Back in May of this year, Pandemic Express: Zombie Escape hit Steam’s Early Access program. I jumped into this part-zombie escape, part-first-person shooter to see what the hype was all about. While I mostly enjoyed the experience, the game was very rough in places and the balance was way off.
So, as the game finally releases, has its period in Early Access benefitted it? You’ll be glad to know that the answer is yes. Pandemic Express is now a more well-rounded title with much better balance and some great new features.
The Basics
While the basic principle of the game remains the same - humans must escape zombies before they are all turned - the mechanics have been tweaked.
Instead of 30 players, there are now 20. This has helped reduce queue times, but also makes the early game less chaotic. Due to the fact that everyone starts in a small area, where one person is turned and has 30 seconds to convert as many humans as they can before the doors open; fewer players have meant that there are fewer zombies fleeing the scene.
This is something that has helped the human-zombie balance issues, as previously the zombies would often be numerous before you even got into the main game.
Once away from the station, humans must flee. The game previously did this using a train, but now also includes a cable car, which changes the dynamics. The method of transport used is randomized when players load into a game.
Human-Zombie Balancing
The balance was the biggest issue by far when I first played the game. Zombies would win virtually all of the games. They were too fast, weapons were too scarce, and humans didn’t stand a chance, mostly due to the length of time they had to survive. Over the game's time spent in Early Access, all these quirks have been balanced out and playing now yields a far more even balance between human and zombie victories.
Weapons appear more plentiful and are easier to find, thanks to a highlighting feature that shows humans if there are weapons inside a building. Players can also earn cosmetic items which give them a boost as a human.
The development team also changed the scoring system, and now points are earned for pushing the train and dealing damage, as well as defending or claiming airdrops. Zombies can still win if they turn all the humans, but human teams can rack up points for a victory much quicker.
Balances to damage and speed have also helped close the gap between humans and zombies, giving both a fair shot at success.
New Zombies
The zombie classes have also changed. Gone are phantoms, and now we have chasers, mimics, and reworked bombers.
Mimics appear as humans. They take on the name and appearance of a random human player, including their weapon. They cannot fire, but can deal melee damage and plant bombs.
Bombers work much as before (by exploding). They have just had a rework to fix some balance issues. These include changes to their health, radius, and damage.
Chasers appear to be just regular zombies as far as I can tell. I have to admit they were super dull to play in comparison, so I stuck to the other classes.
If humans are threatening to win, a conductor class boss zombie will be introduced. The role is given to a random zombie and switches from one to another. A conductor is a tank that is slow-moving, but has a huge health pool.
How It Plays
While I previously enjoyed the game, the changes have really kicked it up a notch. The new zombie classes are more interesting to play, the balance issues are largely resolved, and even the glitches have been patched (mostly). They even added in a tutorial, although it is brief.
The only real major issue now is that at certain times, you have to queue for a game. While there is a dedicated community, which make playing enjoyable, hitting it up at an off-peak time can be frustrating.
While on the subject of community, I also wanted to mention that for a game with open voice comms, the chat was not at all toxic in any of the games I played in, something which is rare in games of this type.
There are still some issues with the game, especially with things like minor graphical errors or clipping, but they are far less noticeable and the major bugs have been patched out. As the team continues to follow their roadmap I’ve no doubt they will fix many of these problems as well.
All Aboard The Zombie Hype Train (Or Cable Car)
Overall, this game is a great way to spend some time, especially now that you can play with up to three friends. It’s fast-paced, fun, and includes some crazy movement mechanics, lots of explosions, zombies, bombs, guns, and trains. What’s not to love? Oh, that’s right it’s the music, still. As much as the game is enjoyable, I still don’t want to listen to Dance Macabre on a loop.
Easy to play but difficult to master, Pandemic Express: Zombie Escape has come on hugely over the last few months and I have confidence that, while not perfect right now, it’s only going to get better.
4 Out Of 5 Stars
A review copy of Pandemic Express: Zombie Escape was provided to TheGamer for this review. Pandemic Express: Zombie Escape is now available on Steam.
Pandemic Express: Zombie Escape