Recent reviews by UnixSolstice

Picked up for free weekend, and after multiple sessions with between 1-6 other players in my lobby, I can without a shadow of a doubt say this is a zombie game for those who want a slow paced, deliberate zombie experience.

-Initial Thoughts:
I went in having doubts after hearing all the negative press surrounding this games initial release, and the price point kept me away for a while. But I was genuinely surprised that trying it out myself actually changed my mind completely, and at this rate I wonder how many people who rate this game negatively have played the original, because in that regard this game does improve on every system the previous game has, and feels like a slightly improved, more accessible, and approachable version of the first game.

-Connectivity & Performance:
I nor any of the 6 people I tried the trial with ran into any major issues with lagging, performance issues other than one quickly resolved crash on my friends end (that allowed him to reconnect to the match and still be alive.)

-Melee:
The complaints people have with the melee are almost entirely invalid in my opinion, and this is coming from someone who generally strays away from melee weapons in zombie games because they feel so unengaging to use (the first game was a culprit of this as well). In fact I would go as far to say for a zombie game...- This melee system rivals the likes of Dead Island and Dying light if you actually take the time in the Training Range to figure out how the melee system works, the melee rounds out to be some of the most satisfying melee combat you'll ever experience...- The sound effects, gore, and animations all play a part in making melee feel weighty, yet still responsive enough to not detract from or discourage its use (I'm serious, try doing anything in the first game with low stamina.) The shove allows for risky plays with its ability to interrupt zombie swings and the kick makes isolating bunched up zombies easier, while also ensuring no singular zombie can be a major setback in your multi-hour runs. All in all, major improvements to the melee system were made here compared to the first game.

-Gunplay:
The firearms share the same benefits the Melee system has. Great sounds, great animations (aside from the occasional timing error) and punchy feel, makes guns feel leagues better than the first game. The only cracks I spotted were the removal of PIP scopes which is understandable when using Unreal as opposed to Source, and the .22 weapons seem to be wildly inaccurate, having to aim quite low in order for shots to land. However, this issue is mitigated by the removal of the randomized nature of spawning in the first game had. If there are weapons you find unsavory you are never forced to use them thanks to the new loadout system, a luxury the first game did not provide you with where the only items you had to work with were whatever happened to be in your spawn room, and whatever you ended up finding along the very linear maps.

-Environment:
And as for the maps, a game like this benefits infinitely from having open-ended maps the way this game does, especially with the randomized objectives and player spawn points. Some maps can be a bit more linear for a more classic NMRIH feel which is good for those who prefer that style, but the inclusion of broader open ended maps is very welcome in my opinion and lends to the atmosphere much more, which is not something this game lacks in the slightest.

-Progression and Permadeath:
Now lets talk about the complaint I've seen the most out of the negative reviews, permadeath. Yes losing progress always sucks in a game where you can earn things and make tons of progress, especially when its to something like a crash, or a bug...- Now the entire survivor system as a whole was absent from the first game, no levels, perks, loadout, or anything to work towards in terms of progression. The only progression present in the first game was whether or not you completed the level you were currently playing so I can appreciate the addition of something to work towards at all, while still making death impactful as you lose the perks and loadout that survivor has. However, there are ways to get around the pain of losing a high level character. For one- when you're at the bottom the only way you can go is up, on a fresh survivor, make all the crazy plays you want, don't feel uncomfortable, and push yourself to go the distance... If you die? Nothing was lost! If you extract? Congrats! you now have a lvl 12 character to sit on! Now make a fresh survivor and do that again. Since you can have up to 3 active survivors, eventually you'll have three survivors roughly about the same level. At that point, its up to you if you want to commit to one survivor, or level them up each incrementally. Regardless, if you manage them properly, you will never be short on a high end survivor with high end perks if the time calls for it.

-Multiplayer:
I will add, interactions with randoms are a dice roll...though this issue was present in the first game too. Who would have guessed a co-op focused zombie game would require co-operative play. I implore you to pick up the game with at least one or two friends, then you two can run private matches on casual to level up survivors, or give yourselves a challenge on classic or hard (yes classic is a challenge, especially for a duo but its definitely not impossible. you wanna be at least lvl 15 before playing classic.) when you're comfortable then you can try your luck in a public match, but I don't recommend taking your first foray with randoms.

