SAS: Zombie Assault 4 news & patch notes

What’s in the Next Fest demo?

• Common and Uncommon guns, giving you access to a solid range of weapons from the likes of HVM, Critical Mass, Ronson, and more!

• Weapon upgrading - allowing you to push your favorite guns further.

• Common and Uncommon Mods to start customising your weapon builds.

• Common and Uncommon Armour to round out your loadout.

• An HVM Grenade and Turret, letting you experiment with crowd control, area denial, and defensive playstyles.

• Three playable Merc classes:

  • Assault

  • Heavy

  • Medic

• Access to Base Skills and Class Skills, allowing early customisation

• Player level cap of 12 for the demo, ensuring steady progression without spoiling late-game systems.

• Jump into three distinct environments:

  • Mining Facility

  • Abandoned Colony

  • Icefield

• Across these locations, you’ll be able to play a range of mission types:

  • Eradication

  • Eradication Surge

  • Cache Recovery

  • Uplink

  • Close the Breach

• Two terrifying boss encounters:

  • Regurgitator

  • Shredder

• A selection of Zombie vs Player elemental effects, showcasing how damage types matter.

• Zombie Mods and Buffs, adding unpredictability and forcing on-the-fly adaptation.

• USI Bounties, giving you passive goals and extra rewards as you play.

• Access to Merc HQ - your hub for matchmaking, loadouts, upgrades, and prep between missions.

• Various social features

  • Rich presence support for Discord and Steam

  • View Discord and Steam friends lists in-game

  • Invite Discord and Steam friends to your party (Both from within the game UI, and from the Discord/Steam UI)

  • In-game UI for pending party invites from Discord friends

  • Full text chat powered by Discord - available in Merc HQ, pre & post-game lobbies, as well as during a mission!

A Snapshot of Zombie Assault: Resurgence

Community Kill Count Challenge: Earn an Exclusive Weapon at Launch!

• Deliver cryo damage, slowing and controlling enemies

• Reward precision and crowd management

• Stand as a permanent badge of participation for those who helped push the community over the line!

Key Information

• Steam Next Fest: February 23rd - March 2nd (Steam Store Page here!)

• Earn an exclusive Pistol at launch by helping complete the Global Kill Count Challenge running throughout! (Track progress via zombieassault.com)

• Play with the devs! We will also have some of the ZA:R devs looking to squad-up throughout Next Fest, so be sure to join our Discord (discord.gg/ninjakiwi) for further details on that when the time comes.

We’ve been going through the old files on Kurios station, and we’ve found references to a weapons cache the old Government had hidden away in case of emergency. How a zombie outbreak across the system didn’t constitute enough of a situation to crack it open, yet destroying an entire planet was ok is anyone’s guess. Though I guess that’s why they’re now the old Government. 

We have the list of likely locations, and we’re double-checking all possibilities. We’ve already started dispatching teams across the system to follow clues to the cache’s location. 

Do what you can to keep zombie numbers under control and give the teams room to work. If we’re lucky, we’ll all be much better armed soon. As always, your rewards will be worth the effort!

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Requesting immediate support! Some sort of rift has opened up here on Saon and what can only be described as a giant monster has stepped out of it! It’s massive and is just shrugging off any attacks against it. We Need Help!

What’s worse is that zombies are also pouring out of the rift. We need reinforcements here, and we need everyone we have to be putting down as many zombies as they can to keep numbers under control while we figure out what the hell is going on!

If you all rally together to keep the hordes at bay, you will be handsomely rewarded!

Hey mercs!

We’re back with another update on Zombie Assault: Resurgence, and we’ve got something very exciting to share… the next public playtest is just around the corner! We know you’ve all been itching to get your hands on the game again, and we feel like we’re now at the stage where it’s time to get more of your extremely valuable feedback. So, without further ado, here are the details:

Playtest Timings

• WHEN:

  • The playtest will begin at 10am on August 13th (BST) and run until August 18th (BST)

• WHERE:

  • Steam - now using the Steam Playtest feature (full details below)!

What To Expect

It has (somehow!) been over 7 months since the first-look playtest, and since then, we’ve been hard at work! Your feedback so far has helped us push forward on the systems, features, and visuals that will bring ZA:R to life, so here’s some of what you’ve got to look forward to for this round of testing:

• Drop in to Merc HQ in the all-new multiplayer HUB!

• All 3 character classes can now be levelled up to rank 10

• 3 epic maps

  • Mining Facility, Icefield, and Abandoned Colony

• 4 Operation types 

  • Eradication, Eradication Surge, Cache Recovery, and Close the Breach

• Tough Mode

  • A modifier that increases difficulty but also increases rewards

• Varied endings for Operations

  • Simple, Rush, and Boss

• Strongboxes are back! 

  • These will drop common guns and gear that can be equipped to your characters

  • The playtest build will include 10 guns, including starter weapons and a full HVM armour set

• 3 Abilities can be unlocked (final one at rank 10)

• Skill Points gained on level up

  • Skill Points can be placed into Core and Class Skills

• The ability to change equipment on your merc and have multiple saved loadouts

• Canned chat

We will also have some of the awesome NK devs jumping in to join the zombie slaying action throughout the testing window, so we’ll post further details on that in our Discord at the time! Also, here’s a little sneak peek at a screenshot from the upcoming playtest build:

Your Feedback Matters

This playtest will help us zero in on some key system designs before we move into deeper content and polish work. Your feedback here is crucial, so here are a few specifics we’d love to get your thoughts on:

• The overall look, feel, and difficulty of the game

• Merc HQ performance (especially when there are multiple players in there)

• Gun feel (pros and cons of the various weapons)

• Feedback on initial skills

The last time we opened the game up to you all, we were blown away by the feedback and general community discussion, so please join our Discord here if you haven’t already to give us your feedback in real-time throughout the testing window, and keep an eye out for a feedback form that we’ll share near the end of the playtest. 

