r/gaming 13h ago

I was today years old when i discovered that the game Zombi/U by Ubisoft is not an original title, but in fact a remake of Ubisoft;s first ever videogame called...well...Zombi. All the way down to permadeath survivors that turn into zombies that the other survivors have to deal with in the next run

Post image
Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

u/TheUFCVeteran3 13h ago

Decently solid title, too. Great atmosphere. If you love British cities/urban areas in games, you will probably like the visuals, at least.

u/DimensioT 12h ago

The Wii U version is probably the best, as using the gamepad for the UI adds a bit of tension when rummaging for items.

It was better than I had been led to believe. I just wish that it had been a little bit longer.

u/DeusExMarina 12h ago

It was really cool, playing it back when it originally came out. The Miiverse community was super active, players were leaving signs and zombies all over the place and the developers would leave messages at the entrance to the safe house telling us about various player stats or stuff like the first time someone cleared hardcore mode. It's not quite the same now that it's offline.

u/DimensioT 12h ago

A pity that it is not supported on the Pretendo network, though I suspect that it is significantly lower in priority than a lot of other titles.

u/DeusExMarina 12h ago

Probably. It doesn't really have proper multiplayer, just minor online features. It's fully playable without it.

u/SparkyMuffin 11h ago

It's the kind of online I love that Nintendo started embracing more with Super Mario Wonder.

u/DimensioT 11h ago

I am aware. I finally got around to playing through it about two years ago.

I even got the good ending on my first attempt.

u/FantasySuperhero000 6h ago

It's a shame Nintendo cancelled Miiverse. It gave the Wii U so much personality.

u/FoxMeadow7 6h ago

Me too, man!

u/snowgles 5h ago

Too bad the WiiU didn't take off like the NDS. The touchscreen allowed for some novel experiences.

u/AwesomeMcPants 12h ago

The multiplayer where one person plays as a survivor and one plays as the zombies was awesome, too. One of the not too many games that effectively and interestingly utilized the Wii U touchpad.

u/thenewNFC 12h ago

They were really banking on this game in selling the WiiU too.

A mature theme and all this tablet action?!!

u/NoPicture8043 9h ago

It’s funny how they tried to position it as a flagship title for the Wii U, but it kind of fell under the radar. Definitely a unique approach to the zombie genre, though!

u/deckard1980 9h ago

One of the only games that gets Romero Zombies right.

u/Next-Variety-6271 2h ago

That rainy London setting was peak

u/HumaDracobane 12h ago

The Zombi-U was great but the Wii-U version was, by far, superior. The tension added by you having to look to the pad to do things and not being able to pay 100% of attention to the screen was great. I wouldnt mind to play a VR version.

u/MacCreadysCap 13h ago

Huh, neat!

u/bc_gamez 11h ago

Zombie games are the best.

u/Silly_Commercial8092 12h ago

Playing ZombiU on a platform other than the Wii U just isn't the same...

u/DeusExMarina 12h ago

There's not even a U in it anymore!

u/Brandunaware 12h ago

Thankfully they didn't do that for New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe! It's not ashamed of its U!

u/Stampyboyz 11h ago

Or Super Smash Bros for Wi- OH SHIT

[SSBf3DS.jpeg]

u/allykopow 12h ago

And glitched as hell. I couldn’t even technically beat the game because the end cutscene wouldn’t trigger. Still a great game tho

u/Para_Boo 3h ago

It does not help that in all the non-U versions, they add buffed melee weapons you can find down the line (and generally buff the player) and that remove basically any of the threat the zombies normally are.

In the original version you're already at serious risk if just two zombies are closing in on you because you leave yourself open when you swing at one and a single swipe can take off 40% of your health if you're unlucky, and in the time you can take down one zombie with melee the other can have easily gotten in 5 swipes if you let it (not to mention if they decide to go for a bite, then that's it) . You could start blasting away with the scarce ammo you have, but that is going to draw every nearby zombie to you.

