Whisper Mountain Outbreak video game review

Whisper Mountain Outbreak is a survival zombie title developed and published by Toge Production, which has also released my favourite pixel art game Coffee Talk.

At the time of writing this review, the game is still in early access, so some glitches or bugs are to be expected. 

Whisper Mountain Outbreak is a zombie survival video game that takes place in a Resident Evil post-apocalyptic-inspired world.  

Even though it is a survival game with a lot of horror elements, I wouldn’t call it a horror game mainly because of its beautiful design. Similar to the studio’s direction, Whisper Mountain Outbreak is a pixel art-designed zombie world, which adds a few elements of fun and cuteness to the game, if you can put zombie and cute together in the same sentence.

The story so far

You spawn in what seems like a headquarters room. You wake up after being rescued by B.R.I.M, a task force that investigates a curse spread in these mountains, where monsters roam around. You are met by the task force’s captain, who is about to send you on a mission. But before that, he wants to know more about you. 

This is where the game presents you with a screen with classes. You can find a few different ones that rotate on each new gameplay, and they appear three at a time. The classes consist of the typical ones like medic, melee, tank, ranger, and some special ones like firefighter, making you stronger against fires, or sprinter, which gives you a speed boost.

Your mission is to go to an infected area and retrieve a classified item. To start the mission, you need to go to the map, select the available location, approach the vehicle waiting for you and hit “ready”.

The game zone

You arrive in an infected area, which could be an abandoned hospital, or the town hall or any other abandoned location of the region. One thing is in common. These places have lots of rooms and corridors that you need to explore, solve puzzles to open all the doors and retrieve the mission item. All that while you try to survive the monsters that plague the buildings.

The first-level zones are pretty straightforward and not that complicated once you get the hang of it. They are easy to learn, and even if presented with a new map, you can easily understand the patterns and proceed without a problem.

You are already equipped with a melee weapon, but right before you enter the building, search around the parking area and get the pistol and any other useful items. 

You will find all sorts of loot, but in the early stages, ammo and herbs, which give you life, are the essential ones. Molotov bombs and grenades are very effective as well, especially against a horde of zombies, so if you find them, get them instantly, and expect a big group of enemies appearing soon.

The locations are all abandoned, and you see how the curse has spread all over the ruins, having the form of plant-like living veins. Everything is dystopian and destroyed, blood stains are everywhere, so you understand that this is not a pleasant place to be. However, the pixel art graphics make the bleak surroundings less intimidating, which was a decisive factor in why I chose to play this game. If you enjoy zombie games but are too scared, this one is for you.

The gameplay

The game prompts you to use a game controller. I couldn’t find my own, so I continued with the keyboard and mouse, which worked perfectly well.

The game is played in an isometric view, the map zones are dark, and your field of view is limited, all of which add to the suspense. The movement is very Diablo-like, so if you are familiar with this gameplay and don’t own a controller, you’ll be fine with your keyboard and mouse.

The movement gets easily learned, and you become familiar with where to look for loot. Q and E on the keyboard change the camera angle, and I recommend using these keys to spot any hidden loot more easily.

The first level acts as your tutorial and it progresses slowly, increasing the difficulty as you move further into the game. There are music cues that will help you identify when more enemies will appear, giving you time to prepare accordingly.

The puzzles are not too hard to solve. What I would argue is harder, but fun, is surviving the hordes of zombies. Then again, once you have taken the mission objective, there is only one option. Run to the police vehicle as fast as possible because the horde of zombies will never end. However, reaching the escape vehicle can prove to be a challenge. The zombies do not end, and you have to be very strategic in your escape. One wrong move and you can lose everything. 

Once you are safely back, you will have a skill point, which you get upon each level completion, and you can use to upgrade your character. Skills work as expected in this type of game, meaning you can upgrade your melee combat, your health points, your shooting skills, even your crafting. 

If you don’t make it, don’t worry. You respawn back to the headquarters where you see three lanterns around you, one of which is broken. This is the game’s way of showing you that you have two more lives. 

However, you need to start from the beginning again, as the game doesn’t offer a save option during the mission. This is a bit hard because every decision you make, from what you loot to which room you start first, can make a difference, but the game doesn’t offer you the flexibility to reload and redo some of these actions. In other words, you must be careful and very strategic.

Another thing I would prefer to be different is the class selection. Having to choose only one out of three at a time, instead of all six, feels restrictive, but it’s a preference, not a deal-breaker. The fun that follows compensates for the lack of choice.

The game, even though it is still in Early Access, works very well. I didn’t experience any bugs, and according to the developer, more content, such as missions, character options, equipment and more, will be added in the future.

The game has a solo and a co-op mode. I played the solo campaign but I can only imagine the co-op to be significantly more fun. The game itself is actually designed to be experienced in co-op mode, so I highly recommend you play this with your friends.

If you enjoy playing survival games, if you like the pixel art aesthetic, killing zombies, solving puzzles and being stressed while laughing loudly as you try to outmaneuver enemies, then this is a great game for you. 

Reviewed on Windows 11 with keyboard and mouse.

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