Game Review: ZombFarm

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Everyone loves a good farming game, but what about one that throws zombies into the mix? I actually reviewed a game that tried out that exact thing not too long ago called Farm For Your Life (A review which you can find HERE), and I was surprised to see that there is another one in the form of ZombFarm. I'm starting to wonder if this is actually a sub-genre I'm totally unfamiliar with. Anyhow, ZombFarm is a farming game with zombies that's out now on all major consoles by way of publisher EastAsiaSoft. We're going to be taking a look at the game on the Nintendo Switch today, though I'm sure it'll be indicative of the experience in the other versions. How well does it mix together those two gameplay formulas that seem miles apart? Read on to find out!

If ZombFarm has a story, I must have missed it. You're a farmer who has a series of goals to meet each week, and there happens to be a horde of zombies that occupy the woods between the nearest town and your farm. There's no explanation as to why the zombies are there, and they never really pose a significant threat to the well-being of either settlement. I'm getting way ahead of the review, but I was truly shocked to see how little the zombies were integrated into the gameplay. I mean it's half of the game's name. You could take out the zombies entirely, and things wouldn't be much different. Also, there's no real story behind the farmer you play as, or their farm. You can't customize your character, you never learn anything about their backstory, and you can't even pet your dog. It all makes for a crazy start to what I was hoping would be a cozy little farming adventure, but I guess it is what it is.

I bet you're thinking to yourself: "Well, even if the story is bad, that doesn't matter if the gameplay is good. Right?" Well, sadly there's a lot wrong on that front too. Your farm starts with several animals, a fishing pond, and one plot of farmable soil. You can unlock more three more farmable plots, but that's not really necessary for reasons I'll get to later. The animals in your care are horses, pigs, cows, chickens, and sheep. You have the fish too I guess, but you're not really caring for them. And there's also the unpettable dog. Every day sees you feed and care for your animals, and collect any crops that might have finished their growing cycle. You have a time limit for each day of the week, but you'll more than likely be able to finish all your tasks as long as you don't spend too much time idle. Feeding your animals requires feed that has to be purchased in town, but the water they drink is always provided. Each day you're able to complete a minigame for each of your animals that earns you money. These minigames include "fun" activities like catching wool or eggs, milking the cows, cleaning a dirty animal, checking an animal for ticks, and fishing if you go to the fishing spot. The money you earn from these tasks is used to buy seeds for your crops, feed for your animals, and to purchase those extra plots of land I mentioned earlier. Sounds simple enough right?

Now is the time where you're probably asking where the zombies are. Well, they only exist on the roads that lead to and from the game's sole town. There are three roads in total, and the only real difference between them is the resource you can collect while going from Point A to Point B. One route gives you weeds (?), another mushrooms, and the final one flowers. These are only used in specific scenarios that I'll get to in just a bit. Avoiding zombies is a simple matter of walking around them, but two punches will take them down if you're in a fighting mood. You read that right, the only fighting in this game comes in the form of punches. Not only do you punch zombies, but they attempt to you too. Six hits will take out your farmer, though the zombies are hardly a real threat. The only reason you'll ever want to kill a zombie is to get the essence that they drop. This acts sort of like the bone meal found in Minecraft, in that it moves a crop along its next stage of growth. Naturally this means you can just spam kill tons of zombies, and grow all your crops in a single day. This eliminates the need for any additional plots, so buying those only makes sense if you're a completionist. Don't get too excited about that town either. Once you do get there, the only thing available to you is a sole truck that also acts as the in-game store. There's no other buildings to see, or NPCs to interact with. Truly riveting stuff.

All games have some sort of goal, and ZombFarm is no different. I actually played through an entire week before I realized there were certain items that I had to collect by Sunday of the current week. These are assigned to you at random, but this randomness also means that you can choose to ignore most of the farming duties that don't pertain to the goal items if you so desire. Goals can be eggs, wool, fish, specific crops, and those items found in the woods. That's right, this is the only time those items ever come into play. If the goal for that week includes mushrooms, then you have to grab them, otherwise you can totally ignore everything found in the woods. Once your goals are met, you go to that sole unmanned truck in town and collect your reward. The reward comes in the form of yet more money, and you then move on to the next week to begin the process all over again. That's it, that's the game. There is no end goal beyond that, or at least I wasn't able to find one.