How to join using Steam Playtest!

We’re now using Steam’s Playtest feature to make it easier than ever to hop into the action. Here’s how to join:

• Head over to the Zombie Assault: Resurgence Steam page here!

• Scroll down to the “Request Access” button under the “Join the Zombie Assault: Resurgence Playtest” section and click it.

• Steam will notify you when you’ve been granted access - no keys needed!

• Once access is granted, you’ll be able to install the playtest build straight from your library.

• NOTE: If you took part in the last playtest, you still need to follow these steps to be included in this one

Make sure Steam notifications are enabled so you’re notified as soon as the build goes live, and whilst you’re there, be sure to add Zombie Assault: Resurgence to your Wishlist! 

Questions from the comments

Q: Will bosses eventually have unique mechanics (phases, environmental hazards, etc)? Will there be more than one boss per map or randomized boss encounters?

A: To answer your first question: Yes! These are all things we’re looking to include in boss encounters. Secondly, Operations can feature randomized boss encounters, while Story missions will be a bit more intentional with any such fights.

Q: Will there be mastery ranks, prestige systems, or something to grind for post-cap? Will players be able to freely respec skills or loadouts later on?

A: We have lots of fun ideas planned for late-game systems, but for now we’re concentrating on fleshing out the main game feel. Loadouts can be changed as freely as you like. Skills can also be respec’d easily, but will come with an in-game currency cost.

Q: Will cosmetics (gun skins, armor variants, etc) be earnable or only monetized? Any plans for visual customization tied to class progression?

A: Cosmetics are likely to be a mix of earnable through playing the game and monetized. We are indeed planning on some changes to your appearance tied to class progression!

Q: Will bosses have a visible health bar or phase indicator to help players track progress during fights?

A: We will have health bars for bosses as well as clear visual feedback for changes in phases. Maybe not in the playtest, but they will be in the final game!

Q: How much of the game is singleplayer-friendly? Will there be a lot of content that's exclusively multiplayer or only balanced around multiplayer?

A: The game is being built in such a way that it will be equally playable in multiplayer as it is in single player, so you can choose to slay zombies solo or squad up! 

That’s all for this dev diary! The countdown is officially on for the playtest, and we’re so excited for you all to get your hands on the game again. For now, why not whet your appetite by taking part in the latest SAS 4 Global Event starting now for extra juicy rewards! 

Until then; stay alert, mercs!

“The undead are coming home, and they’re bringing all hell with them” - Anonymous Merc #75

Abandoned in the Thrace System, SAS soldiers launch an offensive to secure a safe haven.

All SAS soldiers must work together to reach the milestones and reap the rewards.

All mission types contribute toward the goal.

Dev Diary #1

Game Modes/Characters

First Look Playtest

New Content

• New Map: Recovery - Available in both normal and nightmare difficulty. - Also supports Live Events (Apocalypse / Last Man Standing / Virus Samples). - Added 5 new achievements.

Bug Fixes & Balance Changes

• Made improvements to the Faction War join flow to reduce the number of players receiving an error when trying to join a war.
• Fixed the Zero Casualties Achievement not being possible.
• Fixed a crash when leaving the coop screen.
• Various performance & stability improvements.

New Content

• New faction war events will contain 2 new possible game modes: - Power Up: This facility is suffering major power issues. Morlok’s willing to pay to keep the emergency generators online while technicians offworld try to get the power back on. Be warned, the zombies seem to be destroying any they find. If they destroy too many, we lose the facility. - Reactor Leak: This facility was conducting tests on the infection. Morlok wants that data but the reactor is in meltdown. Upload the data from as many terminals as you can. They should heal you a little when you activate them.

Bug Fixes & Balance Changes

• Fixed bug where direct damage to bosses was being reduced by 50%.
• Weapons that deal direct damage will now deal 100% damage to bosses.
• Weapons that deal damage over time (e.g. Stripper, Krakatoa, etc) continue to do the same damage as 1.10.2
• To be clear this isn't a nerf to damage over time but a buff to the other weapons.
• Reduced Boss HP For Low Level Teams
• Fixed Elite Augment Cores not giving enough damage, pierce and damage over time.
• Fixed Biosynthesis healing per bullet instead of per zombie death
• Fixed damage over time not applying to stunned zombies
• Fixed bosses not having temporary immunity to stun after recovering from it
• Fixed Adrenaline Skill granting a higher fire speed increase than intended.
• Fixed crash on Power Out level
• Changed Power Out to allow other types of bosses on Nightmare mode rather than being limited to Savage Mech.
• Reduced Krakatoa base damage from 900 to 700
• Fixed bug where high damage ammo bonuses were being applied twice to Krakatoa
• Fixed bug where Krakatoa would spawn a lava pool per zombie hit rather than per shot.
• Added a toggle to the settings screen and pause menu so players can disable screen shake.
• Updated the timing for contracts so there should always be at least 1 contract available to play.
• We have made improvements to the way we handle loot drops to reduce the chance of loot becoming stuck in areas players couldn’t access. Loot that spawns in areas only accessible by zombies will now be pushed out towards the player.
• Fixed a bug where players would gain 1 clip size despite not having any bonuses to clip size.
• Fixed bug where Zerfallen and Handekannone could not benefit from faction war clip size bonuses
• Faction War Egg Hunt will now spawn zombies after 15s (down from 30s)
• Faction War Elimination will now display your kill total during the game.
• Fixed missing visuals in the Vaccine arena map for events that would make it look like you could walk through/over the walls.
• Fixed some incorrect text in the gun mod expert description.
• Various performance improvements.