Impressions of Infection Free Zone Early Access: Cool maps, rough gameplay

Infection-free zone, now in Steam Early Access, is based on a basic premise: zombies have taken over the world and driven humanity into underground bunkers to wait out the plague. Eventually the radio turns on and a message is given that the illness is subsiding. Although the surface is still dangerous, it is time to try to build a new society.

This is not my first rodeo with a game like this, where you have to build a post-apocalyptic society that is constantly under attack by hordes of zombies. However, this is the first time I’ve done this from the comfort and safety of my own block in the real world. Instead of a fictional setting or a careful diorama based on an actual city, Infection-free zone draws on map data to create a one-to-one replica of cities and towns, and uses this information to create locations for looting and build a base of operations.

A Infection-free zone The run begins with the player choosing where to start. The game offers my own region as a starting location and I even found my own apartment. The map also relies on real data to categorize each building. For example, the walk-in clinic across from my apartment is recognized as a hospital, which made it an ideal place to start. My apartment building lacked medical care and would be difficult to defend due to its size. In the meantime, I could easily close the clinic and get the remaining free medication.

Image: Jutsu Games/game operator

The real function of each building influences its interpretation Infection-free zone. If I wanted to survive, it would be necessary to learn the ins and outs of every building in my area. From then on, I began organizing my population into small squads to search the houses in the area for canned goods. We found other survivors and began planting food and building infrastructure.

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet figured out how to avoid one of two inevitable fates: herding turtles until I starve, or attracting so many infected to my fledgling settlement that we’re overwhelmed. Maybe it’s because I live in a humble Canadian neighborhood where guns don’t come around often, but I couldn’t find enough firearms to fend off the endless hordes. You can play anywhere theorybut in practice you have to choose a big city to get more resources.

There are other small early access issues as well, each individually annoying but accumulating to the point where the challenges feel insurmountable. Do you want to renovate a building? First you have to get everyone out of the way. Do you want to spend time researching? The progression tree offers disappointingly few options, so it doesn’t feel very satisfying. I managed to plant many crops in the park near my home, but food production there stopped. By the time I realized they needed fertilizer, my colony was already on the verge of starvation. Many of these issues are not conveyed or explained by the game in any way; I figured them out as I went along and usually died for the effort. These annoyances go beyond the typical flaws of zombie games or base builders; They seem to have a lot more to do with the game’s early access status.

Plus, seemingly everything requires an endless amount of wood to build, improve, or advance. At first I thought the easiest way to get wood was to cut down trees, but I found out that it’s actually more productive to demolish buildings to also get other materials like bricks. However, this turns a seemingly impossible barrier into merely a deeply boring and irritating affair. All of these additional materials also fill up my memory and require a lot of micromanagement. It’s all very cumbersome and the threat of the roaming undead means I haven’t had much time to focus on solving these problems. Add to that constant transmissions and radio conversations, and I left Infection-free zone irritated.

Image: Jutsu Games/game operator

Instead of fighting the zombies and feeling them loom as a natural threat, I felt like the real enemy was the game itself. A base builder zombie survival game like State of decay 2 can be difficult and frightening, but I always felt like my fate was in my own hands. I would like to have more freedom of choice as a supervisor and more opportunities for further development of the game. For now, my settlement seems doomed to starve or be overrun by the inevitable hordes.

There’s still a lot to clarify, but this is an early access release, and Infection-free zone has a lot of potential. The ability to choose a real-world neighborhood or literally rebuild society from the comfort of your own home is very cool. I’m excited to see if Jutsu Games can change things up and fix all the UI issues, early access bugs, and broken systems. There is something special about surviving the post-apocalypse in my own neighborhood and using my local knowledge for the benefit of my survival community. Alternatively, it’s great to start a game at the foot of a famous landmark and enjoy a bit of post-apocalyptic tourism. It’s just a shame that the rest of the journey is so bumpy at the moment.