As a game, ZombFarm is extremely monotonous. I could only be bothered to complete four cycles before boredom made me throw in the towel forever. The minigames are anything but fun, and some of them even seem downright broken. Catching wool and eggs is near impossible, as they fall extremely fast and give no warning as to where they will come from next. Picking ticks out of fur, and cleaning a very muddy animal, are also not my idea of fun. Actually, those last two minigames are a bit disgusting if I'm truly being honest. Even the fishing is boring and only involves koi for some weird reason. How one messes up a fishing minigame is beyond me. And you'll also recall that actually farming in multiple plots is pointless because of the zombie essence trick. If all this weren't bad enough, there isn't even a minigame associated with the pigs. I thought I was missing something at first, but nope, the developers just couldn't be bothered to think up one more minigame. There are times when I feel like a game might not actually be as bad as I think. Maybe it's just not a game meant for me. I honestly don't think that this is that kind of situation though. I defy anyone to find actual fun here. It's just impossible.

This is the part of the review where I talk about the music and visuals, but I don't even know where to begin. This is by far one of the ugliest games I've ever seen, and there seems to be almost no effort put into making it look appealing or unique. There are maybe two models of humans in here, with the zombies being given a filter, and your farmer a hat. That's it. The backgrounds all look horribly basic too, and don't even get me started on the graphics found in the minigames. It really is an assault on the eyes in just about every way. Speaking of sensory assaults, I hope you're all ready for some of the worst music you've ever heard to back this side of a broken NES game. I sometimes criticize games that use royalty-free music instead of creating tracks specifically for their games, but this has to be only time where I wish a developer had gone that route. ZombFarm contains a handful of short atonal loops it calls music, and they are sure to force you to eventually play the game in silence. I would've done exactly that myself, but I have a review to write. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that no one on the development team had any prior musical experience, as it truly sounds like someone is hitting random notes on a keyboard, and then adding plenty of effects in post in the hopes of making it into something resembling a song. I'm going to have to stop talking about either topic here, even though I can go on and on like this. Look at the screenshots in this review if you don't believe me, and just be glad that they don't somehow have soundbites attached to them.

I truly can't recommend ZombFarm to anyone. It's a horrible game that I can't believe I wasted my time on, and it's made all the worse by the fact that I had to spend more time still on this review. I went into this game thinking that it might be a fun experience, and maybe even be a better take on Farm For Your Life. (The game I mentioned at the top of this review.) Not only is that game better in most every way, but ZombFarm made me appreciate things about it that I attacked back when I reviewed it. ZombFarm really is so bad that it makes other games around it look better. Even at $4.99, it feels like a waste of money. My honest advice is to just save up another ten dollars, and grab Stardew Valley instead. With all that said, if you do end up picking up ZombFarm, don't say that I didn't warn you. See you in the next one.

Check Out ZombFarm on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/zombfarm-switch/

---

Story: N/A
Gameplay: D
Graphics: D
Music/Sound: D
Value: C

Overall: D

Pros:
+ The minigames aren't very difficult, and those looking for a cheap casual game might find something entertaining here.
+ The sheer ridiculousness of some of the gameplay elements can be fun early on.
+ At just $4.99, this isn't going to break the bank, even if you're just picking it up out of curiosity.

Cons:
- Everything about the game feels cheap, and parts of it even feel incomplete.
- The zombies aren't even properly integrated into the gameplay. I constantly forgot that they were even a thing.
- There isn't any end goal that I was able to discover, and the core gameplay isn't rewarding enough to warrant long-term play.
- The music and graphics are both extremely bad, and are sometimes an assault on the senses.
- There are just so many better games out there. Just spend ten more dollars and get Stardew Valley instead.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---