REVIEW: The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

What could have been a quality game full of real survival scenarios you might expect in The Walking Dead universe, Survival Instinct doesn't deliver whatsoever.

Developer: Terminal Reality | Publisher: Activision | Genre: First-Person Shooter

PS3 | Xbox 360 | Wii U | Windows PC

It's always a shame when an idea as ambitious as this is completely ruined through lack of key features and gameplay mechanics, which if done correctly, would have made Survival Instinct a game worth playing. Unfortunately, there's practically no substance and leaves you more than disappointed.

Set before the events of The Walking Dead, Survival Instinct follows the story of Daryl Dixon as he comes to term with the recent zombie outbreak, all whilst trying to locate his brother Merle. Obviously, there's a few hick ups along the way as well as encounters with fellow survivors, but nothing so intriguing you'll be itching to carry on playing. The core narrative is nothing to boast about, leading to skipping cutscenes all together. review1

Right from the start, you'll be tested on your survival skills by taking out a few zombies here and there, making yourself familiar with the simple game mechanics and such. Zombies are generally slow, but can be a nuisance if they're in a pack and chasing you relentlessly, which they do - you might find yourself dying more times than initially anticipated. Of course, you can choose to sneak around, check corners before proceeding, and crouching.

Zombies unaware of your presence can be approached from behind, in which you'll be able to pull of a silent kill - this involves impaling your trusty knife through their skull. Rule #1 of zombie survival: destroy the brain, right? This is a nice touch but the novelty soon wears off. There are zombies literally everywhere you go, but there's no real satisfaction from killing them - there needs to be more incentive such as an XP/level up system or just more of a reason to keep on mowing down the undead.

The entire game plays out like this: get in vehicle, travel through the 'world map', break down, scavenge car parts and supplies, go back on road, rinse and repeat. It becomes boring very quick - perhaps Terminal Reality themselves got a little tired of making the game due to the fact environments are re-used for the breakdown sequences. If you break down near the start of the game, you explore the area for whatever is required, but further into the game you might find yourself doing the same in the exact same environment you were in earlier. That's physically impossible - it just goes to show how much this game was rushed and not thoroughly tested.

If you're going to play a game based on The Walking Dead, do yourself a favour and get stuck into Telltale's games. Survival Instinct offers a weak storyline with predictible and boring gameplay, giving a bad name for licensed games. So much could have been done to make Survival Instinct something truly special - perhaps an open-world game with genuine survival mechanics, instead we have a hugely disappointing cash grab.

3/10