Ground Zero Review
Ground Zero makes every step forward tense, until its systems force you to stop and wrestle with them.
Ground Zero. Credit: Malformation Games
Ground Zero from Malformation Games knows exactly what it’s chasing. Fixed cameras, pre-rendered backgrounds, tight visibility, and enemies waiting just out of frame: the classic Resident Evil formula. It works just often enough to show what this game could have been.
The premise does what it needs to. A meteor wipes out South Korea, and you are one of two operatives sent to investigate the remains of Busan. You find mutated creatures, spreading corruption, and a mystery that pushes you forward. The story isn’t terribly deep, but then again, most classic survival horror stories aren’t. It never becomes the reason you stay.
The level design is a high point. Environments reward careful movement and attention. You creep forward, listen for threats, check corners, and decide whether to spend ammo or risk closing the distance. I was trepidatious, second-guessing myself constantly. That tension holds until the systems start interrupting it.
The inventory system makes that tension harder to enjoy. Resources felt too tight on normal difficulty, and the healing system adds friction without adding much decision-making. Syringes only allow one combined heal, while other components sit uncombined in your inventory, taking up space. Managing items becomes a constant interruption. The lack of a quick weapon swap makes it worse. Pulling out the knife means opening the menu, which breaks the flow in a game that regularly forces close encounters.
Ground Zero. Credit: Malformation Games
Combat has the right ideas, but never settles into something reliable. The lock-on system keeps encounters manageable, especially with faster enemies. The rest of the toolkit feels uneven. Successful parries require a second input to strike back, and it’s terrible. This should be a single-button action based on timing. The power shot is clunky enough that it rarely feels worth using. You have options, but only a few feel dependable, which narrows your approach instead of expanding it.
That friction stands out more because I’ve already played games chasing the same nostalgia and loved them. I gave both Crow Country and Alisa a 10/10. Crow Country refines the formula, making aiming, puzzles, and movement feel natural while preserving tension. It plays like the version of classic survival horror you remember, smoothing out the rough edges of what it actually was. Alisa leans into the rough edges, but its systems support that choice. Combat feels deliberate, melee is always viable, and its inventory rules create structure without constant disruption.
Ground Zero sits between those approaches without committing to either. It keeps the friction without supporting it the way Alisa does. It recreates the look and pacing without refining the feel the way Crow Country does. The atmosphere is there. The gameplay keeps pulling you out of it.
Ground Zero. Credit: Malformation Games
Visually, the game commits to the throwback. Lighting carries the mood, and the fixed-camera presentation reinforces the tension. Optional lower resolution and visual filters give it a cohesive PS1-style look; I played it in what looked like 640x480, and it looks better that way. Without that, character models and environments feel rough in a less intentional way.
There’s a solid survival horror framework here. The spaces are strong, and the tone is consistent. The systems around it hold that back, even if the foundation is strong.
Ground Zero
A survival horror throwback with great atmosphere, but systems that interrupt it too often to sustain that tension.
