Infection-free zone, now in Steam Early Access, has a premise: zombies have taken over the world, driving humanity into underground bunkers to wait out the plague. Eventually the radio comes on and a message sounds that the disease is fading. Although the surface is still dangerous, it is time to take action and attempt to build a new society.
This isn’t my first rodeo with a game like this, where you have to build a post-apocalyptic society that’s constantly under attack from hordes of zombies. However, this is the first time I’ve done this from the comfort and safety of my own pad in the real world. Instead of a fictional setting or a careful diorama based on a real city, Infection-free zone pulls from map data to create a one-to-one recreation of cities and towns, using that information to create places for looting and build a base of operations.
A Infection-free zone run starts with the player choosing where to start. The game offers my own region as a starting location and I even found my own apartment. The map also uses real-world data to categorize each building. For example, the walk-in clinic across the street from my apartment is recognized as a hospital, making it an ideal starting headquarters. My apartment building had no medical facilities, and its size made it difficult to defend. In the meantime, I could easily close the clinic and provide myself with all those free medicines I left behind.
Image: Jutsu Games/Game Operators
The real function of each building influences the way it is interpreted Infection-free zone. If I wanted to survive, it would be necessary to learn about the advantages – and disadvantages – of every building in my area. From there I began organizing my population into small teams to search the homes in the area for canned food. We found other survivors and started planting food and building infrastructure.
Unfortunately, I haven’t yet figured out how to escape one of two inevitable fates: turtles until I starve, or attract so many infected to my fledgling settlement that we’re overwhelmed. Maybe it’s because I live in a modest Canadian neighborhood where guns don’t appear often, but I couldn’t find enough firearms to fend off the endless hordes. You can play anywhere theorybut in practice you will have to choose a large city for more resources.
There are also other minor early access issues that are all individually annoying, but add up to make challenges seem insurmountable. Do you want to renovate a building? You have to clean everyone up first. Do you want to spend time on research? The progression tree has disappointingly few options, so it doesn’t feel very satisfying. I managed to plant many crops in the park near my house, but they stopped producing food. By the time I realized they needed fertilizer, my colony was already on the brink of starvation. Many of these issues are not broadcast or explained by the game in any way; I discovered them along the way and usually died for the effort. These annoyances go beyond the typical flaws of zombie games or base builders; they seem much more related to the game’s early access status.
Furthermore, seemingly everything requires an endless amount of wood to build, upgrade, or progress. At first I thought the easiest way to get wood would be to cut down trees, but I discovered that it is actually more productive to tear down buildings to get other materials as well, such as bricks. However, that turns what seems like an impossible barrier into just a deeply boring and annoying grind. All those extra materials also fill up my storage space, which requires a lot of micromanagement. It’s all very awkward, and the threat of the roaming undead meant I didn’t have much time to focus on solving these problems. Add to that constant broadcasts and radio chatter, and I walked away Infection-free zone annoyed.
Image: Jutsu Games/Game Operators
Instead of fighting the zombies and seeing them emerge as a natural threat, I felt like the real enemy was the game itself. A base builder zombie survival game like State of disrepair 2 can be difficult and scary, but I always felt like I was in control of my destiny. I would like more freedom of choice as an overseer and more ways to evolve the game. At this point, my settlement seems doomed to starvation or being overrun by the inevitable hordes.
There’s still a lot to fix, but this is an early access release, and Infection-free zone has a lot of potential. The ability to choose a real neighborhood or literally rebuild society from the comfort of your own home is very cool. I’m intrigued to see if Jutsu Games can turn things around and clean up all the UI issues, early access bugs, and janky systems. There’s something special about surviving the post-apocalypse in my own neighborhood and using my local knowledge for the benefit of my community of survivors. Alternatively, it’s fun to start a game at the foot of a famous monument and enjoy a bit of post-apocalyptic tourism. It’s just a shame that the rest of the ride is so tough at the moment.