Do we need another zombie game? Yes, yes we do. Especially if it is Yet Another Zombie Survivors by Awesome Games Studio.

Bring On the Horde, of zombies not the other one

Ok, let's be honest, there are a lot of zombie games out there. There are a lot of rougelites out there. There are a ton of bullet hell, dodge and survive style games out there. Are they all good? No. Are they all exciting? No. But when Awesome Games decided that they were going to make Yet Another Zombie Survivors, they made sure to do it right. 

This motley crew

You start off with three survivors unlocked: SWAT, Tank, and Engineer. Each has their own weapons, abilities, and upgrades unique to their style. SWAT starts with a pistol that can be upgraded to an Uzi. Tank trades his single shot shotgun for a pump. The Engineer takes a whole other approach to combat and has a Taser (it's an electric gun, not a police taser) that upgrades to a Tesla coil rifle. As you play, you are confronted with wave on wave of zombies that increase in number and ability as you progress. They start out as your basic shambling undead, then you're introduced to quicker, lither zombies. I was calling them bonies (Warm Hearts, anyone? No, just me, okay then). Eventually, you are confronting massive Leather Face style brutes, swarm spawning old ladies, spitters, and Behemoths that throw their massive bulk at you to deal large amounts of damage.

He didn't skip leg day

As you play, you dodge and destroy the oncoming horde while trying to rescue survivors and get upgrades. The survivors provide either a companion to help you or once you get a full squad, an instant level up. The upgrades give you anything from a potato (seriously it's just a potato), to XP boosts, to massive health increases. The upgrades are all random and can be reshuffled twice. You also have the ability to shuffle your level ups, and there is a special upgrade that gives you reshuffles, in case you are not getting what you want. I have to say, there is not a bad upgrade. Each and everyone will help and boost your team to do better as the horde gets bigger and stronger. Okay, almost all, like I said the potato is just a potato.

Hmm, this looks good

Now as far as the leveling goes, it's pretty straightforward. Get level, choose from your three available categories, and become stronger. As you unlock more and more for each character, you get more choices of how to spend your level. This can range from weapon upgrades, to better abilities, to increasing passives for more damage, critical or healing. If you're not focusing on one specific aspect of your characters, you're going to have a lot of options and not always the ones you need. As you progress through the game, the levels have more choices to make your character customized to how you want to play.

Level up, baby

The game itself is in early access, but the level that you are able to play, and the options to play that level still give you quite a bit. You start by playing the level in basic survivor mode, which is pretty much, fighting zombies till the time is right and the sun comes up on a new day. After you are able to complete that, you unlock the endless and hard modes, respectfully. The basic mode offers a good challenge to break you in and learn what you are in for. The endless mode gives you a challenge to survive as long as you can, while the horde gets stronger and bigger. Of course, hard mode is exactly what it sounds like, the basic mode, but everything is turned up to eleven. All the modes are unlockable with any survivor.

Where we droppin boys

Speaking of survivors, there are unlockable survivor options as well. As I said before, you have the basic starting three, but as you complete tasks you will unlock the other three playable characters: Huntress, Ghost, and Medic. Each has more abilities and equipment you get the more you level up and play. I have to say, I was not sure about Ghost at first because he is the only melee character, but he shines. Between unlocks that let him have distance on his attacks and his overall sturdiness, he became a go-to character. They each also become available as teammates for the others, and the combos you can make with their abilities can be a blast. I mean, who doesn't want to see purple, blue and red explosions while killing zombies because your group has three different kinds of throwables. Bloody fireworks anyone? 

Don't stand still, there not a T-Rex

Throughout all of this you are also gaining cash, which turns into training points. You can use these to up your passive healing, income, leveling, and a whole list of other passives that help you really wreck the plans of a brain hungry horde. Unlike a lot of games where you get your points, spend them and then leave it at that, you can redistribute according to how you feel suits you. That speed buff is not serving you like you want, change your points to damage. Wanna level up quickly, get XP increase and leave that armor behind. Or, go all in and get them all. It's your choice.

Training Day

I had a blast playing the game, and kept going back for more. I think that they really have something going with how Awesome has put this game together. They really focused on it being fun, while still giving it that zombie apocalypse feel. As I said, it is still in early access, but I personally can not wait to see what the other levels, characters, and maybe enemies are going to be like. The game play is simple, crisp, and draws you in, without having to make you think really hard on what you are doing next, so it is great casually while being engaging. I have beat multiple rounds, played endless mode, and still want to go back and try new combos of characters and abilities. I recommend this game to lovers of the zombie culture, people who like rougelites, and anyone that wants a game that will give them satisfaction with a small amount of time to game here and there.