ZERO Sievert review
What is it? A very deadly hybrid of extraction shooter and singleplayer roguelike.
Release date October 24, 2024
Expect to pay $20/£17
Developer CABO Studio
Publisher Modern Wolf
Reviewed on NVIDIA GeForce 4070 Ti, 32GB RAM
Steam Deck Playable
Link Official site
Have you ever considered what would’ve happened to Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day if he hadn’t got out of that time loop? If he’d just stayed living the same day over, and over, and over, with no happy ending?
That’s a little like what CABO Studio’s debut title, ZERO Sievert, can feel like—at least at first. An extraction shooter from a top-down perspective with similar graphical fidelity to the original Grand Theft Auto, it mashes up Escape From Tarkov-esque runs with a roguelike structure. You emerge from your bunker and head out to find supplies, grab weapons, and complete quests, before desperately trying to make it home alive. It's one of those combos that seems completely obvious in retrospect, and CABO certainly finds success with it.
ZERO Sievert is taut, tense, and taxing. Though it's not multiplayer like most extraction shooters, its enemies feel almost as deadly as other players. As I end my latest run with a bullet between my potato-like character’s eyes at two in the morning, I should be swearing at the screen and throwing up my hands. As it is, I’m exhaling and puffing out my cheeks—in some ways, death is a relief in a world this brutal.
The game's simple facade feels deliberately disarming. Looking at it, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s all a little rote—you run about, strafe around bad guys, and ‘pew pew’ like it’s Power Pete from the shareware days.
With those unassuming looks, how hard could it be? That false sense of security was knocked out of me within minutes on my first run, as I moved too quickly, alerted a wild boar to my location, and was quickly gored to death. No hardened mercenary, no devious trap, just a disgruntled pig.
That humbling helped me appreciate more of
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