Alright, I think I've played this game enough to give it a fair review now.

Firstly, an overview. Zompiercer is a zombie survival game very reminiscent of DayZ, where the main gimmick of the game is you live on and operate out of a train. You have to manage health, hunger, thirst, sleepiness, and the rather infamous stamina (I'll address this in a bit). You can move around the world from town to town parking your train and looting a town full of food, water, medicine, weapons, ammo, and of course, zombies.

I'm reviewing the game something like 3 days after it's come out, so currently this is the way the game functions. I am sure this is subject to change in the future.

Right now there are 4 "regions" or "areas". These areas are separated by loading screens, so it's obvious when you've found a new one. Right now, there is no manual or auto saving, except when you enter a new area and get that loading screen. Keep this in mind, as I have had to reset my progress over and over and over due to deaths and exiting without knowing this. The rail your train is on currently is also linear, so it's a straight line back and forth between the 4 locations. The locations themselves are fairly large and interesting to explore each in their own right, although it is important to note that they are static locations, meaning the buildings, towns, and to some extent even the loot will always be the same. This is a bit abusable when you take into account locations refreshing zombies, items, etc whenever you load into the area from another area, even if you've already been there before.

So that's enough about the world I think, let's talk about the combat.

Currently, there are only 2 different melee weapons: the baseball bat and the spiked baseball bat, and 3 guns (that I know of, and judging from steam photos): the pistol, sawed off shotgun, and some form of ak-47 styled assault rifle (note I have only personally found the handgun and shotgun as guns are very rare). The guns feel very good to use, and can be life saving when fighting against certain zombie types. This is because melee combat has a somewhat glaring issue, that being the stamina drain. Whenever you swing your baseball bat, you lose some stamina, and whenever you dodge out of the way of a zombies attack, you lose some stamina. If you don't have enough stamina to attack or dodge, you will instead stand there like a fool and take a free beating from whatever zombie happens to be nearest to you. This is hard to recover from, and I know at least a few people have been turned off to the game because of this issue. Personally, I find the stamina to not be as big of an issue as people would make it out to be, especially since the developer put out a tutorial video illustrating the most effective way to fight every zombie currently in the game. I recommend watching this video to get a feel for how combat goes, because if you stand there and try to smack a zombie with your bat you will get hurt and probably die at some point.

That all said, the game has been very fun for me so far. The gameplay loop of going from town to town, finding secret locations and rare loot, and fighting for your life for it in certain cases, is very fun. The graphics are good for being kind of cartoony but in a charming way for sure.

Lastly, the developer of the game, DDDimanN, is very accessible on their discord server, which is linked on the main title screen of the game. I was able to have a nice long conversation with them and discuss aspects of the game, share my experience, and ask some questions I had on my journey. I have done my best to share what i have learned here with you, the review reader and potential player.

Now, do i recommend you buy this extremely early access game that is very obviously lacking a good chunk of planned content for the current asking price of $20? That is honestly up to your discretion. Have i enjoyed the game? Yes absolutely, and knowing everything i do about the game now back before i bought it i would absolutely buy it again. If you enjoy zombie survival games and the mobile base gimmick of the train sounds interesting to you i would encourage you to pick the game up and try it out. Do be aware that the game is bare bones right now, and very early access so it has a bug or two here and there. But it's fun and well made and it's a fantastic concept, and from our talks it seems the developer has plans to update the game and add new areas, boss encounters, weapons, etc. So if this piqued your interest i would say definitely pick up the game and give it a try. And if you do pick up the game and get confused, lost, or have a question, join the discord server and ask the developer or one of the players!

Ok, I got 11 hours in this game and managed to get to the 'end' of the current update (8.0 alpha Modular Building update) and I think I got enough in to give this game a fair review.

Zompiercer is a surprisingly deceptive and fun game with the simple primis of a zombie survival on a train.

Positives:
Handmade world: for survival games it's weird to have a knowable world that isn't randomly spawned but because of this everything has a place in Zompiercer and feels like it actually belongs. This also means some important loot (I think) is guaranteed to be in a predetermined spot with the exception (i think) of common crafting loot and food.

