Sker Ritual is a new indie developed game from Wales Interactive, available right now for $19.99 on Steam. There’s also a free demo you can download and play right now. And if you’re interested in classic Call of Duty Zombies gameplay, specifically round-based, you’re in for a treat.
Round based Zombies mode is back
Some Call of Duty fans were disappointed with the latest iteration of its Zombies game mode in Modern Warfare 3. The round-based format they loved was tossed aside, in favor of big map battle royale-like Zombies in an open world. There’s something about round-based zombie killing on a single, smaller map that’s unbeatable. That’s where Sker Ritual comes in.
The game plays as you’d expect: kill the current wave of zombies to move onto the next one. Along the way, you’ll get objective markers for quests to complete, like destroying generators or killing a certain enemy. With each passing wave, the difficulty will ramp up, and you’ll need the many upgrades and weapons found around the map.
For example, you can get Miracles that upgrade your stats, give you cool abilities like area-of-effect lightning attacks and more. You’re going to need them when tougher zombies start coming out of the shadows.
Buy your guns and doors on four different maps
Just like classic Call of Duty Zombies modes, you’ll have to buy your guns, and buy doors to open them and reach new places. Sometimes, buying the doors is necessary to reach a new objective, so you don’t want to stay in one place for too long. Guns are what you’d expect. There are a few different pistols, an automatic rifle, an M1-Garand-like semi-automatic rifle, and of course, Wonder Weapons. Though they don’t have the same name as their CoD counterparts, these are powerful guns that aren’t much like any others.
At launch, there are four different maps you can play on, which seem to be quite expansive. Only one map is playable in the demo, but it’s pretty big and has a ton of interesting different areas to explore. I spent time in a small village, in dark woods with high grass, inside an old building with hallways and sci-fi elements, and more. The different environments and objectives making you move around the map made fighting feel consistently fresh.
Unique enemies to destroy
You earn your in-game money by killing enemies, allowing you to buy more gear and reach new places. Along the way, you’ll fight your standard zombies that walk toward you menacingly, but also some much more interesting opponents. For example, I fought one with a fiery red glow that exploded in flames upon death. They’re both useful for taking out crowds, and terrifying if they get too close.
My favorite enemy, however, is the Mr. X-like Abraham who appears every so often. If you’ve played Resident Evil 2, you know how horrifying it is to have the large figure walk slowly toward you for an entire playthrough. In Sker Ritual, the game will randomly inform you Abraham has spawned in. As a result, you’ll be chased by a similar figure who has plenty of health, and a few boss-like attacks that can be tough to survive.
Call of Duty Zombies how it’s meant to be played
Sker Ritual is everything I want from a Call of Duty Zombies mode. It’s playable solo or in co-op with up to three other players. It’s the kind of endless zombie survival that’ll keep you up way later than you intended trying to finish objectives and kill bosses. There are also in-game reward systems to keep you grinding, along with easter eggs to find around the maps. The game is out now on Steam, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One, and it’s worth a shot if you’ve been missing this kind of shooter experience.
