It’s really hard to believe that Call of Duty: World at War is now over a decade old. It seems just like last Tuesday was when Treyarch released not only one of the better titles in the franchise, but the original Nazi Zombies mode. This fun little game within a game has become a juggernaut, as it’s been included in almost every successful CoD release since and spawned countless imitations, some of which are great (Killing Floor 2) while others fail to capture most of the magic (Dead Alliance). Which camp does the newly release Blood Waves fall into? Well, I can assure you that CoD has nothing to worry about in terms of competition.

The game offers nothing in terms of a story, throwing you right into the shoes of an unnamed protagonist who looks a lot like Lara Croft (to make things easier, we’ll call her Cara Lroft) and fights for her life against an endless zombie hoard in what appears to be a pyramid. The premise is extremely simple: kill the undead, collect cash and XP token, rinse and repeat. Since this is labeled as a full release, I was quite disappointed to discover there is only a single map that consists of a solitary room included at launch, feeling more in line with a demo or early access version opposed to a full-fledged release.

You begin each game with a Colt pistol as well as a machete, requiring you to cut and shoot your way through a few waves before you even consider purchasing any upgrades or new weaponry. The store, which can be found via a surprisingly small pathway that opens between waves, boasts an impressive range of traps and weapons that can be purchased, all for a staggering amount of money that I have yet to see in a single run. I have been able to survive long enough to get a few of the lower tiered guns, but the payoff per kill is entirely too small, resulting in each game being a grind that never sees a legit payout, as all progress is lost upon starting a new run. I could legitimately see a reason for the high price point if it was something you could carry XP or money over between runs; however, the complete lack of progress left me feeling empty, much like the title.

At best, the game looks like something that would’ve been released on the past generation of consoles. The walls look lazily slapped together with a generic brick template; blood and gore splashes out in awkward, unrealistic puddles and sprays; Cara looks like that other Tomb Raider before Crystal Dynamics gave her a massive overhaul. The zombie hoards do little to improve the experience, as they look just as bad, often appearing to be missing frames of animation or having their limbs mysteriously vanish upon taking damage. I’m not sure in what world someone can have their arms just randomly disappear when taking head trauma, but in the world of Blood Wave it’s more common than finding money lying about on the ground.

The actual combat doesn’t do much to elevate the experience, which is largely due to the limited ammo capacity. While you can carry any and all of the guns you’ve unlocked, removing the requirement of weighing the pros and cons of each weapon, the standard ammo count is entirely too low, requiring you to either waste your money early into each run on ammo or upgrading the carrying capacity. Rubbing salt into the wound is the unforgiving nature of the stamina bar – you’ll need to conserve this in the event you run out of ammo and need to use the previously mentioned machete (which looks ridiculous, akin to Pyramid Head’s unwieldy long blade that Cara’s small stature should never be able to lift, let alone swing), but if you choose, the option to throw this away on sprinting or dodging is there. I found the most successful method of play was simply using the sprint in short bursts and to shoot from a distance, praying to whatever idol you worship that you don’t run of out ammo. I found this to be the most challenging aspect of the game, as working against the punishing mechanics is more challenging that any of the zombie forces that lumber slowly towards Cara.

At the end of the day, Blood Waves feels more like stomping in a puddle than a wave as the name suggests. With no co-operative option, the entirety of the game taking place in two rooms, dated visuals, and broken mechanics all around, I would avoid this at all costs and throw your $10 at Activision’s more polished brand of zombie slaying antics.

2 out of 10

Pros

• Easy to Navigate

Cons

• No Co-Op
• Broken Mechanics
• Dated Visuals
• Lacking in Content
• Overpriced Upgrades with No Progression Between Runs

Blood Waves was developed by Light Road Games and published by Sometimes You. It launched on PC in 2018, and will arrive on NS, PS4, and X1 on March 15th, 2019. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Blood Waves, check out the Steam page.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

 

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