Zero Hour
Review

Zero Hour (2020) is a team-based shooting game played in realistic Bangladesh locations. (Not to be confused with Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour, or Firewall Zero Hour that are different games). It focuses on realism in both scale and resources to create cooperative and competitive team challenges. Zero Hour adds many novel ideas that slow play, encourage thought and reward non-lethal approaches.

In multiplayer play involves taking on the other team and completing objectives. Defenders protect a bomb while attackers aim to defuse it and free hostages. In cooperative mode, you take on context-related objectives before calling for extraction. Each side has different abilities and equipment. Attackers have shields, weapons and the planning table. Terrorists have traps and gadgets in order to fortify their bases.

In the co-operative mode, you can complete missions with stealth as well as lethal force. This means you can arrest the enemies in the right scenarios. You will also need to collect evidence, such as dropped guns from the enemy. Playing cooperatively you also need to rescue hostages, arrest or neutralize specific suspects who can patrol, attack or decide to hide under beds, tables and inside closets. The enemy can also decide to take hostages as shields or even surrender if they are outnumbered.

This realism is added to with the use of the attacking team's planning table, complete with 3D miniature version of the location being played. You can use this to direct teammates, identify dangers, objectives and locations for placing traps and gadgets. When you start playing you need to manage limited resources over the game's 3 rounds.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Zero Hour 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 23 months ago.