paying customers but disregarded them. However as the updates dragged out from weeks to months to over 9 months it was hard to accept his constant refutations to customers. In the end a bug-riddled update was issued with new maps but missing promised weapons, skins and game modes which are apparently "coming soon". The developer response on the forums is always "I promise nothing" and "Go play other games."

People who criticised the developers were continually banned whilst trolls and team killers cannot be dealt with unless you supply video-evidence to the developers.

During my supportive period I even wrote a lengthy strategy for the developers (I have launched several apps and work in App Development) about how to really engage the audience during updates and prevent users leaving. It was so well received some of the gamers even said I should be hired. The post was ignored with a response "We don't have time to do any of that stuff." I shrugged that off and continued to pour time into the forums and the game.

My decision to exit the game came after Tatsur0 refused to acknowledge the fact that Windows 10 renders the game unplayable (no sound, stuttering). After I flagged this and asked how many users were planning to take advantage of the free Windows upgrade my topic was flagged as spam (under the heading "Not relevant to Contagion") and the response was

"Users know we don't support Windows 10 so Valve handle refunds."

I cannot in good faith recommend that new users devote any kind of time to a game whose community has almost disappeared despite being a pretty good game.

I honestly hope the Developers learn how to deliver a better customer service experience to the community that keep them in business.

I have been a long term Contagion gamer so feel qualified to write a fairly unbiased review. TL;DR Each of the reviews you see below praising the game but critcising the developers are accurate. It is that simple. Also, team killing is rife which completely destroys the gameplay and forces individuals to use the easier non-TK servers which quickly become boring. The developers have also taken no action against the numerous trolls who use certain choke points in the levels to ensure that gamplay is stopped. The game community is almost completely extinct largely due to the developers shocking attitude to their customers. LR; When I first started playing Contagion last year the Developers were embroiled in a lengthy update process. The community was disnechfranchised including certain individuals who had supported via Kickstarter and were still waiting on rewards. I decided to let that slide and decide for myself. The gameplay is good with tense moments and very acceptable graphics using the CS engine. To the developers credit some of the levels are huge, the biggest in the Steam library by some estimates. Nice use of fire and shadow makes for interesting human versus zombie battles. Once killed a human player becomes a zombie and must attack and kill/turn the remaining human survivors. However this creates a unique dynamic because once killed you drop your weapons and ammo. Players naturally want certain weapons or more ammunition and team kill individuals to get it which forces the majority of the community to use non-TK servers which are far easier to beat because the zombies and objectives are easier to achieve with more abundant ammo. Zombies are blessed with the ability to track humans, summon NPC zombies and direct zombie hordes. Quite often the zombie players win if they are experienced and know how to ambush. However if the humans are experienced then becoming a zombie is chore because the humans bunch at choke points...due to the fact that once a zombie is killed a certain number of times they become a spectator to the game. So experienced players simply find an alley/corridor and wait. They kill zombie attackers over and over forced into the alley until they become spectators then continue with the objectives. The only way to win is hope that a new player is within the crowd and will make a mistake leading a gap in the team. Because of the dev attitude, the team killing and the trolling, the game's user base has dwindled and you will often see the same 10-20 people hopping between servers some of which alleviate their boredom through trolling the levels to make them uncompletable. Examples include stopping people from using critical elevators or preventing NPC characters from being rescued by leading them away from the exit zones. Unofrtunately the user base has also dwindled in part due to the shocking attitude of the developer Tatsur0. I had read numerous reviews on Steam and on the gaming press about his attitude to paying customers but disregarded them. However as the updates dragged out from weeks to months to over 9 months it was hard to accept his constant refutations to customers. In the end a bug-riddled update was issued with new maps but missing promised weapons, skins and game modes which are apparently "coming soon". The developer response on the forums is always "I promise nothing" and "Go play other games." People who criticised the developers were continually banned whilst trolls and team killers cannot be dealt with unless you supply video-evidence to the developers. During my supportive period I even wrote a lengthy strategy for the developers (I have launched several apps and work in App Development) about how to really engage the audience during updates and prevent users leaving. It was so well received some of the gamers even said I should be hired. The post was ignored with a response "We don't have time to do any of that stuff." I shrugged that off and continued to pour time into the forums and the game. My decision to exit the game came after Tatsur0 refused to acknowledge the fact that Windows 10 renders the game unplayable (no sound, stuttering). After I flagged this and asked how many users were planning to take advantage of the free Windows upgrade my topic was flagged as spam (under the heading "Not relevant to Contagion") and the response was "Users know we don't support Windows 10 so Valve handle refunds." I cannot in good faith recommend that new users devote any kind of time to a game whose community has almost disappeared despite being a pretty good game. I honestly hope the Developers learn how to deliver a better customer service experience to the community that keep them in business.