When Joshua downloaded Macrocosm, he had expected it to be a brand new game like any other. It was new, it was shiny, and that meant he would be able to make a killing by playing it. Joshua's a professional gamer, someone who makes a living by selling items and accounts in the 23rd century, and Macrocosm promises to be better than every game before it. When he discovers that starting as a zombie provides amazing bonuses, Joshua felt like he didn't have a choice but to pick it.
Macrocosm has its own gods, and they treat the players like pawns in their own little games. Joshua quickly draws the attention of the Plague God Filth, and his peaceful plans quickly take a turn for the worse as he finds himself the subject of one such game.
Behind the scenes, the mysterious company behind Macrocosm has its own plans. What are they recruiting high level players for, and why are these players never seen again?
My Opinion: 285 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Starting the story, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Neither the cover art or the novel blurb tells you exactly what this is going to be. But I was glad I gave it a chance. This is a good story, though you have to push through the beginning a little. It has a long setup that's meant to explain the larger game universe. You don't really need it for book 1, but I get that the author is setting up the series.
This is a monster main character (MC) story. The MC is playing a VRMMO as a zombie to earn a living off selling rare loot and possibly game characters. Though that premise fades away fairly quickly into a slice of life story where you follow the MC as he makes his character and discovers the drawbacks of being a zombie as well as the potentially overpowered aspects, fights, dungeon dives, and levels.
The story, game mechanic wise, reminds me of Headshot - book 1, where the main character plays as a zombie and part of the draw is seeing the various zombie evolutions. Though the author of this one has a unique evolution path for the MC and there is less PvP. He levels killing humans or zombies, gets a unique class, and gets abilities and skills. There are plenty of crunchy details: character sheets, stats, damage notifications, item and monster descriptions. There is good RPG progression with the MC’s pestilence powers, a kind of crafting system, and multiple progression paths that the MC reasons through. There’s more than enough info given to plan your own zombie character.
Overall, I had a good time with it. I think the zombie evolutions are one of the more interesting aspects of the story.
Score: 7.3 out of 10