Given Love and (Un)life: At first glance the game looks like another asset flip but as far as I can tell and look I can't find the source of the assets. Even if these were pre-made the devs didn't just dump them into an open world and expected the player to figure out the mess. Like I said before most of this game is Handmade by someone on the team and that means there are bits in the world that I could give thanks (and a slurry of expletives) for special moments I ran into as I explored because someone put the time and effort into making that moment happen.

From the Brightest times to the Darkest: For the most part the game leaves you in what you can expect for a survival game. A relatively open world with a day and night cycle. It isn't until you reach the last map (of the current update) that the game gets turned on it's head in favor for a linear and horrifying dungeon crawl in the maintenance passage ways of a mountain train tunnel in the dark. The game by this point already experimented with areas that just don't have light and NEED a light source in order to explore, these were just a prelude to the mountain tunnels. The best/worst part is the game is fairly realistic as realistic wandering pitch black stone passage ways during a zombie apocalypse can be. No jump scares, no eerie music, just the cold silence and the knowledge that there are zombies down here with you. Wonderful, excellent, love that you made this but kill it with fire.

Negatives:
Chunky: This game isn't very well optimized (yet). Having any other programs running (I.E. music player, internet browser) will cause problems across the board as Zompiercer will demand more attention to keep it running smoothly.

Bugs (of course): Zompiercer is still in it's alpha stages for Early Access, it's expected for bugs to pop up. The best we can do is find them and let the devs know. I ran into a few but as of right now, nothing game breaking or permanent.

More Options Please: The game is lacking a number of options that could help it in the long run (I.E. FOV slider, Brightness slider, etc.)

Blind and Being Led: The game does a good job of telling the player of important things that can help you, and of guiding you to an objective in order to get your train back on track when you are stopped. But the game doesn't tell you much about the mechanics. It took me looking through the controls to find the keys to open the build menu to build my train cars, and equipment menu to spend my level up points and take off the ruined pair of shoes I started game with. A tutorial for this isn't needed but maybe a few extra notes to talk about these mechanics could be littered around the train to get a player started off right.

Middle Of The Road:
Putting in your steps: You'll be surprised to know, in a game about conducting a train in a zombie apocalypse, you'll be doing a lot of walking as you make stops. This is fine but there will be times where you wish there is a consumable you can take to increase your movement speed.

Doomsayer: I come with a horrible premonition of a dark future. As of now with the current light sources, these are infinite but for those who have played the game you too have seen the durably bar on flashlights. I tell you now, it'll be soon when the devs turn their eyes to work on a battery life system to keep that light going in the darkest areas of the game. That mountain tunnel is going to get darker...

Final thoughts: With all said and done, I really like this game and hope the best from the devs and to see more as they work on this game.

-Gently

I liked my time with Zompiercer quite a bit. It's fun building out the train cars and the visuals/sounds of the train itself are very cozy. It feels good to come back to after a hard day looting. For the most part I enjoyed finding new areas and seeing what new zombie lurked in each in level, some of the designs like the fireman zombie are campy in a charming way. The combat is okay. It lacks a punchy-ness and the ranged combat definitely outshines melee, but it still had moments that were fun.

The gameplay loop involves arriving at an area, parking, looting the level on foot/solving a puzzle, then returning to the train to sort loot and spend resources before lifting anchor to proceed to the next area. One thing I would like to see more of, ironically, the train itself. Most of my playtime was spent exploring the levels on foot and fighting zombies, but I found the time I enjoyed most was the rides between areas. Again, the visuals and audio of the train are really great, especially when some weather rolls through so I'd really love to feel like I have enough time to coast in the train while I do base management. Honestly I would be pretty okay with optional massive stretches of nothing to full speed the train while I tinker at the crafting stations.

It's a fun time, check it out

i loved needs multiplayer

Alright. Zompiercer, such as it is at this moment in early access, is done and dusted. I understand the dev is working on more areas which hopefully will drop sometime soon, but as things stand, I've seen just about everything the game has to offer. So, let's talk about that.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3392024017

The story set-up is kind of comical. You, the unnamed protagonist (or robilar5500 in this case lol) wake up to the alarms signifying that zombies have broken into your camp. In the time it takes you to put on some shoes and grab a baseball bat, everybody else in the camp has already either fled, forgetting all about you, or has been eaten by zombies. And the only working vehicle seems to have crashed. So, with no other options, you fight your way out of your camp and onto a train, which you commandeer and with which you set off on your adventure. Presumably to find other survivors, but really, they left you behind in, as mentioned, the time it took you to put on your shoes and grab a weapon, lol. Not the best companions ever. The rest of your adventure is following the rails to various locations where you knew people, only to find them overrun as well.