The only net negative I can really say here is the removal of solo play, but I have a reliable friend group who'd be willing to play whenever so it isn't so much a problem for me, but I feel it should be added for those who need, or prefer a solo experience.

TL/DR: I feel a lot of the negative complaints on this game are invalid or come from people who may not have played the first game. NMRIH2 improves on a surprising amount of what the first game had to offer, and is a much more accessible experience than the janky (sue me.) source version. Definitely worth grabbing with some friends on a sale if you're willing to learn the mechanics and navigate a punishing zombie survival experience.

Don't let the low playtime I have on steam fool you. I started this game on Xbox in 2019 and I was completely enamored by it right from the jump. I spent my life up until that point thinking an immersive zombie survival game like this just didn't exist, and this game ticked every box for me that I needed.

-A massive, interesting, and fun to navigate map with lots of environmental storytelling
-Item micromanagement (Loading magazines bullet by bullet, managing sickness, etc)
-Lots of guns ranging from civilian to military
-Cars that are fun to drive (yes i'm aware of the bugs)
-PVE threats that actually instilled fear
-Massive multiplayer lobbies with proximity chat
-Decent downtime between player interactions
-A multilayered difficulty curve

This game had everything going for it for me, and I managed to sink 2000 hours into the game in about 8 months by playing every day, for 10 hours each day. To say I loved this game would be a genuine understatement, even in death I only saw opportunities for new adventures. This was the slow burn, zombie apocalypse simulator I always wanted. It was so good I bought the game twice, and both of the DLC's the day they came out. I didn't like Livonia at all, yet I didn't regret for one second buying the map despite never playing it because I wanted to support Bohemia for giving me a game I could love as much as I did. and even after I stopped playing the game, I still bought Frostline in hopes things might improve.

in less than a year they ruined all of it. I haven't played this game seriously since 2022. (Despite this I still keep up with every single one of this game's updates)

The current state of this game is probably the worst example of an identity crisis i've had to bear witness to in my entire life.

Don't bother playing on vanilla servers. This game has no anti-cheat (BattlEye just doesn't work.) The only ways you can play vanilla at this rate is either on Xbox, or via one of the two major servers that are kind of* vanilla, and even then you'll spend about 30 minutes or more watching the queue counter go down unless you pay the server owner for some kind of priority queue.

Moreover the game doesn't know what it wants to be anymore, or which side of the playerbase it wants to please. This game was advertised as a hardcore survival sim that required stones and grit to master, this is no longer true. Every 3 or 4 patches is them doing things like brightening the nights as the casual players whine they cant see at night without one of the MANY light sources in the game, and then darkening it back down again because the hardcore players want night visibility to be a tradeoff as it obviously SHOULD be until you get night vision goggles.

*This issue is best highlighted in the latest patch where their aim is to make survival difficulty changes, and in the same breath they're brightening the nights yet again.*

Some more ways they've dumbed down the gameplay loop of this game despite what the advertisements want to suggest.

-There is now a way to have a marker on your map by finding the GPS item (even though the game description claims otherwise)
-High tier loot no longer spawns frequently inland, in fact there's hardly a reason to go to places like Tisy and NWAF as all the best gear now spawns in the toxic zones near the coast
-The gunplay is STILL snappy and arcade-like despite having the ballistics of a mil-sim.
-People on your friends list now have a higher likelihood to spawn near you, rather than you having to learn to navigate to find them (encouraging more discord party play and de-incentivizing VOIP use)
-There is now a server config setting to force all vehicles to have automatic transmissions where they had been manuals before, and the player cannot individually choose to have manual despite this.

Maybe this game isn't for me anymore and i've accepted that. But I still sit here yearning for more, checking on the patch notes with each release hoping I can find the same enjoyment in this game I had almost 5 years ago. Despite my review I never stopped loving this game, I just hope things get better.