Zenith is an action role playing game set against a fantasy sci-fi setting filled with wizards, wizardry and luscious babe side-kicks. You play as Argus Windell, a pretty accomplished wizard (or mage) who gets himself caught up in a lifelong quest to hide a very special scepter from the clutches of a lurking evil being. Having buried said scepter from all seeing eyes somehow it gets found by sidekick Alana, and a journey into the weird and wonderful begins. Except it’s not all wonderful as events pan out things go from bad to worse. Is the game which released on PS4 and PC worth checking out, then read our Zenith game review for the full picture.
As a game, there’s some solid gameplay on offer here even if it’s quite basic to the point of being negative quite unfairly. Developers Infinigon are obviously working on budget and whilst the game looks pretty enough (especially in 4K) there’s a real lack of atmosphere due to the fact none of the characters are voiced. Unfortunately there’s a lot of conversation and jokes to wade through which although can make for entertaining reading, would have been better delivered with some voice acting.
Another negative is the combat, of which you’ll be doing quite a bit of against hulking bosses and nimble minions. There’s simple attack moves but due to no lock-on function it feels too fiddly. There’s also no sense of actually hitting anything other than seeing their health bar deplete before your eyes. It’s not a good system at all and really disconnects the player. The voice acting can partially be forgiven due to a decent and often humorous script which pokes fun at all manner of video game tropes and characters amongst other things; but the combat should have been more refined.
Argus can enter a menu to upgrade his skills and equip three main weapons forms and magic to suit the enemies he comes up against. This aspect is handled well enough with stat to be mindful of when picking up numerous drops from the enemy or buying from traders selling more gear. However, the menu itself is a bit fiddly and on many occasions refused to function properly when using an Xbox One controller – obviously a bug of sorts.
The main strength of the game is it’s story and it’s quite an interesting tale that will last you quite a long time. There’s some needless wandering about which elongates the game unnecessarily and some puzzles which might actually leave you stumped but for the most part it’s plain sailing – although death can come at any time and if you’ve not saved then it might mean having to replay a long section.
In terms of visuals the graphics look good with some areas having more splendor than others and nice range of variety from snowy mountains to arid deserts. There’s some neat effects from time to time, although the camera’s distance away from the characters as you play hides most of the details. Sadly, the options to tweak the game are quite limited which means finding a sweet-spot for your PC could be problematic depending on its components. Using a high end graphics card the game easily ran at 4K with everything maxed out with no hicups or problems – aside from getting stuck in the scenery when surrounded by enemies or having them attack whilst picking up items during battle and it leaving you defenceless.
Audio comes with some varied tunes but unfortunately, and this is a big faux pas there’s no option to adjust the volumes of the music against the sound effects which is pretty standard feature for most games since time began. You’re left with some music which simply fills your head over and over and can get quite distracting. The only option is to mute the audio entirely which seems like overkill.
Whilst the game’s story is quite a linear affair, if you talk to certain individuals you’ll be able to head out into the wilds and undertake a side missions or two and find some more witty banter which is easily missed. Side questing isn’t the point of the game as the main campaign offers quite a bit of bang for your buck anyway – but that’s also depending on how quickly you read or if you skip bits. If you just want to crack on with things then this might not be the game for you.
Zenith is an interesting game with funny characters and an engaging story which is sadly let down by a lack of funding (for the voice-overs) and polish for its combat and clunky menu. It’s a fun game to play even if some sections drag their feet a little and because of the relatively low price it’s wouldn’t be fair to be overly harsh because of what’s missing here. If you’re a fan of reading, can handle some less than average combat and don’t mind jokes a plenty then this is worth checking out. If you just want to kill things then there are other games that are more likely up your street.
Score 6.5/10