Zoochosis Review

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a night zookeeper who keeps mutants in addition to regular animals? Then welcome to Zoochosis! A crazy mix of a simulator for caring for regular animals, strange monsters, black humor, horror and a puzzle. Zoochosis is a strange, but frankly fascinating game, but in principle, the developers never denied its surrealism. Let's figure out how the horror turned out, which the Clapperheads studio dedicated to its late friend and screenwriter.

What is Zoochosis?

Zoochosis is a first-person game, the events of which we see through the body camera of a zookeeper, combining elements of puzzle, simulator and horror. You are the new keeper of a definitely atypical zoo, and your job is to feed the animals, measure their temperature, the sounds they make, do blood and feces tests, and then treat sick individuals. But that's not all, because some of them are infected with a dangerous parasite!

First impressions

Immediately after starting the game, you will understand that this place does not seem as ideal as Doc describes it. It is a gloomy location, strange sounds are heard everywhere, and no one cares that the meat for the animals here is made from people. Yes, yes. But all this only emphasizes the creepiness of the events.

The first hour will be busy with ordinary things: you can pet and cure a sick giraffe, feed and take care of penguins. You'll spend a fair amount of time doing the usual simulator stuff until things start to get really creepy.

Gameplay

Zoochosis leans heavily on the simulator elements at first. You have to feed the animals, take their stool and blood samples, check their temperatures, and administer vaccines. These tasks feel more like something out of a typical animal care simulator than a horror game. By the end of the first hour, the first horror element kicks in - at least if you don't count the body bags. You fight a facehugger-like monster, and then, as if nothing happened, the game returns you to your mundane tasks.

Atmosphere: Unsettling, but not chilling

While Zoochosis does a great job of maintaining tension, it's not exactly a full-fledged psychological horror game that's chilling. There is little horror here, and the seemingly unexpected screamers turn into something ordinary after the third or fourth time. At the same time, do not be confused by the slow pace of the game: only in the first playthrough will you have to get to the infected monsters for so long, and in subsequent ones you will have the opportunity to reach a number of other endings.

Zoochosis has several types of animals, and one individual in each enclosure (except for the first two at the beginning of the game) will always be infected with a parasite, which over time turns them into creative monsters (for example, a wallaby gets a huge creepy mouth in place of its "bag", and the hippopotamus monster, apparently, was inspired by the Dark Souls games). Yes, and the game serves you these animals in portions: at first, a giraffe, wallaby, gorilla and penguin are available. With each new playthrough, new animals will open up - elephants, moose, zebras. All of them are unique in their own way. For example, after the first injection into a mutated elephant, it will cover itself with a thick skin. Shooting at it at this point is useless, so you will have to wait until the skin falls off.

Replayability is the most important element

Finally, if you feel that the game is too short, be sure to consider its replayability. In total, the developers have prepared over 20 variations of endings that depend on the decisions you make. And believe me, the path to the true ending without a guide will make you go through Zoochosis at least three times, if not more. If you are interested, we have prepared a guide and walkthrough for Zoochosis. In general, the verdict is that for lovers of unusual, somewhat non-linear games with an abundance of choices, endings and variations of decisions, Zoochosis is a must-read title!