Zoochosis

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Zoochosis
The developers should've rescued this game from its buggy state before launch
Protagonist(s): Paul Genre(s): Survival horror Simulation Platform(s): Microsoft Windows Release Date: September 30, 2024 Engine: Unreal Engine 5 Developer(s): Clapperheads Publisher(s): Clapperheads Country: Bulgaria

Zoochosis is an indie survival horror game developed and published by Bulgarian studio Clapperheads. It was released on Microsoft Windows via Steam on September 30, 2024 (originally slated for September 23 before the delay).

Plot

Paul Connelly is down on his luck for failing to support his wife and daughter, which leads him to work at Pine Valley Zoo as the new zookeeper. His employer Oliver Metzger instructs him to observe the habitats and make sure he takes care of the animals when they get sick, which he will pay Paul money to help his family in the morning.

As Paul begins his first day, he is shocked to learn that some of the animals have small parasites that will mutate them into monsters, Paul later finds out that Oliver had injected him with one of them as a way to "protect" him from being eaten, but will begin to mutate if the mutant animals attack him. As he prepares to make meat (which the zoo uses human flesh to ease the parasites), Paul later meets with female journalist Sarah Watkins, where the duo work together to find the source of the parasites and put a stop on to Oliver's ongoing crimes.

Bad Qualities

1. Despite the delay, the game has a rather rocky launch with some bugs and glitches.
   • The game occasionally soft locks from time to time.
   • The animals and mutants get stuck in geometry, making it difficult to complete certain tasks.
2. Missed opportunities:
   • There's only 8 animals in this game (along with their mutated forms), so don't expect other species like lions, crocodiles, bears, tigers, wolves, etc. that would've have their creatively grotesques forms.
   • While mutated animals do attack you, they don't actually kill you in gory ways; instead they just do a jumpscare animation and walk off from you, and that's it.
     • To be fair, Paul is injected with a parasite early on, which would explain why.
3. Disappointing story despite the interesting premise.
4. Repetitive gameplay. Most of time in this game involves boring, mundane zookeeper chores (feeding them, cleaning up after them, checking their temperature, etc.) which you'll be doing many times.
5. While the graphics are good, they can be dated.
6. Boss fights may be tense as they involve dealing with mutated animals, but the problem is that they constantly move around (with the zebra and the penguin being the worst offenders), and you have to aim well to shoot darts at them to either cure or kill them (depending on your choice). And the fact that there aforementioned bugs and glitches doesn't help matters.
7. Forgettable characters, such as:
   • Paul is just your average Joe who's been assigned as a zookeeper.
   • Sarah looks more like a generic emo punk stereotype than an investigative journalist.
8. False Advertising: The game's trailers and screencaps show things such as animals mutating on-camera, mutants chasing you anywhere (even when they're not in their respective enclosures), and a cutscene of Paul watching TV. However, none of that ever happened in the final product, which disappoints gamers that are looking for a good horror experience.
9. Overpriced: The game costed $25 (though it's discounted at $22.49 at launch), which is a bit too expensive for a game in a broken state.

Good Qualities

1. The premise of zoo animals mutating into hideous monsters due to a parasite is an interesting concept and brings a lot of The Thing vibes.
2. Memorably nightmarish mutant designs and while they're incredibly nasty-looking, at least the body horror grossness isn't as bad as what Scorn offered.
3. Despite BQ#3, there's some good replay value, with a whooping 23 different endings! Yes, really.
4. Speaking of which, the true ending is very satisfying as Doc gets his comeuppance for all the bad stuff he's done.
5. Despite its dated graphics, it looks quite good.
6. The developers are fixing the game's technical issues, meaning that they listened to criticism.

Reception

When Zoochosis was announced, it received positive attention for its unique premise and is often compared to The Thing.

However upon release, the game received mixed reception on Steam for its buggy state and false advertising.

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