Title: How to Survive
Format: PC, Xbox 360, PS3(reviewed)
Release Date: October 2013, November 2013(PS3)
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: EKO Software
Price: $14.99
ESRB Rating: M
We're at that point in time where if we're not getting at least a couple of new zombie games every other month, then I would suspect that something is seriously wrong within the industry. How to Survive is another worthy attempt at perfecting the zombie survival formula that many developers have tried and failed before.
Story and Presentation:
During the first couple of hours of playing the game's single player story mode, I soon realized that the game is particularly light on story. You choose from one of three survivors, but they only offer gameplay differences, rather than specific backstories that accompany's each character. If you come in expecting a Walking Dead style narrative with deep character backgrounds, you'll be pretty disappointed. The main characters don't speak at all, but various NPC's you meet are all voiced, but not voiced well. Most of the voice acting in the game sounds as if the actors are experiencing the same amount of zombie fatigue as I am, and they're just phoning it in the whole time. Kovac is the only character in the game that has any appeal. He's the typical badass you find in most zombie titles, he teaches you his ways of surviving the zombie apocalypse. He's also very humorous as well, and provides a bit of comic relief when you're done. The soundtrack is eerie, and it complements the mysterious islands you'll explore. Unfortunately, the game doesn't impress visually at all. You're exploring multiple islands, and they all have a striking resemblance to one another. I would've expected a bit more variety between each island. The game does look pretty good at night however, the impressive lighting really sets the mood, and can get the heart pumping a bit you have a good pair of headphones on hand.
Core Gameplay:
During the first couple of hours, the game really holds your hand and teaches you the ways to survive. The core mechanics include melee combat, gaining experience and leveling up your character, while maintaining your basic survival needs including hunger and thirst. You learn all your survival techniques from Kovac, where he guides you through various tutorials where you learn the ropes. The game introduces a lot of cool new mechanics that I haven't seen in a zombie game, where you must eat to keep your strength up, and how you must cook your meat before you can consume it. Cooking meat attracts zombies to your camp, so there are a lot of contradicting mechanics that keep the tension high. The combat is where the game suffers the most, it just isn't all that exciting to kill feral zombies. You control the game like a twin stick shooter, you move with the left stick, while aiming your weapon with the right stick. There's a pretty wide variety of zombies to fight off, including armored undead, exploding creatures, and more. The mission structure quickly becomes repetitive, and there's just not a lot exciting moments during missions. If you stick with it however, it won't take you very long to finish it. There are challenge modes to help extend your experience a bit as well, each of which involves you starting off with an empty inventory, and having you attempt to reach an escape plan. The modes are fun, and it can become pretty hectic.
Final Thoughts:How to Survive would be a perfect with a coop mode, and the devs have announced that it's coming in 2014. But for now, you're on your own, and it's a good lone experience to have. The presentation and core gameplay are rather simplistic, but the game has enough new and interesting mechanics to keep you entertained throughout.
S&S Rating: 7.5/10 @whatsPlay
