The honest review for Zombie Battleground
I am passionate game designer and I really love games. Recently I’ve got interested in crypto games and I’ve realized that there aren’t any honest game reviews yet. So I decided to get involved in it.
I would like to make my first review with a Zombie Battleground game.
This standout game has already gotten a lot of funding on Kickstarter. Since the game is not available yet and they are fundraising to develop, it’s worth to start with a team review.
The team
The game is being developed by Loom Network. This is a blockchain startup which is developing Loom DAppChain. They want to solve the problem of Ethereum scaling by using their sidechains and providing the ability to secure data transferring. This idea is quite interesting and has its right to exist. But so far, there is no interest from other developers (at least it is unnoticeable). Their platform is used by only a single project DelegateCall.com (this is a Q&A site like stackoverflow.com), which has been made by themselves. They also have 3 games for their platform in progress. Although we have not yet begun to review the game, but it is already clear that the main goal of its development is to demonstrate their main project capabilities to raise the interest of other developers.
The development team of the Zombie Battleground is headed by Roy Shapira. Before joining Loom Network, he has been working for 12 years as a game designer in various companies, which tells us that he has quite a lot of experience (although he doesn’t have any outstanding projects in his entire career). The rest of the team is more like random outsourcers from all over the world, mostly from Thailand. So, it turns out that the team consists of an experienced, but not very successful game designer and a diverse group of performers who are working from 15 different countries. Unfortunately, this doesn’t give us any reason to believe that they will be able to make a really good game.
What about game?
Well, let’s look at the game itself. At the outset it is clear that this is a sheer clone of Hearthstone. We all know copying is very common in game industry. Patent isn’t issued on game mechanics. But there is a fine line between creating a similar project using similar mechanics and full copying. And this is a criminal offence. You could hear about game developers’ lawsuits against each other. Usually, the basis is the copying of the game interface, because this is an easier way to prove the guilt. Judge for yourself:
The game setting is zombie (as in all Loom Network projects). There is nothing unique about this setting. The lore hasn’t been adequately elaborated. No their own ideas, no history. It’s just zombies fighting with each other. They compensate the lack of essential basis of any good card game by copying on the verge of a lawsuit.
So we have a full clone of the Hearthstone and don’t have any information why this can be better than the original. Instead, there is a weak team, cheap art, the absence of a lore and no innovative game mechanics.
However, the Loom Network founders draw attention to the сompetitors’ “problems” and submit their technology as a godsend. The solution of these “problems” is presented as the main game selling point. Let’s view in details:
- They claim that in today’s game world the main thing is to earn money, but giving players an excellent gameplay is not so important. It’s supposed that the most important thing for all developers is money, not fun. It is not true. Hearthstone, which they copy, is a great game, and millions of players (and so do I) enjoy the game right now. Nobody can blame Blizzard that money matters more than the players’ satisfaction for them. But now we know for sure that Zombie Battleground is created for Loom DAppChain advertising and the players’ fun is not in priority.
- They argue that the only way to get the required card in modern card games is to buy multiple boosters, so players have to pay a lot of money to create a good card deck, which is incorrect. Hearthstone allows players to get any card quickly and for free by crafting it from the Arcane Dust obtained from destroying unwanted cards. But it’s still not clear if Zombie Battleground will allow players to get the required card. Despite the fact that they copied the Arcane Dust mechanics, they still claim that the number of legendary cards will be limited and not everyone will be able to get them.
- They argue that modern games often close and ban players for no reason. If we consider Hearthstone, it has been developing for 4 years, it doesn’t plan to close and I haven’t heard of any case of an unreasonable ban. The Loom founders lead these reasons to a counterbalance for their approach. It’s supposed that the cards possession is reliable and players will be able to play even if their company closes. That’s not true either. It can only be in a case if they used a really decentralized blockchain such as Ethereum. But they use their technology Loom DAppChain, which will turn into a pumpkin if they close their company.
These are all USP of this game. And as you can see that doesn’t stand up to criticism.
Let’s sum up. The main reason for creating this game is advertising of their main product. This means that if the developers plan to make an excellent game, this is still not a priority. Instead, they try to find any possible ways to save money. They hired a “cheap labour”, copied the gameplay and an interface. They didn’t invent anything new. They parasitize on someone else’s intellectual property.
I don’t recommend spending your time on this game for a number of reasons.
So, in conclusion, a few words. I do not want to offend anyone. My goal is to write an honest evidence-based review. If I wasn’t accurate somewhere — please specify this in the comments, and I’ll be glad to correct. I want the cryptogames industry to develop and its reputation must not be undermined by the projects that are speculating on the hype. I await for your feedback. Suggest other games for review!
