H1Z1 Battle Royale PS4 Review: All Kills No Frills

H1Z1 Battle Royale PS4 Review: All Kills No Frills

WITH H1Z1 BATTLE ROYALE, PAPY MAKES RESISTANCE

If he appears to be the dean in the wild jungle of battle royale, we will especially remember H1Z1 as being this game which has been stolen the limelight. It must be said that Brendan Greene, the man, the myth, behind this fashion has long since given up his role as consultant at Daybreak to focus on PUBG. Rock-star on the return, living from the top of its 8 million users, H1Z1 nevertheless continued its little stick, update after update, to the whims of the yellings pushed on Reddit. And if he has a hard time convincing PC players today, that did not prevent him from coming out of his endless beta less than three days ago to land on PS4 in final version. Was the wait worth it?

Hell is other people

But what did I do to the big boss so that he stubbornly gives me all these battle royale, when I'm not damn landing in the top 10 without hiding in the bushes for ¾ hours? The mystery remains, but what is certain is that while my colleagues are going there quietly of their selection on Dead Cells, it is still a bug that hits the Highlander simulator. If this expression does not awaken the slightest image in you, let's summarize in a few words the main lines of the genre. Imagine a hundred vicious lads parachuted in the middle of their outskirts, and all animated by a common dream: to massively cheerfully kill all their fellows in order to be the only survivor of the butchery. Here. No script, no staging, in H1Z1 the only concern is to recover the slightest bit of drag and drag your skin dearly. In short, misanthropy is a game in a way.

With a few words, we could obviously reduce to this simple paragraph most of the battle royale of the market, but each paragon of the genre hides its small subtleties. At Fortnite, it's its possibilities of construction, at PUBG, we will rather speak of a certain form of realism. Where H1Z1 stands out is in its extremely academic and even rudimentary approach to the genre. Terms which do not resonate with a very glorious echo, but which are pronounced here without malice: the title of Daybreak is simple, quite simply, and does not bother with superfluous mechanisms. Do not count on an endurance gauge, craft recipes, or even mods to clip on your weapons: all these trifles are dead and buried. We focus on the essential, which is: shooting fast and fair. Are you looking for a stress reliever with no headache? You knocked on the good door.

The busy man

This accessibility of the mechanics also manifests itself through the rhythm of the parts which prove to be much “denser” than in the competition. Once released on the map, it takes little more than a few seconds before getting your hands on a backpack (to increase the size of its inventory), armor or a good old 9mm. The smallest suburban lodge hides everything you need to punch your opponents with confidence - which suggests that the action is happening somewhere in the United States. A generosity in terms of distribution that even extends to cars, as if the whole universe invited you not to waste time in soporific preliminaries. It must be said that in view of the toxic gas that engulfs the world at high speed, idlers are not likely to frolic. In H1Z1, the emergency is constantly experienced and pedestrians most often experience a sinister end. The vehicle is not about comfort, but about survival.

The game card is simply massive, so to save participants from strenuous marathons, the mini-map displays absolutely everything: vehicle locations at the smallest convenience store to loot. So, even if it is unfortunately impossible to choose its point of appearance, it must be recognized that we rarely pay the price. Overall, we can even go so far as to say that the overall construction of the gameplay is quite clever: empty spaces (fields, lakes, etc.) may prove to be quite numerous, they often do not constitute anything more than parentheses between two points of interest. Too bad, however, given the time spent behind the wheel, that driving lacks a bit of flexibility. The 4x4 are slow and the quads are real soaps.

The big bad loot

However, as we used to say in the language of philosophers and today in the horoscopes of fashion magazines, H1Z1 has the flaws of its qualities. Because if its frantic pace limits the camp, it also seriously limits everything related to exploration, ambushes or even just thinking, especially at the end of the game. When the top 20 starts to break in, it is not uncommon for the last peking dogs in the running to find themselves forced to frolic like young stallions in the middle of a sterile field, to snuck haphazardly without much conviction. And the shootings still happen when the villains are more than fifteen meters away, but as soon as the threat invades your safe-space, the elegant fighters turn into hopping whirling dervishes who try to shoot down with great reinforcement buckshot.

The busy man

This accessibility of the mechanics also manifests itself through the rhythm of the parts which prove to be much “denser” than in the competition. Once released on the map, it takes little more than a few seconds before getting your hands on a backpack (to increase the size of its inventory), armor or a good old 9mm. The smallest suburban lodge hides everything you need to punch your opponents with confidence - which suggests that the action is happening somewhere in the United States. A generosity in terms of distribution that even extends to cars, as if the whole universe invited you not to waste time in soporific preliminaries. It must be said that in view of the toxic gas that engulfs the world at high speed, idlers are not likely to frolic. In H1Z1, the emergency is constantly experienced and pedestrians most often experience a sinister end. The vehicle is not about comfort, but about survival.

