Ground Zero

About Ground Zero

Ground Zero is the first game of Malformation Games, published by Kwalee on 16 April 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Its makers call it a retro survival horror game, and reviewers place it squarely in the line of the original Resident Evil, with a nod to the film Train to Busan.

A meteor impact has wiped out South Korea. Two months later, when the dust and lightning storms have settled and the air is breathable, Captain Seo-Yeon and her Canadian partner Evan Fielding are sent in to recover black box data and find out what happened. In the foggy remains of Busan, from shoreline towns and temples to the city centre, they find strange growths spreading from the impact and the people and animals they have turned. Dogs come first, then infected people, then stranger creatures.

It plays like the survival horror of the late 1990s: fixed camera angles over pre-rendered backgrounds, locked doors, a map you check often and an inventory too small at first. A wristwatch holds your inventory, map, calls and a database you fill by scanning things. Saving needs a computer in a safe room, booted with a signal amplifier, and safes there store what you cannot carry. You shoot, stab, kick and counter; holding the action button while aiming sets up a powerful timed shot, and wriggling bodies can be finished with executions. Scanning the dead earns Genome Points, more for cleaner kills, to spend on ammunition, healing and upgrades at machines near the safe rooms.

Reviewers found ammunition scarce in the first hour or so and easier later, and warned that bosses punish anyone who has spent it all. Puzzles run from keys and keypad codes to math locks and clues hidden in memos, and grow more cryptic on harder settings. You choose modern or tank controls, and custom difficulty lets you set combat and puzzles apart.

It suits players who miss fixed-camera survival horror and want a new one with a setting of its own. Route choices, alternative endings, unlockable outfits, a playable second character and a timed mode called Apocalypse Crisis give reasons to play again. A demo is on Steam.

How to play Ground Zero

1. Choose modern or tank controls and set the difficulty, or tune combat and puzzles apart in the custom settings.
2. Explore each area of Busan, picking up ammunition, healing items, notes and key items.
3. Aim and fire at mutated enemies, or use melee and counters to save rounds.
4. Scan defeated enemies with your wristwatch to earn Genome Points.
5. Spend Genome Points at machines near safe rooms on ammunition, healing and gear, and save at the safe room computers.
6. Solve the puzzles that block your way using items, codes and clues from the memos you find.

Tips

• Practise the timed power shot by holding the action button while aiming; it deals heavy damage and saves bullets.
• Keep ammunition back for bosses; some fights are hard to win once you have spent it all.
• Use the map: it marks the doors you have been through and items you left behind.
• Leave items you will not need for a while in the safe room safes to free inventory space.
• Read every memo closely; puzzle answers often hide in them, and a photo of a clue saves walking back for it.
• If resources feel too tight, lower combat difficulty in the custom settings without making puzzles easier.

Questions