Quarantine Zone: The Last Check Full Game Release Review
A Zombie Game That’s One Big Idea Away From Greatness
When I played the beta for Quarantine Zone: The Last Check, I enjoyed it…but I also spent a seemingly dumb amount of time pushing a dolly around my base wondering why I suddenly had a part-time job working in an Amazon warehouse.
The full release thankfully fixes that.
The unnecessary fluff has been stripped out, the pacing feels a lot better, and what remains is a more focused, zombie inspection simulator that clearly draws inspiration from games like Papers, Please and Contraband Police (except now you’re scanning for zombie symptoms instead of visa stuff).
It’s good. Genuinely good. And it’s frustrating in the best way, because in my opinion – it’s sitting right on the edge of something even better.
Quarantine Zone Gameplay
At its core, Quarantine Zone: The Last Check lives and dies by its inspection system.
Survivors line up.
You screen them.
GG.
You examine documentation, scan for visible symptoms, check sneaky microbial layers and try not to miss any subtle red flags that would turn your safe haven into a funderful biohazard.
Image: Gameplay | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | Brigada Games | ReportAFK
The rhythm feels familiar if you’ve played Papers, Please, but the zombie theme adds just enough unpredictability to keep you alert while offering breaks from the tense inspections with some midnight events like taking out hordes of zombies with a remote-controlled drone of destruction.
You can’t really rush the game and, in fact, it rewards players who slow down and actually pay attention.
Miss a small detail? That mistake doesn’t cost you points – it can snowball into infection inside your encampment. There’s a constant layer of tension because you know that one single oversight can spiral into a cyclone of undead funsies.
That pressure is where the game shines.
The Beta Cleanup: Huge W for the Game's Pacing
The beta had ambition, but it also had a lot of unnecessary clutter.
Manually moving resources around the base probably sounded immersive on paper. But in practice, it really killed the momentum of the game. You’d build tension at the checkpoint, then get yanked into some logistics micromanagement that just felt more like padding than meaningful gameplay.
Image: Base Building | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | Brigada Games | ReportAFK
The full release really corrects that mistake.
Base management now runs through the tablet and UI system, which keeps the flow intact. No more unnecessary hauling. No more artificial slowdown. The tempo feels deliberate instead of bloated.
That single change dramatically improves the experience. You spend more time doing what the game is actually good at instead of juggling systems that don’t really add much to the experience.
It’s a clear case of the developers listening, and that truly deserves credit.
I Really Enjoyed the Drone Defense Mini Game
I touched on it briefly earlier, but the drone zombie defense mini game could’ve easily felt tacked on. Instead, it works as a sort of pressure valve.
After spending a while scrutinizing symptoms and teeny tiny microbial layers, the zombie defense sections let you loosen up. They’re loud, chaotic, and a little mindless…in the best way possible.
Is it brutally difficult?
No. As long as you’re upgrading defenses from your base designer when available, I don’t think I ever failed a mission.
But it doesn’t need to be punishing to be effective. It provides contrast. It resets your mental energy before you dive back into hyper-focused inspections.
That balance keeps the gameplay loop from becoming exhausting, similarly to R.E.P.O. when you die and get to battle for the coveted (yet absolutely useless) “King of the Losers” title.
I think Quarantine Zone Could Have Been a Bit More
This is where my slight frustration comes in.
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check accomplishes what it sets out to do. It delivers a polished zombie inspection simulator. Endless mode has replay value. The core systems are solid.
But the thing is – it rarely surprises you and seems to want to sit comfortably in the box it made for itself.
Image: Story Mode | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | Brigada Games | ReportAFK
There’s no major narrative divergence. No wild systemic shift. No moment where the game suddenly evolves into something unexpected.
It feels like the developers built a strong foundation and then decided not to push past it.
That’s not a dealbreaker. It just feels like untapped potential.
And because the core systems are already strong, expanding them wouldn’t require reinventing the game…just maybe try raising the stakes a bit?
How Quarantine Zone Could Have Been Better IMO
I do wish that they took the game further, maybe opting for some unique events or decisions that you could make during the story mode that could affect the endings and offer unique paths, similar to how you could unlock rare ships in FTL.
A practical example of this type of idea could be something like:
PHASE ONE: DISCOVERY
During a routine Matioscope inspection (eye check for microbes), there’s a rare chance you can notice something off in the third layer where you can see infected microbes visually converting healthy ones when they come in contact.
In order to progress the path, you have to flag it as an Unknown Symptom, send the subject to the lab and successfully extract and analyze it.
Image: Potential Game Ideas | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | Brigada Games | ReportAFK
PHASE TWO: POLICY CHANGE
After analyzing, the game notifies you that the virus seems to be mutating and adapting at an alarming rate. In order to maintain safety at your camp, you now have to send anyone that seems to be possibly infected, immediately to liquidation.
PHASE THREE: ESCALATION
A previously cleared survivor in your camp destabilizes and turns full zombie. You discover that the mutated strain can release airborne spores under stress.
Now you must choose:
Liquidate the remainder of the survivors in your camp.
Try to capture a newly transformed survivor by incapacitating it with your trusty hammer and sending it to the lab for further testing.
If you decide to continue studying the infection, the inspection gameplay evolves.
A faint micro-mark begins appearing on infected survivors and is able to be found on any visual symptom (i.e., a small mark on the skin, a new small microbe on the Matioscope, a new dark spot on the Thermopulsometer, etc.) which you must find and destroy under new timed inspection conditions.
Miss it, and the infection spreads silently through your camp.
Now every decision carries weight.
PHASE 4: PERSPECTIVE FLIP
Push the new campaign path far enough, and the ending changes entirely.
You wake up infected and so does everyone else.
The final chapter flips the inspection system and brings a whole new perspective into Endless Mode: you’re now screening your fellow zombies for traces of lingering humanity!
Fail to purge the filthy human traits, and the infected population fractures.
It’s strange. It’s bold. It gives the game identity beyond “Zombie Papers, Please.”
And it builds directly on the best of the mechanics that are already in place instead of adding fluff in the form of more systems.
I honestly think something like this could really add some depth to the gameplay and by incorporating more of a “FTL-like” gameplay loop that adds a small chance for finding a unique event zombie, you can keep adding additional fun mechanics and outcomes that can change the gameplay and keep retention running rampant.
Overall, a Great Game
Final Score: 7.1/10
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is inarguably a strong release.
I still think the biggest thing is that the developers showed that they were willing to listen to their players and make meaningful adjustments based off of their players’ feedback. They cut unnecessary systems. They refined pacing. The inspection mechanics are tense and rewarding, and the drone defense mode keeps things from feeling repetitive.
It does exactly what it promises – and it does it well.
But for me, the ceiling should be higher than where it currently sits and I honestly hope that instead of settling for a zombie homage to Papers, Please, they realize that they could really turn this game into something unique that people won’t stop playing and maybe we’ll see that in a future update or DLC…a man can dream.
For now, it earns a solid 7.1/10.
And I’m genuinely hoping the next big update takes a swing at the potential I see hiding in it. For more Quarantine Zone: The Last Check Guides and News, make sure to check back and if you haven’t tried the game out yet – make sure to grab it on Steam!
This was a commentary article based on publicly available information and personal opinion. Readers are encouraged to form their own conclusions based on the sources cited.
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