There is voice acting, which is represented by a couple lines here and there. It's actually pretty well done despite how infrequent it is. I also saw where the developer has decided to remove the voice acting. That feels like a bad decision to me. It's one of the few things in the game that actually reminds you of your humanity.

For the most part, this is a tale of three games. A variation of walking simulator, wherein you ride you train through scenic areas until eventually reaching an area you can interact with; a survival shooter, where you will need to find resources to survive while also fighting a plethora of zombies; and a base builder, where you can doll up your train to your heart's content, provided you have the resources. It does all of these things quite well. I really enjoyed how the guns felt, exploration was decent, and while zombies are by virtue of their very nature, pretty stupid, they do press you and force you to make some real decisions as far as how to defend yourself, where you want to take a stand, and so on. Building up your train and crafting in general was very detailed and enjoyable. You will also get a robot companion at one point, and that really changes things a lot. It's got your back, can be equipped with a fair few different weapons (mine had a flamethrower, double shotgun, and a pistol), and doesn't seem to take damage in combat itself, making it super tank-ey. The robot also makes cute sounds that liven up the world just a bit more.

I played Zompiercer exclusively with k/m, which was intuitive and felt like the way it was intended by the dev. Since it's playable on the Deck though, I'd imagine it could be playable with a gamepad as well.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3391300505

There are some issues, both good and bad, however. For one, bow combat was not enjoyable IMO. I didn't even bother once I'd found a revolver. Speaking of the revolver, it is the one weapon in the game that empties its load while reloading. Whatever bullets were in it are gone at that point. Super helpful but also broken, the pump action shotgun has the same range as the sniper rifle you will find later. In the city, there was some stuttering and lag, although I didn't notice it happening during the boss fight there. Occasionally, you will have to close then open a door on the train in order to be able to actually go through the doorway.

More importantly though, this game really lacks any sort of tutorial. If you haven't played a game like this, you will definitely feel lost trying to figure out how to make your first bed (for example), and your character does have to sleep, making this a pretty big deal that I would imagine has led to some refunds already. Beyond that though, there is a general lack of instruction with almost all of the game's gameplay mechanics that definitely needs to be addressed, even if it's just a menu option that gives you the rundown on how to do everything, The game does try to tell you how to do some things by letting you know you have the wrong tool in hand and such, but yeah, this is a big issue with the game.

So, some quick tips: build a carpenters table and a metalworking table first as a priority. You will be able to build a freestanding bed with the supplies you find at your starter area once you've built some crafting tables. Loot and break down everything. Which also means you will need to kill all the zombies in an area. Most of which do not drop loot btw. At some point, you'll have a stockpile of supplies, but the first couple places you visit, be thorough. When you begin crafting, left click to place an item, right click to back out, then equip the appropriate tool and left click again until the thing is built. Red barrels are explosive, blue can be broken down for metal shards, the most frequently needed of resources. Also, polymers are what you use to gather rainwater from your collectors. Just equip them when you are standing next to your rain collector(s) and you'll see the prompt.

When you get the robot, note that it can't be active on your train. So, you will need to carry it out of the train and then activate it, in order for it to follow you. The city will probably be the first place you use it. Take some time to upgrade it before doing that though. You need it to be armed. When leaving an area, you will need to deactivate it, then carry it onto your train, lol.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3392023961

Anyway, I had fun playing Zompiercer. It could definitely benefit from additional areas to explore, and I'd really like to see the story finished, but as it stands now, there is more than enough content to justify buying the game, and the game itself is reasonably polished despite being unfinished. Currently, during the Winter Sale, it's on sale for 40% off, which is when I bought it. That feels ideal. What I will say as well is that in the sea of low poly zombie game contemporaries, this one stands out as one of the best ones currently on Steam. In fact, most of the others I've tried only wish they could be this fun. Worth a look.

