Zone 404

Zone 404 is an indie first-person experience that places atmosphere and tension at the center of its design, reflecting the focused vision of a solo developer project created and published by ILYA KURTAEV. From the opening moments, the game establishes a bleak and unsettling tone, dropping the player into a sealed-off military zone that has clearly suffered a catastrophic failure. Abandoned facilities, scattered equipment, and silent corridors immediately suggest that whatever happened here was sudden, violent, and ultimately uncontrollable. Rather than relying on cinematic exposition, the game invites the player to piece together its story through exploration, environmental cues, and fragments of information left behind by those who did not survive. The pacing of Zone 404 leans toward slow, deliberate progression, encouraging caution over reckless aggression. Combat exists, but it is framed as something dangerous and costly rather than empowering. Ammunition and healing resources are limited, and encounters with infected enemies often feel tense due to confined spaces and unpredictable ambushes. Enemies are not particularly complex in their behavior, but their placement and the n…

The screenshots looked too good, especially for an indie game. I thought it was a render and had little to do with the game, but in the end, these are actually gameplay moments. It's a bit short, but it's just right for passing the evening. I encountered an unpleasant bug with a door in the middle of the game, but overall it wasn't critical and didn't affect the gameplay or progress.

5/10, so so. Not that long, graphics not that good. Mobs of zombies sometimes. My playing times are always long as I write schematic walkthroughs of all I play, for possible replays. Won't ever happen with this one. Would have played it I've had known, not really. But for the low sale price I paid would be harsh to give a thumb down as I was entertained. Didn't find ammo nor health anywhere at the start, nor later, no inventory. -- Disclosure, 70 y.o. gamer. So I used cheat engine for infinite ammo (4 Bytes, 9999 instead of 15). The zombies take your health in chunks so great and quick that I didn't got time to find the health meter address.