Summary
FatalZoneis anotherEarly Access entryinto the ever-expanding catalog ofVampire Survivorknockoffs. And that’s not even a direct insult, the game is very obvious aboutits heavy ‘inspiration’ ofVampire Survivors, but it also adds a lot of new ideas to the subgenre as well.
FatalZonecombines three major concepts, surviving a Zombie apocalypse, fighting against endless waves of Zombies to collect resources, and slowly building up a base camp for better buffs. To do all this, players will need to use a variety of different hired Recruits (similartoDarkest Dungeon’ssystem) of all different types. So, to help new people avoid wasting their time in this pretty enjoyable dopamine overload game, let’s go over the rankings of all the Mercs.
Unlock Requirement
Tank
Equipped with a temporary shield that absorbs a certain amount of incoming damage. Receives a bonus to elemental defense when stationary.
Take 5000 Damage Total
First up is the Tank character, which should make sense for anyone with a passing familiaritywithVampire Survivor-type games. The main focus to surviving in these games is raw damage output and weapons that constantly keep enemies from getting any closer.
Being tanky is nice for when players need to survive for a certain amount of time to unlock some new weapon or even a new Merc, but there are always better options than the Tank. While not directly ‘bad’ as a Merc choice, Tank is just overshadowed by every other Merc in the game, despite how fantastic their design is.
Brawler
Has a 20 percent chance to completely deflect incoming damage. Deals 10 percent more damage when moving.
Hold out for 2 minutes as a Veteran.
It depends on the player of course, but a lot of the gaming community seems to have a real soft spot for ‘rocker’ characters, especially in games where being a musician shouldn’t have any sort of benefit at all. The Brawler inFatalZonemay look like she’d have some sort of music-based ability, but honestly, her Passive doesn’t really have much to do with the rocker aesthetic or the Brawler title.
Regardless, it’s a pretty nice Passive to have and is the perfect middle ground between being too focused on defense like the Tank while also having a bit of a damage buff since it’s very easy to stay on the move in these types of games.
Has innate Health Regeneration.
Kill 1 Zombie.
Soldier-type characters in roguelikes, RPGs, and basically any game they’re included in as a playable class usually all fit the same definition: Boring but very strong. The Soldier in Enter the Gungeon has the most vanilla Guns and innate Items, but they’re reliable and deal great damage.
Even Soldiers in Dungeons & Dragons are known as the white bread Class choice. InFatalZone, this trend stays true, as the Veteran is pretty boring to play compared to the other Mercs. That said, innate Health Regeneration is a great Passive, and it makes it easy for players to just sit still and let their damage speak for themselves without having to routinely go searching for Med Packs.
Can revive 1 time during a Raid.
Unlocked by Default.
The Survivor is the starting Merc inFatalZone, and the whole intro cinematic does a great job of making them likable enough for players to not immediately switch to a new Merc as soon as the Veteran is unlocked.
However, the Survivors Passive, while it can, quite literally, save the player’s life also enables a riskier playstyle since players know they’ll be able to revive themselves if they get too risky. Then, when those same players switch to a different Merc, suddenly they’re not doing as well as before. Regardless, the Survivor is the perfect default class forFatalZonebecause it’s great for the first few runs, but can then be easily sidelined for more fun Mercs.
Gain a significant boost to defense in toxic environments.
Reach Raid Level 60
When players first read Biotech’s Passive (and to a lesser extent, Pyros) they might be confused. But, once players realize that weapons like the Biodestructor and the Toxic Grenades trigger this Passive, it becomes immediately clear why the Biotech is ranked this high.
Despite the Passive being based around defense like the Tank’s, the Biotech’s Passive andsynergistic weapon choicesnaturally incentivize players to end up with a loadout that literally lets them just clear the map while just standing there doing nothing. And funnily enough, inVampire Survivor-type games, when the game plays itself entirely, that’s when players know that a certain class or loadout is overpowered.
Pyro
Gains a boost to fire damage, movement, and reload speed when enveloped in flames.
Kill 100,000 Zombies
The Pyro is funny because it’s pretty much just a better version of the Biotech. While it’s not quite as easy to stay constantly enveloped in flames as it with with Toxic Damage and the Biodestructor, it’s not all that hard either. And, while the Pyro is standing in fire, she gets a whole bunch of buffs to more offense-focused stats like move speed and reload speed. Sadly, this Merc is probably going to be the one players take the longest to unlock (outside of maybe the Biotech) considering it requires killing a whopping 100,000 Zombies. But, once the Pyro is available, players will have a hard time ever switching off of it.
Finds more Resources in Crates.
Gather 18,000 Resources
And for the top class, of course, it’s going to be the one that makes hoarding Resources easier. In any game where the ‘goal’ is to upgrade a base,PowerUp screen, or character to their highest level using Resources, a character based around generating more resources is always going to reign supreme.
Additionally, it really doesn’t take all that much to unlock the Scavenger inFatalZone, so once they’re unlocked the game suddenly becomes so much easier as players can literally dictate when a run ismore focused around Zombie killsor Resource gathering based on the Merc they choose to head out with.
FatalZonewas released on October 23rd, 2023 on PC, Steam, & a variety of other indie game hosting platforms.
