Skip to main content

‘Just Cause’ studio announces cooperative ’80s shooter ‘Generation Zero’

Generation Zero Announcement Trailer

Swedish developer Avalanche Studios is no stranger to the apocalypse, having developed the Mad Max game and now Rage 2, but the studio’s next project will hit a little closer to home — because it’s in its home. Generation Zero is a cooperative shooter set in 1980s Sweden, and it’s up to you to take back the country from hostile machines.

Recommended Videos

Generation Zero‘s malicious robots look slightly similar to the ones in Horizon Zero Dawn at first glance, walking on four limbs and jumping through the air as they approach a group of survivors. The humans have gear that appears to be cobbled together from museums, as they’re using old-fashioned rifles and what appear to be World War I-era German army helmets. Nevertheless, the guns seem to work, as they cause the machines to explode into a mess of fire and scrap.

“By using battle-tested guerilla tactics, you’ll be able to lure, cripple, or destroy enemies in intense, creative sandbox skirmishes,” Avalanche Studios said on the game’s website.

Generation Zero will be playable solo or with up to three friends in what Avalanche called “seamless co-op multiplayer,” and as the enemies are “persistently simulated” in the game world, you’ll never know when the next threat might be near. The game also appears to be taking a page from the recent Middle-earth games, as any damage you do to an enemy will be permanent, even if you don’t fight them again for several weeks. This sense of player-led gameplay is at the heart of Generation Zero, and Avalanche intends for no two encounters to ever be the same.

Avalanche Studios, which was just purchased by Nordisk Film for roughtly $105 million, will be self-publishing Generation Zero, which allows the company to take more risks than it could have if it sought out a separate partner.

“The creative freedom has allowed our small but brilliant team to double down on passion and develop an experience that we feel brings something unique to the table,” said game director Emil Kraftling in a letter to players.

Generation Zero brings its bizarre marriage of ’80s Sweden and the near-annihilation of humanity to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC in 2019.

Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
You may have access to hundreds of free games you’re not taking advantage of
Living room with Microsoft Xbox Series X (L) and Sony PlayStation 5 home video game consoles alongside a television and soundbar.

Ever since Nintendo was the first to breach the $80 threshold for games with Mario Kart World, the concerns over game prices have been top of mind across the industry. Between tariffs, inflation, cost of living, and what appears to be an inevitable recession right around the corner, I have already been preparing for how I can be a more discerning consumer of games.

There are tons of ways to be more thrifty with our favorite hobby. You can wait for sales, trade and borrow games, rely more on subscription services like PlayStation Plus and Game Pass, or just stick to the wealth of free-to-play games. But there's one resource I never see brought up that could give you access to a huge library of major titles for free: your local library.

Read more
In a sea of giant games, Rematch’s simplicity is a gift
A screenshot of players celebrating in Rematch.

There are a lot of words I’d use to describe Rematch, the new multiplayer soccer game from Sifu developer Sloclap. It’s fun, it’s approachable, it’s elegant. But there’s one word I wouldn't use: ambitious. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way; in fact, that’s exactly what I love about it.

Rematch needs little setup or explanation to get across what it is, which separates it from so many modern, formula-twisting video games. It’s an online multiplayer soccer game where teams of three to five, depending on the playlist, compete in six minute matches. The teams are dropped on a basic pitch, the only notable twist of which is that all the sides are walled off. Players pass, block, and shoot and the team with the most points at the end wins. There are no gimmicks, no tricks, and no flourishes like flying cars that make for a cool sales pitch. It’s just soccer.

Read more
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: gripping sequel weighs the cost of connection
Sam holds Lou in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach.

There may never be a video game as prophetic as Death Stranding. In 2019, Hideo Kojima painted a picture of an already politically divided United States forced into isolation as a plague swept through the country. It pushed the need for human connection in society, urging its players to come together in moments of darkness rather than splintering. That message would become hauntingly urgent just one year later when a real world pandemic shut the world indoors. Death Stranding retroactively became the first great work of Covid-19 art, offering up a hopeful message about strengthening social ties that bond us all together.

Everything has changed since then. The rise of digital communication that was necessitated by a pandemic has backfired. Online communities have become a hotbed for alt right radicalization. Social media platforms like X have been reshaped into misinformation pits built to manipulate the outcomes of elections. The rise of generative AI has made it easier than ever to mislead trusting suckers into believing anything they see. The mass connection that Death Stranding advocated for has shown its dark underbelly and there are some days where I wish we could go back and undo it all.

Read more