ZEPHON Review

Certain genres are heralded as the peaks of gaming, and 4X is one of them. 4X games have been on a roll lately. These strategy games have expanded from the godfather in the Civilization series to various different titles that have recently seen success. Galactic Civilizations III, Sins of the Solar Empire II, Endless Space 2, and Stellaris take the genre to the realm of space-faring sci-fi while games like EU4, Humankind, and the recently released Ara: History Untold try to dethrone the king at the top of the hill.

One such entry to the halls of 4X games is ZEPHON. It is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic strategy game that has an incredible world to explore. The game is developed and published by Proxy Studios, the same folks that brought you Warhammer 40,000: Gladius- Relics of War. If you know anything about Gladius, you should definitely know at least some of what you'll get in ZEPHON.

The game has the basics down for its tutorial, dubbed the 'Introduction,' which gives a very basic overview of the game and subtly introduces you to the world. The tutorial isn't all that great, all things considered. You are barely introduced to all the mechanics, and even when they are explained, it does a poor job of explaining why those mechanics actually work.

When starting a new game, you'll get to go through the game's parameters. You will also get to select a leader, with the option between quite a few. Each has a few traits to set them apart, and generally, they're pretty different in their approach. The game basically has three factions to choose from, but they're more of an overall collective than real factions.

You start off ZEPHON in a situation similar to 'nomad' in many other games where you have a couple of units but no buildings -yet. You have a few key units, one of whom is the builder; this little guy places your first important building, the city. You should look around and find a good spot to build your city. At this point, you'll notice how your units have two important counters. The movement points and the action points. They are mostly self-explanatory, but something to note is that the action points when used, consume any remaining movement points.

You also start off with a scout vehicle and one or two regular infantry units. Most of the map is left undiscovered, and you have to explore. The map is dotted with various points of interest. These structures, when captured, give you some resources, and when connected to a city, they give you some buffs, usually pertaining to those resources. Other map elements include caches and Objectives.

ZEPHON's main resources are food, minerals, energy, algae, chips, influence, and research. Most of these are self-explanatory. Minerals are used for vehicles and structures, while food, chips, and algae are mainly used for the three main factions of the game. Influence is unique and has a niche few uses.

You start getting some resources when you first establish a city. Each region or, rather, a hexagon has certain resources that are extracted when you control it. Interestingly, the city has its own defenses that let you shoot at things in a certain range, making exploration much safer when you don't have to leave behind a few guards.

Each hex in ZEPHON has a finite number of building slots, giving some agency to structures you can construct. Generally, your first city will have an HQ and a construction yard built. Expansion is pretty simple; you just more or less colonize a bordering hex. There are a few restrictions, and it's mostly based on each turn. The map also has a few neutral units strewn about. These neutral units are passive, 'leashed,' until you attack them, in which case they and their nearby friends will actively search for enemies, these enemies being you.

Going back to the cities, remember that claiming a new hex has one 'influence' upkeep. Each building has a few traits and buffs and debuffs that apply to the city. You also have a finite population and housing. Population occupies buildings, and housing occupies population. Housing also affects the rate of your city's growth. 

The higher the difference between housing and population, the faster your growth is. Finally, there is also the loyalty measure. This basically either cripples or mildly buffs you. Your city's loyalty is lowered when you are attacked and can be increased with certain buildings.

Research in ZEPHON is based on tiers, where you start off with a few techs available, and once a certain amount of them are researched, you can move on to the next tier. Some techs are specialized for each of the factions, making it easier for them to research. Techs are still universal, so they can be researched by all the other factions.

Each faction/leader you pick will give you access to a different hero unit, which are, as the name suggests, strong units. Heroes will slowly level up and learn special abilities, making them stronger the more the game progresses.

ZEPHON’s Combat is somewhat straightforward and very similar to Gladius, if not better. They have different traits and weapons. With combat being turn-based, you're really dependent on how many enemies you can take out before it's their turn, and in this regard, overwatch is a lovely mechanic.

You should really explore the various units on your own; they're all incredibly unique and fun to play with. Most units have traits that benefit from other units or from terrain, adding a lot of depth to the game. With urban and forest terrain as well as cliffs, all of which are relevant, especially when it comes to infantry, positioning is everything. A squishy infantry unit can be incredibly tanky if they are positioned well enough.

ZEPHON has a very small diplomacy system that's not really bare bones, but it's also not something to write home about. It's definitely not like Sins of the Solar Empire II, though, which is saying a lot. Like that game, you also have a neutral faction where you can trade influence for resources. You can also get useful items from them.

For all the game does to make combat and units unique, it's a shame that it takes a while to get to that bit. Taking out all the neutral enemies strewn about the map feels like a slog, and they seem more powerful than you, especially when you move out of your starting area. Adding to that, some techs are just there to pad out the tree, being redundant.

In contrast, many quality-of-life things just aren't there in ZEPHON. A lot of the terrain melds with each other, making things feel the same, and that's sad since the terrain's depth is great in terms of gameplay. Not being able to queue research or search for things in the in-game encyclopedia is also a hindrance, not aided by the lack of useful hotkeys.

Despite its drawbacks, most of the improvements from Gladius are obvious. You have a very useful diplomacy tab where it only delves very lightly into it. It still gives you the opportunity to win with allies, make friends, or turn on them. 

Speaking of friends, regardless of whether you're fighting with them or against them, ZEPHON’s AI does not disappoint. While it could use a little touch-up, it's definitely better than 99% of the 4X games out there. Sometimes, it's almost too good, making it feel like the AI is clowning on you or something.

ZEPHON has an incredibly fresh and interesting lore. In a post-apocalyptic world, there are many apparent tropes, but many are also thrown over one's head. Each sub-faction has its own style, and thus, the vagueness of the three main factions is slightly removed. 

Quests are also a fun flavor that adds a lot of narrative to the game in a genre where the narrative is non-existent. All this well-written lore makes the game very fun to play and keeps you engaged on another level.

Visually, ZEPHON looks great, with graphical features that offer more than you could hope for. There's not much going on at the micro level, but you definitely feel the cool sci-fi vibes of everything. The game manages to take the eldritch horror, post-apocalyptic, and sci-fi themes and mix them together in an effective cacophony. The post-apocalyptic elements specifically are a nice touch. The game's visual elements are also very in line with the hopelessness of Frostpunk 2

The various story pieces and their accompanying art are amazing as well. ZEPHON’s UI, however, is somewhat bland, be it the uninteresting tech tree or sometimes hard-to-understand stat screens. The music of the game is not that great, but where it shines is its voice acting and sound design. All the weapons and the voice lines of the units are great. It does so much to immerse you into the world.

All in all, ZEPHON is a great 4X game that stands as a testament to how much a developer can improve if given the right resources. It does so much to make its game all that more fun with its deep lore, mechanics, and rich combat design. The price is also perfect, and despite its hiccups, one cannot help but applaud the game and recommend it to any 4X or Strategy fan.