Zero-K Reviews

Fun with some light strategy.

Zero-K ("ZK") is an open-source real time strategy game based on the Spring engine. That engine has been around for over 15 years and it shows: While the graphics may not be state of the art any more, the other technical aspects of the game are very mature. Spring based games tend(ed) to be oriented at the 1990s classic "Total Annihilation" ("TA") but ZK has come a long way: The devs have streamlined the mod so that every unit and building has its own role and mechanics: There are units that cloak, stun, disarm, jump, incinerate, push or pull, climb walls... and lots more. Units are organised into different factories, each of which represents a certain theme or gameplay focus: Rovers are quick in flat terrain but fragile, tanks are the robust but more expensive option for the plains, there are aircraft to bomb high value targets and shield the team from air attacks and there is a gunship factory for providing close air support to ground units. There are bots with cloaked snipers and stealthy melee assassins, heavier shield bots, amphibious bots, jumping bots for taking strategic hills and closing in quickly to the enemy and there are spiders for mountain warfare. Also hovercraft and ships have their own factory. Sounds a lot? Yet, the game is relatively easy to learn (but hard to master) as every factory has only the units required for the classic roles on the battlefield (raider, skirmisher, riots, artillery, assault) and a few specialists for the factory-specific gameplay. Most factories can do most things in principle but every on is best suited for a specific purpose. As in original TA there are the two resources metal and energy where metal is extracted from spots on the map that thus mark strategic important positions and energy is created by specific buildings. Unlike original TA there are no buildings to generate metal from energy but instead excess energy is used to "overdrive" metal extractors with decreasing returns. Thus one cannot simply sit back in one's own base and build defense. A good economy requires to conquer the metal spots on the map! Every player starts with a single (unique) commander as the first construction unit and can instantly build a free factory of her choice. There are no technology levels as in original TA or other games. Instead "higher tier" units and buildings simply cost more. This design choice makes the game very fast and dynamic to play and allows for a vast magnitude of strategies as players can cooperate to rush more expensive units and (hopefully) gain a surprise advantage by those unit's special capabilities. In addition to the standard factories there is also a strider-hub for very expensive super units and there are game-ending super-weapons to break ties. The game features ranked competitive matchmaking in 1v1 or small teams (but currently only 1v1 has a decent player base). There are also casual games, typically played in larger teams up to 16v16, FFA games, coop games vs AI or special aliens ("chickens"). The AI can be surprisingly strong and give this game a viable singleplayer option. A specialty are widgets written in LUA which can automate a lot of the tedious click-work found in other rts games. Many widgets come with the base game and others can be downloaded for free. For example there are skirmish AIs which let artillery retreat from raiders and push when they are free to advance. Writing ones own widgets is not considered cheating and there is a variety of community-made "helper scripts" available. (Note that it is usually expected to publish the self-written widgets for everyone.) With the default skirmish AIs and other widgets, players can focus on strategic thinking and tactical nuances and need not indulge in rapid clicking only to manage default tasks as is often the case in other RTS games such as Starcraft. I have been playing Spring based games since 2006 and ZK since 2011 (with a long pause), before it came to Steam. A decade of continuous development has resulted in a very polished game which is surprisingly well-balanced given its complexity and unique innovative features. Certainly a must-try for RTS-lovers.

this is like TA and thats is a GOOD thing!! very good game and people who not a tech/number person will just not understand just how good, im in love just love them numbers!!

I've gotten over 500 hours so maybe its review time. An excellent game in the Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander style. Entirely open source code written by volunteers, in family with Beyond All Reason. While it inherits a lot from this gene pool, it provides a very good re-imagination of several core concepts. I was a skeptic when I first came over Zero-K on Steam, and my first game was just weird feeling. Its a bit more zoomed-in and less-serious feeling, but delivers (in particular) really interesting large multiplayer battles. Now when I try one of the more classic games mentioned above, I miss the options Zero-K gives. It can take a while to understand the different factories and units within; not all factories have the answer to all problems, and not all units fit into some nice category. Map control is a big deal. Terraform and shields allow the construction of pretty impressive forts, while cloak fields keep the enemy guessing. Water units could be better, one of the superunits ought to be changed (I think). Overall though, excellent game.