OZARK
Overview
OZARK is a 2.5D survival horror tactical shooter set in Canadian mountains where a secret laboratory is located, packed with guards and other horrors. Armed with three weapons plus what you can find in the facility, management of gear and consumables will be vital for combat. A short adventure that can be completed in three hours, solo or with a friend. A controller is recommended, though keyboard and mouse are supported.
(This review was written entirely in singleplayer mode).
Gameplay
We start the game with a survival hatchet, a silenced pistol, an automatic rifle with laser sight, a shotgun with a magazine clip, and fragmentation grenades. The camera is always centered on our character, but it can be zoomed out to watch enemies far away. Guards patrol a perimeter until we draw their attention, either by noise or sight. Their response is either firing if we are in their line of sight or lobbing a grenade to our location. They move a lot, either to us or fallback to an alarm if available. If they are in melee range, they will only attack by kicking. Paying attention to how the enemy reacts will decide the battle.
We have tank controls; this means we can’t make auto turns to face the enemy behind us, and they must be done manually without aiming. We can’t shoot if in melee range, for some reason. The silenced pistol is good for saving ammo, but it doesn’t have the firepower of the rifle or shotgun. The assault rifle has more precision, and the shotgun has massive firepower. Ammo is limited but also plentiful when playing conservatively. We can perform stealth or melee takedowns as well.
In the field, supply chests can be found; some are locked and require a lock breaker. Besides ammunition, consumables such as stimulants, water, and food, and first aid kits are among the items in the game. If neglecting hydration and/or nourishment or using many stimulants simultaneously, our health will deplenish slowly. Powerful stimulants will venom our body with either toxicity or radiation, with other sources such as environmental hazards. You don’t have to use everything or carry anything you don’t have a use for; your backpack has a limit of 35 items.
The game sports several levels of difficulty that set accuracy, damage dealt, and damage taken. On any difficulty, however, AI remains unchanged. Difficulty can be changed at any moment in the options menu. The entire campaign can be completed solo or with a teammate, through local or remote. At the end of each mission, stats will be displayed, showcasing your accuracy, mobs killed, deaths, and consumables used. Collectibles found or achievements earned unlock skins for the operator’s gear. If you want to duel with your friend, you can do so in the multiplayer local menu of the game.
Bugs Found
In the first level, if respawning after death, backtracking will show that enemies do not respawn, but ammo & supplies do. Dialogues play again.
!!SPOILER!! Almost at the end of Act 5 (before the core), the door did not open. Had to backtrack to open a different door, which fixed the issue. !!SPOILER!!
Audio & Graphics
Optimization isn’t the best in some areas, even with everything lowered, but the graphics are decent for the type of game. Controls (with keyboard and mouse only) still aren’t the best, and there is no keybinding remap yet. The HUD is okay. The music is dynamic, changing depending on our status, whenever we are in combat or in a story segment.
Pros & Cons
Pros-
Survival horror, tactical co-op shooter with some cult-classic inspirations.
The story was okay, albeit a bit short.
Cons-
Controls (keyboard and mouse) are still clunky; even if they got improved recently, they’re still awkward for combat.
Enemies can rush very fast to me without problem; some are still able to shoot at pointblank, while I can’t shoot them back properly and must resort to melee.
Hunger and water mechanics are unpolished, and feel unnecessary for this game. At the end of the campaign, I was dehydrating while still having food to spare.
Dialogue isn’t good; it’s tedious and very long at moments.
Rating: 5/10
Costs the price of a box of doughnuts!
