The evil Dr. Vendetta is trying to take over the universe. The only thing that stands in his way is you, one of the two members of the Zheros Squad. Do you have what it takes?
"You become a champion by fighting one more round. When things are tough, you fight one more round." - James J. Corbett
Given that the first two sentences above are about the extent of the story for the game Zheros, there is a lot resting on the shoulders of the other aspects of the game. Namely it’s all sitting squarely on the gameplay and style. Let’s just say things get complicated.
You have your choice of playing as Mike, who is muscle bound but dim-witted, or Captain Dorian, who is agile and smart. While they seem different, I found that they both play fairly the same. So it really comes down to, do you want to play as a guy or a gal?
When playing Zheros solo things get bogged down pretty quickly. In those first few levels, enemies come in small waves, this is fine since you are still learning the combo system. Eventually, though this becomes predictable and slow. A wave of enemies, pause in action, rinse, repeat. As things progress there are more enemies, bigger and worse enemies, but the same pattern. A quick tip; learn those combos. As waves become bigger pulling off longer hit combos will result in bigger scores at the end of each level. You have a gun and shield also, but I found I didn’t use them often. Depending on how well you did equates to how many resource points (RP) you get to upgrade your hero with.
“I'm a believer in getting punched in the face. I know it sounds clichéd, but to me, fighting is a metaphor for life.” - Frank Grillo
One big plus is Zheros, like the old beat’em up brawlers of the past, has an on-the-couch co-op. Here is where Zheros shows its strength. The action picks up just at the right level for two players to battle back the forces of evil and win the day. Oddly, while it does pick up in action, the payoff at the end of levels is not balanced. It rewards with RP, but the better player gets more points, which sets up one player becoming dominant through most of the game.
Overall
I feel like Rimlight Studios’ heart was in the right place for Zheros. They wanted to capture the feel and fun of a retro brawler like Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, or Final Fight, and to that extent they did. Adding a combo system, like we see some modern brawlers, does give the game’s combat a nice zing. It's the gulf between solo and co-op that drags down Zheros.
The graphics are Pixar quality, but the setting becomes blandly repetitive, with a "cut-paste" feeling. Even with that sameness, it seemed as if there was a lot more action (visually speaking) going on in the background rather than the foreground. That bland look may also makes players end up repeating levels, when something is missed or you can’t backtrack. For example, there are points where levels will branch, if you go too far down one branch you won’t be able to explore and gather hidden bonuses down the other branch. To me, this makes the game feel more artificially extended than it really should be.
Zheros runs a weird line down the middle. Solo, this game isn’t paced well and is at best a “taking a quick brain break from the other, more involved, games I’m playing.” On the couch co-op though, is fun and would be great to play with family and friends. As such Zheros earns the middle 3 out of 5
Zheros is available on Steam, PlayStation 4. and Xbox One. For more information see the official Zheros website.
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