Ground Zero Hero Preview

Ah, the power of the atom. They’re what make up everything in the galaxy, but with enough of them weaponised, they can destroy worlds, such as the one on which Ground Zero Hero takes place. In this game, you’ll be dropped into an apocalyptic wasteland full of weird-ass mutants, but your goal isn’t to survive… it’s to turn it into your own playground. This setup intrigued me enough to give the demo a try, so let’s check out what this ruined world has to offer.

The game is what many would describe as a survivors-like or a bullet heaven, a type of roguelite where you’ll be facing off against hordes of enemies, levelling up, and upgrading yourself to face tougher and tougher challenges. For this title (or at least for the only map available for the demo), your objective is to kill 10,000 enemies and then beat the boss.

However, instead of getting new equipment or weapons, you’ll be absorbing the radioactive goo of your enemies and mutating your body in weird and wonderful ways, like turning your arms into tentacles to lash out like whips, shooting lasers out of your eyes, or laying eggs that explode. There’s a chance that these mutations go bonkers and perform a lot better than usual, turning basic fireballs into fire beams or hatching a guy in a chicken suit who kicks anything he sees off the screen (and yes, that is related to the laying eggs thing).

That being said, that doesn’t quite make you a perpetual being of destruction. Over time, a pink meter beneath your health bar will drain. If it empties, it’s game over. How do you refill it? By eating as many sweets as possible! That’s right, it’s a Candy Bar (goddammit, I just got the joke), which you can find in the many smashable piñatas scattered throughout the map.

The wasteland is a chaotic and dangerous place, though, and once darkness falls, you’d better be prepared. There is actually a day and night cycle, and when it becomes night… vampires (gee, I wonder where that idea came from) will start spawning in, and they can seriously drain your health before you can even react. Now, you can fight through the night as vampires drop candy and bigger blobs, but it’s best to run to the nearest bunker, which will heal you, refill your Candy Bar, and let you skip the night or save and quit.

Of course, between your runs, there is an upgrade shop where you can spend the bottle caps you’ve obtained from an attempt to permanently upgrade your character. In the demo, there aren’t too many stats to improve, and even then, you can only level up twice, but you do feel the difference when in the game.

If you liked Vampire Survivors, you should probably keep your eye on Ground Zero Hero when it releases. It is pretty similar, but it has enough differences that make the game fun on its own terms. It does provide that feeling of satisfaction upon turning yourself into a nigh-unstoppable god, or abomination in this case.