In later releases the second melee weapon you find can very easily hit multiple zombies in front of you, and the third one also does that and it deals more damage. It turns melee into a very safe option and that just completely destroys the game's balance. You go from being constantly tense and trying to desperately avoid engaging more than one zombie at a time (if at all), to not really having to worry about tha, at which point the game turns from very tense to just a slog. The whole survival horror gameplay is based around there not being a safe option because even a single zombie is incredibly dangerous if you're unprepared, and the later versions just remove that after the first two hours.

u/DarthFury1990 10m ago

I tried playing a different version and it just wasn't the same.

I was literally talking about it this past weekend with friends and they had no idea this game existed on the WiiU but they were interested

u/Jomijan 11h ago

I don't think that's quite right. An homage maybe, but not a remake.

Both games are not related. According to the ZombiU's creative director, Florent Sacré, the Zombi name had just been picked by someone from Ubisoft's marketing as a nod to Yannick, Alexandre and Patrick's game.

Source: Retro Gamer magazine issue 287

u/prossnip42 10h ago

There are in my opinion way too many similarities between the games for it to be just an homage. Both games take place in London, both have a mall as an HQ of sorts, both games end with a helicopter evacuation, both games have a permadeath survivor system where if a survivor dies you can find them as a zombie in that exact place, including the supplies they were carrying before being turned. Yeah sorry i don't personally buy the "just an homage" thing

u/Bizrat7 5h ago

This guy's not buying it Ubisoft

u/APeacefulWarrior 5h ago

OTOH

both have a mall as an HQ of sorts, both games end with a helicopter evacuation

These are just lifted from Dawn Of The Dead. Hardly specific to the game Zombi.

u/Evercent 5h ago

Even Dead Rising has both those things

u/ecokumm 12h ago

Aye. I remember playing the ZX Spectrum version around 1990, I guess. Playing a point & click game exclusively with a keyboard is an experience, I'll tell you. Especially one in which taking fast headshots is vital.

u/owenxtreme2 11h ago

Me and a friend tried playing the 2012 game and we genuinely had no idea what we where doing

u/scarletnaught 11h ago

"today years old"

u/Racxie 1h ago

It's common phrasing that's originated over a decade ago and has been popular for around 8.

u/Garibaldi_Biscuit 11h ago

Plus the original Zombi was basically ‘Dawn of the Dead’ the video game. Some say ‘loosely inspired’ but I swear when I first played it I had to double check the name. 

u/Tight_Grapefruit5280 6h ago

You watched that scott the woz video too?

u/1337b337 5h ago

ZombiU wasn't originally made with the intention to be a zombie game;

It was actually a weird Rabbids horror spin-off, believe it or not.

u/Vivid-Bid7417 2h ago

I played this game ! I rememembered it scared the shit out of me (I was 5 or 6 at the time, and played with my older brother)

Fun fact for the end : To finish the game, you have to enter and helicopter, but the chopper cannot leave with the doors opened. and it was impossible to close them from inside, so we had to leave one of the main characters outside to close the door....never checked if there was a better option to finish it.

u/EwokSlayer 12h ago

Oh damn. Cool fact. Thanks for sharing.

u/JLeeT82 9h ago edited 9h ago

Yep. Video games have been around for decades and countless things people love today began way back in the 70s and 80s, and people have no idea of the history.

Activision, EA, Konami, Namco, Epyx, System 3, Firebird MicroProse, Origin Systems, Broderbund, Accolade, Code Master, Data East, Data Soft, Mirrorsoft, id/Softdisk Apogee, Ocean, SSI, US Gold, ....

Video games would be nothing without their history among countless others.

u/KaiUno 5h ago

I'm also years old today! Twinsies!

u/[deleted] 12h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

u/RetroSwamp 12h ago

I was today years old when I discovered you're kind of a prick.

u/GMAN7007 12h ago

It must be an unfortunate existence being annoyed by this. Let people be, there's no reason to go out of your way to criticize someone for nothing.

u/grayhaze2000 12h ago

Who shit in your cornflakes?

u/NDT_DYNAMITE 11h ago

Today I was today years old when I was today years old when today I was today years old, today.

u/PromiscuousScoliosis PC 10h ago

6767676767

u/Personal-Report-2161 12h ago

Zombi was disappointing it could have been so much better

u/zenki32 9h ago

People still say that "today years old" shit? I bet you have a punchable face.