Summary
As with any zombie apocalypse game, the cast of characters that players choose to face the hordes with is an important decision inYet Another Zombie Survivors. Players will only be able to recruit a maximum of three out of the current six survivors on each run, and the only one they will be guaranteed to get is the survivor that they choose to lead, unless they only have the three starter survivors or reroll until they can recruit the exact group that they like. Thankfully, there are plenty of distinguishing features between each character to help inform players' decisions.
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Yet Another Zombie Survivorsiscurrently in early access, and an additional three characters are expected to be added. The current six still offer plenty of variety to gameplay. Three are available from the start of the game, and the other three can be unlocked through gameplay.
6Huntress
Huntress is most likely the first character that players will unlock after playing with the base three, since it only takes surviving fifteen minutes to unlock her. With a bow proficiency and appearance akin toTomb Raider’sLara Croft, she has all the makings of a cool zombie survivor. Sadly, her gameplay sometimes leaves a little to be desired. Her main strong point is her damage. Players can get a good head start building up their upgrades with Huntress as their leader, and her Explosive Arrows weapon upgrade can do some serious damage.
Despite these advantages, her abilities don’t offer the greatest benefits and her only defensive build significantly reduces her damage output. Her Arrow Rain ability offers a cool visual effect and seems imposing, but all too often targets a single zombie, if not empty space. Eagle Eye offers some decent buffs to the chance and damage of a player’s critical hits, but her only defensive option, the Freezing Arrows bow upgrade, can’t make up for in crowd control what it lacks in damage.
5Ghost
Another character unlocked through play, Ghost, can be unlocked by killing one hundred zombie bosses. Looking like he’sstraight out ofCyberpunk, Ghost is some sort of cyber ninja with katana and shurikens at the ready. As with Huntress, though, his insanely high damage output is negated a little by the fact that he is only really effective at a close range and his defensive capabilities are limited to a slightly increased dodge chance.
His Shuriken ability sends out a spray of throwing stars, while his Protocol: Critical ability increases critical chance and damage. While this is similar to Huntress’s Eagle Eye, hers is a small permanent increase, while Ghost’s is a temporary but large increase at different intervals. Both abilities add to the gameplay, but players may find other abilities more impactful. Despite this, he is a great choice as a recruit if players are looking to deal large damage, albeit at a short range.
4Tank
Tank is one of the three base characters. His description states that he is a ‘slow start’ but ‘strong lategame’, and this is definitely true. It can take a while for players to build up their abilities with his shotgun if he is the squad leader.He shines for his defensive capabilities, however, and can help a player to stay alive for much longer than they may without him on their team. In late gameplay, he can also make up for his initial lack of damage with a rocket launcher or minigun weapon upgrade.
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His abilities are also quite dynamic. Tank has a Sawblade Drone (and can improve the ability to add more), which circles the squad. It’s great, especially in the early stages, for clearing space around the team. His Minefield ability is a little less predictable but is also good at creating room to breathe.
3SWAT
Available from the start of the game, SWAT is ajack-of-all-trades, and this serves players very well as a first character. His damage output is second only to Ghost, but with all of the range and defensive abilities that he lacks.
SWAT’s abilities are also really engaging and all-round effective. Helicopter Strike is particularly entertaining, sending a regular airstrike in a line across the map. Although it is a little unpredictable, sometimes being a lifesaver and sometimes grazing a couple of zombies, it’s always useful to run up and down the line and collect the experience dropped by the zombies it mowed down. Grenade Trail can also be helpful to give players space to play with.
2Medic
Medic is a tough character to rank because her damage output is pretty abysmal. However, she is ranked as highly as she is because her supportive abilities make her a huge asset to any team composition. During the harder levels where players will almost certainly be taking enough damage to kill them plenty of times over, Medic’s self-heal ability, Ph.D., and her lifesteal ability, Transplantology, are a saving grace.
Although her damage output is a large downside, perhaps preventing Medic from being the bestYet Another Zombie Survivorscharacter, it’s not the biggest downside. Her Antidote Flasks can hold their own as well if not better than Huntress’s Freezing Arrows, and her weapon isn’t that bad if players simply fully upgrade her initial pistol. Paired with higher damage characters, Medic will be a winning combination. All players need to do to unlock her is collect one hundred health packs.A medic is a zombie apocalypse essential, and Medic withinYet Another Zombie Survivorsis no exception.
1Engineer
While she wasno fighter before the apocalypseif her bio is anything to go by, Engineer is a powerful character to have on a team. While SWAT is a good offensive all-rounder, Engineer has a lot of offensive capabilities and great defensive abilities alongside. The Tesla upgrade to her weapon provides a lot of damage per second, and her Electric Turret is similarly effective for damage, while helping to clear a large amount of space.
The Electrocution ability can save a player’s squad on many occasions. Surrounded by an impassable crowd of zombies, a sudden electric pulse from Engineer clearing the way is sure to bring a cheer. Great for moderate to high damage and effective crowd control, Engineer is a must-have on any zombie survival team. Even better, players start the game with her available; no work required!
Yet Another Zombie Survivorsis available to play on Steam in early access.