The game card is simply massive, so to save participants from strenuous marathons, the mini-map displays absolutely everything: vehicle locations at the smallest convenience store to loot. So, even if it is unfortunately impossible to choose its point of appearance, it must be recognized that we rarely pay the price. Overall, we can even go so far as to say that the overall construction of the gameplay is quite clever: empty spaces (fields, lakes, etc.) may prove to be quite numerous, they often do not constitute anything more than parentheses between two points of interest. Too bad, however, given the time spent behind the wheel, that driving lacks a bit of flexibility. The 4x4 are slow and the quads are real soaps.

The big bad loot

However, as we used to say in the language of philosophers and today in the horoscopes of fashion magazines, H1Z1 has the flaws of its qualities. Because if its frantic pace limits the camp, it also seriously limits everything related to exploration, ambushes or even just thinking, especially at the end of the game. When the top 20 starts to break in, it is not uncommon for the last peking dogs in the running to find themselves forced to frolic like young stallions in the middle of a sterile field, to snuck haphazardly without much conviction. And the shootings still happen when the villains are more than fifteen meters away, but as soon as the threat invades your safe-space, the elegant fighters turn into hopping whirling dervishes who try to shoot down with great reinforcement buckshot.

Afterwards, I admit being unable to aim decently with the stick without a good big aiming aid, so no red badge. And anyway, when loot crates fall from the sky and all the players around are rushing over drooling, there is a way to be entertained. The physics of the bullets as well as the feeling of the weapons are generally quite convincing and the gunpowder ignites in big BAM BAMs which hit the target. But there again, some oddities are felt: certainly, it is necessary to establish a hierarchy of guns to give meaning to their rarity, but in terms of balancing, it is still doubtful. A shotgun beast can do wonders, while a Hellfire or AR-15 is little more deadly than a pellet rifle. Add some rigidity to the controls as well as general animations, and as much to say that H1Z1 does not necessarily give the image of a product in final version.

It's a bug, it's a feature

It seems ironic considering the duration of its beta, but it's a reflection towards which we tend gradually over the bugs that animate the parties. The shadows of the characters strike half the time, the arms just wiggle, when you change your weapon ... More annoying: victim of a violent lag or of strange collision masks, I happened to be executed while I was covered behind a low wall. Or lose control of my vehicle because of a tiny pebble, transforming my race into a quadruple barrel to end up in a wall without the slightest impact. In a funnier way, it also happens that we have to wait a few seconds in the lobby before seeing the avatars appear as anything other than naked and decapitated bodies. Nothing too bad per se, however put end to end, it's the kind of trifles that do the job.

Besides these setbacks, there are two extremely questionable game design choices: first, the characters teleport without other form of animation in the nearby cars. Then, the latter do not inflict a priori any damage on the opponents, even if you hit their chin with the bull bar. The result is downright ubiquitous situations in which one rushes to the floor on the first passer-by before teleporting to the side to align it with a pump while the car blocks his view. And if it ever goes wrong? No worries, a little sprint, a simple press on the triangle and hop, we find ourselves covered in a warm place in our van. All that remains is to engage the nitro to take off. It is frankly hard to imagine how such blunders could go unnoticed in the eyes of the developers. As it stands, H1Z1 has a frightening lack of finish.

Rotten and men

Phew, that’s it. So now that you expect an unplayable and depressing purge as possible, we will still raise the level of a simple explanation: even under these conditions the battle royale formula works relatively well. As our lord Noddus, doctor honoris causa in the matter would say, H1Z1 is also a game of stories, made of dramas and small personal victories. A millimeter headshot on a fugitive who thought he had time to reach his hideout. A hands-on alliance between two dying whippersnappers who, without a word, lend a hand in adversity. A tragic betrayal that follows a minute later ... Moments of grace during which we remember that the human factor is the keystone of the experience. This is why the matches in duos and squads are more engaging.

Well, the cushy not having invested all his points in charisma, even Pipo and Far Away, which enthusiasm usually competes in the sense of sacrifice, refused to help me during the test. So I had to put together a nice team of broken arms at random from my party searches. And yet, when you rush into a filthy van with three strangers armed to the teeth, it is not the fear of waking up in an ice cube bath with a kidney less that takes your guts, but rather the gentle warmth of silent fellowship. Of course, we do not systematically come across the most conciliatory allies on the planet, but as everyone knows: the more we are mad, the more we laugh, even in the face of death. Nothing to jump to the ceiling for sure, especially since the feeling of repetition sooner or later settles down and the waiting times between the parties quickly become long. But not everything is to be thrown away either.

PlayStation 4 Verdict

Without being infrequent, H1Z1 is simply an average title which undoubtedly owes a lot to its free service. If his philosophy of simplicity is entirely defensible, it is above all his cruel lack of finish and balance, which risks annoying psychopaths in need of fresh flesh. For PS4 owners who have never hooked on the Fortnite construction mode, it remains a viable alternative, provided that its developers put a serious polish and rethink certain mechanisms.

Share on Google Plus

About hicham

hicham elaziz love games . apps and entertainment