Zerograve

decent gameplay but too repetitive, gets boring fast

The 6DoF shooter has been my "gaming niche" ever since I could wrap my grubby little 6-year-old fingers around a joystick and play Descent as a kid. It's good to see the genre getting more love these days, and Zerograve is a fantastic little indie title that not only gets what made those games great, but even expands on the core gameplay in some small but meaningful ways. Controls are extremely tight, with both M&K and gamepad controls being viable and fun to use (I still recommend M&K as this is, at it's core, an FPS of sorts). The weapons are all fun to use and a few are particularly inventive. The trickle of upgrades and new weapons throughout the game's campaign is perfectly paced - you'll always have some new toy to play with. There are a number of clever enemy designs, and one late-game "beam" drone in particular is a standout that forced me to rethink my typical approach to movement and to practice more spatial awareness. A few of the levels showcase gimmicks that really ramp up the tension of both combat and exploration, and one little twist near the end of the game made me genuinely laugh as a fan of Descent and Overload. I was also surprised to see a handful of well-designed and fun bosses, even if they are generally of the "shoot it until it dies" variety. The sound and music design are also quite decent, with neither standing out but servicing the action perfectly well. While I do like the bright, colorful aesthetic with lots of hard lines and neon lights, the levels do all feel a bit same-y with generally very boxy geometry and repeated textures. Performance is generally good; I have an aging system with a Ryzen 5 1600 AF, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and an AMD RX 580 8GB and could run Zerograve at a fairly rock solid 60fps at 32:9, 3840x1080 resolution with only some minor dips when the action got hairy. If you enjoy the Descent series, Forsaken, or Overload and are looking for more of the same, Zerograve does the same thing equally well. It's a brisk affair that you can burn through in a Saturday afternoon: 3-4 hours if you're taking your time - but it's a very well-crafted experience from start to finish and, at the asking price of just $9 USD, is a generous helping of primo 6DoF action for very little bread. All the more impressive that it was made by a single developer - massive props!

the best thing since overload and sublevel zero

TLDR: If you like 6DoF games, chances are high that you will love this game. I'm writing this review before finishing the game, though I'm already quite sure in my opinion. In the desert that is the 6DoF genre, this is a welcome oasis. How so? Well, first off, it's actually hard to overstate just how nicely Zerograve plays. Every weapon seems to have its place and they all feel great to use. The movement feels snappy, without being jerky. I've not once gotten stuck on any geometry. At first I was a little irritated that there's no boost/sprint. However, after playing a few levels I came to realize that the movement speed is just right to allow you to dodge most incoming attacks even at relatively close range - that is, if you're aware of your surroundings, of course. The sound also deserves a quick mention. The music kinda just hums along. It's definitely not bad, though it's definitely on the functional side of things. If it's not to your taste, I'd say just turn it off and listen to whatever 90s techno you feel is most appropriate for a 6DoF game. The weapon's and enemy's sounds on the other hand all seem to communicate with the player really well. They all have their distinct rhythm and sound appropriately powerful for their place in the roster. And while I'm no expert with this, the mixing generally seemed quite good. And then there are the graphics. First off, as a VFX artist myself, I have to point out that the VFX in Zerograve are actually pretty good. There are a few subtle things like sprites blending smoothly with geometry they intersect with. Then the weapon designs and their effects all just gel really well together. They all look and feel appropriately like 90s/00s scifi FPS throwbacks and are just a lot of fun. This all goes for the enemies too. Some have subtle animations, like the fins on smaller enemies that sway, following the bot's movement. Then the glowing trails that are unique to some and make it easy to tell them apart at a glance. All good stuff. Then there's the levels themselves. At first I was a little worried here, as especially the first few levels definitely feel a little samey. And, there's no way getting around it, with the rooms being mostly just rectangular boxes, connected and shuffled together, it's often hard to tell one area from another. However, I'd urge any potential player to look beyond this for two simple reasons. One, the levels actually become more varied pretty quickly. While the style stays consistently blocky, there are quite a few significant landmarks and interactive elements (like trains rushing through some levels, lava, and different color coded areas). And two, the level design is actually low key fantastic. I think it was around the "train" level, about a third through the game, that things clicked with me. Being able to kite a large group of otherwise pretty dangerous enemies so that they'd get crushed by the trains that are rushing through the area was very satisfying. Exploration is also reasonably rewarding, granting points that speed up your upgrades or give power-ups when you find a hidden secret area. I'd honestly love to harp on this point some more, though this review is long enough as it is. But let me just say this, in the usually very static and maze like levels that especially the older 6DoF games come with, Zerograve really brings some fresh ideas to the table. The 6DoF genre is small. Having been overtaken in popularity right from the get-go both by regular FPS games on the one side and flight sims on the other. Yet, be it this little gem or games like Overload and Sublevel Zero keep the genre going. More power to 'em!

What a great game this is. ZeroGrave is heavily inspired by Overload, and thus also the Descent series. It's a very competent 6DOF shooter from an indie dev. The basic story is that you control a battle drone through the inner cyberspace of a mainframe computer in order to purge a hostile AI (sorta like Tron). You drop in a level, destroy every hostile drone you see, and get to the exit which brings you one step closer to the core. The 6DOF movement and controls are just perfect. Not much else to say about that, really. I played with mouse and keyboard so I can't speak to the joystick support. But I have no complaints, very well done. I like that each level is short and to the point. You can drop in, blast, and get out, which makes it easy to enjoy this game if you don't get long stretches of time to play a game. The look of the levels follow from the plot, with all the environments giving an abstract cyberspace vibe. The levels are strongly cubist in their design, as in there very few non-right angles. I like that in most of the game there is no real obvious "floor". This is a virtual world, after all. You can feel free to attack each chamber with any rotation you choose (yay, 6DOF). Of course, it is very easy to get lost in such a place, but not to worry. The environments are strongly color coded, and the keys are physically connected to their respective doors by an energy conduit that you can always follow to progress. I was impressed by this simple yet effective design choice. I also like the weapon loadout system. As you collect XP during the campaign, you unlock new weapons and power boosts. You can carry two loadouts at a time, with each loadout being one primary weapon (usually energy based) and one secondary weapon (usually projectile based). The generic ammo pickups are only required for the secondary weapons. It streamlines the shooting while still allowing for plenty of player choice. I like the enemy designs too. They are also color coded, so you can predict their weapon types even when they are too far away to resolve. They range from total pushovers to fearsome brutes that can drain your shields in flash, so be careful later in the game. I experienced no performance issues, the game plays nice and smooth. It took me maybe 6 hours for my first play-through on Normal difficulty. Overall ZeroGrave is well worth the modest price and you should definitely buy it.

Having finished all of the available non-sandbox/arcade missions, I can say this game will remain a personal gem and favorite. Fun, easy combat in a fast, fluid, yet non-confusing environment. There are a wide variety of weapons and I found myself changing my load out even slightly between almost every mission. I strongly suggest giving it a try if your interested!

Visuals are crisp and clear, game design is very intentional. Sense of space in this game is a bit more open that traditional decent clones, and level designs offer unique combat encounter which will always challenge the player while offering opportunities to innovate tactically. If you are not a fan of the neon aesthetic or feel like the graphics are too simplistic, don't let that dissuade you. Heck of a lot of fun to play with a HOSAS setup.