Ground Zero Hero from Acclaim and Rowan Edmonson is a fast-paced roguelite survivors-like bullet hell set in a radioactive wasteland packed with mutated creatures. Check out our Ground Zero Hero review!
Ground Zero Hero from Acclaim and Rowan Edmonson is a fast-paced roguelite survivors-like bullet hell set in a radioactive wasteland packed with mutated creatures. You will be destroying every single one of them foolish enough to try and stop you, as you make the most of their remains as you absorb them and work on stacking a variety of mutations, building a very peculiar combination that can hopefully help you extend your run. The game will throw wave after wave of enemies at you from every direction, boosting their numbers and power with each subsequent wave. Yes, this is a survivors-like experience, so you’ll have a good idea of what it is that you’re about to get yourself into.
As you exit the bunker and enter the wasteland, you’ll realize that radiation and mutations are not the only thing you’ll have to worry about, since hunger is still very much a real thing in this new world… and the only way to take care of starvation is with candy! This is why you need to keep an eye not only on your health meter but also on your candy meter. If your candy meter is depleted, then you’ll start to die! Be on the lookout for dino piñatas, which will drop candy as well as other surprises.
Something that is very, very important is that you can locate unopened bunkers as you explore each area. Use these bunkers to get a bit of sleep so that you can heal your wounds and escape the horrors of the night. If you think that things are crazy while exploring in broad daylight, just wait until you see what the night brings out! The only way to survive is to completely clear an area of all mutated fauna, which is certainly easier said than done.
The first step on this new journey will be to pick the starting mutation for your character, which will act as its main attack. Your options could be Tentacle, which basically melts the bones in your arm so that it turns into a powerful tentacle that can whip at enemies; Fireball, which will make your throat start to tingle, allowing you to spit fireballs; another one is Spines, which will make your character shoot razor-sharp quills from your back that will slice through enemies.
As expected of a survivors-like experience, the controls are going to be simple and to the point. Each of your mutations will unleash attacks at a steady pace with their respective cooldowns, so all you’ll need to worry about is moving your character around the area by using the left analog stick or the D-Pad.
All of the enemies that you defeat will leave behind some of their mutated biomass, which will act as the experience points that you need to collect in order to level up. Once you do level up, you’ll get to pick a new mutation to add to your loadout, or even pick one of your current mutations to boost their effects. Say you picked Fireball as your starting mutation, and then get Fireball again when leveling up. Selecting it will boost that mutation, making your fireballs have a chance to briefly burn the ground.
You can work on completing a series of missions to gain some extra coins to put toward purchasing upgrades – more on these in a bit. Some of the missions that you’ll be taking on include busting 100 slime barrels, eating 1,000 candy, collecting 1,000 coins, surviving any level for an hour in endless mode, taking a ride on the two-headed cow, killing 1,000 vampires, completing the desert wasteland, defeating an enemy with a tumbleweed explosion, and defeating all of the boss tier enemies, to name some examples.
And now, let’s talk about upgrades! The coins that you collect while taking on each run – or, as mentioned above, from completing missions – can be put to good use by visiting the upgrades section and unlocking permanent upgrades that will boost your character for subsequent runs. You can increase your character’s pickup range, boost max health, increase movement speed, boost how many caps you gain from safes, increase the critical hit chance percentage for all attacks, increase healing from health pickups, increase the chance for all mutations to go bonkers, or boost the size of all explosions.
Ground Zero Hero is a fast-paced roguelite bullet hell set in a radioactive wasteland packed with mutated creatures. You will be destroying every single one of them foolish enough to try and stop you, as you make the most of their remains as you absorb them and work on stacking a variety of mutations, building a very peculiar combination that can hopefully help you extend your run. The game will throw wave after wave of enemies at you from every direction, boosting their numbers and power with each subsequent wave. Yes, this is a survivors-like experience, so you’ll have a good idea of what it is that you’re about to get yourself into.
When all is said and done, you’re looking at 60+ unique enemies to battle as you combine a wide range of abilities and boosts to keep your run going strong. There are 60 challenges to complete, as well as 80+ upgrades split over multiple progression paths. And, if you’re up for it, you can take on the Endless Mode, in which the game will throw everything it has at you to test if you’re really as good as you think you are. Ground Zero Hero is out on Nintendo Switch 2 with a $9.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This Ground Zero Hero review is based on a Nintendo Switch 2 copy provided by Acclaim.