I want to take a moment with this edit to talk about NG+, which I just wrapped up the other day. That was a nice reward for completing the game (in its current state). You start NG+ with all your progress saved. Weapons, robot dog, materials, train. So, for NG+, you will be OP, both because of your gear head start and due to now knowing the key areas of the game. It's a good opportunity to bump up the difficulty if you want more of a challenge. But more importantly, for me anyway, it was a good opportunity to do a bit more exploring and try to find all the hidden areas I'd missed. Which I did, although I still definitely missed one area that I'll check out in NG++ after the next big game update. And one further note: adding a second robot dog makes gathering resources so much easier. Making NG+ also the run where you really stack up materials and finish whatever train projects you still have left. Very cool and very much appreciated.

splattercat was on to something, watched him play it bought it and its fun to play like the art style and gameplay. keep it up devs y'all got something going here. don't drop the ball like all the others did.

after some more time playing. the atmosphere in this game is great, especially in very dark areas. talk about a jump scare coming outta of left field. gun play is good and smooth. at least that's what i have seen. just waiting on more content and more of the story and map to be added.

- Your base is the train, so awesome! A mobile base! Pretty rare these days.
- Progression if getting better equipment. (rather limited, hoping for more recipes)
(however I am missing a repair station or a fireweapon creator table)
- Weapons and tools have durability.
- Level Up System (strength increases your damage with the bow and you can carry more items)
- Zombies are a little different with each of their own "personality"
- Lots of looting. (different loot-pools if you died)
- Eventhough there is autosave, you still have to manually save, because the autosave is not always reliable.

BUGS/GLITCHES
- The mobs walk inside of you and there is no way of hitting them, the player must be an object too, which it isn't.
- When a zombie attacks you when you are close to a wall (especially the fast zombies), they can push you through the wall. (surprised about the pushing, while they can walk right inside of you)

THE REASON WHY I QUIT THE GAME
I went with my train into this mountain through a tunnel. And there is an entire maze of tunnels and rooms. There are "maps" on the wall sometimes, but not "you are here" so the map is useless. It is really hard to get your bearings and especially remember every corridor within the maze. It's a good maze, because I got lost in it. Which made it quite boring, as I caught myself walking in circles for hours. Let the player at least have the chance of finding a map which tells you where you currently are within that maze.
After walking back and forth for hours, I am like, F this game, I am done! This is for me the gamebreaker.

Very Cool Game
I have a lot of fun playing and Building my Train.
This game looked way easier then it is
The only thing really missing is a COOP-Mode.

▪ Are you ready to go on Train survival travel?

    Zompiercer is a zombie survival game. You have to survive by collecting resources and resisting zombies. Uniquely, this game has a 'train', and as long as have fuel, you can freely travel to other areas, and build like a home by setting up a storage, workbench, and other household items in the train compartment. You can choose the zombie's health and farming amount in percentages to choose the difficulty level that suits taste. It's a good game I would like to recommend to anyone interested in zombie survival games.

▪ 기차를 타고 떠나는 생존 여행에 참여할 준비가 되셨나요?

    좀피어서(Zompiercer)는 좀비 서바이벌 게임입니다. 자원을 수집하고 좀비로부터 저항하여 살아남아야 합니다. 특이하게도 이 게임에는 '기차'가 있는데, 연료만 있다면 다른 지역을 자유롭게 다닐 수 있으며 객실 칸에 창고, 작업대 등 살림살이를 꾸려 집을 지을 수 있습니다. 좀비의 체력, 파밍량을 백분율 단위로 골라 입맛에 맞는 난이도를 선택할 수 있습니다. 좀비 서바이벌 게임에 관심이 있으신 분들께 꼭 추천드리고 싶은 게임입니다.

No SAVE unless you enter an area. So if your found good loot in a area and die due to a glitch well just sucks for you do everything all over again and guess what loot pool is different. There is no instructions in the game so i guess you have to wing it. The combat system needs work. I hope the game gets update soon because it is a really fun game. Early access i guess. There is also a frame rate issue, where i will go through a area with great frame rate, die and go through again and its like I have 16 FPS.
Dev if your reading this please fix these problems because you do have a good game.