When explaining Moving Hazard, I could stick to the base description of the game – a military shooter with zombies – and immediately lose you, the audience. Instead, I’m going to skip over the basics and get right into what makes this zombie, military shooter unique: using the zombies as weapons, traps and tools.
At PAX South, I received my tutorial from Moving Hazard’s Lead Writer, Christian Cantamessa (Red Dead Redemption). Christian explained how in the game’s story, the military created zombies as weapons. As you would expect, this did not proceed as expected, and now you must wade through the teeming masses to execute your prey.
What I enjoyed most about Moving Hazard is the weaponization of the horde. There was my favorite, a grenade that turned the zombies to work for me and begin immediately attacking my targets. These zombies were clearly indicated by a green glowy head. That, and them rushing the nearby guy with red lettering above his head. You can also throw a simple distraction device to get the horde off of you, which especially works well when you’re getting overwhelmed. You can also drop a device to ward off the zombies if you want to stop for a sniper shot with a crossbow.
You also have items to use the zombies as tools and traps. There is an electrical shock trap – one I stepped on more than a few times in my time with the game, where the electrical currents made me very enticing to the zombies and was quickly overwhelmed. There is also a device to use when taking a control point. This item draws zombies to it and then those bodies are counted towards your capturing of the goal. Christian made it clear to me that there would be more items in the final version.
At first glance, Moving Hazard doesn’t seem all that different from any other military shooter on the market, but once you begin playing, the nuances of the game become evident. This is going to be one of those games that are easy to play, but difficult to master. And that is just the right formula for a multiplayer game. I’m looking forward to seeing how Moving Hazard progresses in the coming months.
Moving Hazard will be releasing in Early Access on PC in March 2016.