Overkill Software just dropped their Microsoft Windows release Overkill’s The Walking Dead, previously showcased at the E3 convention in June of 2018. So far, the game has been far from a dream that most zombie fans have in mind. With drastic confusion concerning the rules of gameplay, there is still hope that the game has some enjoyable features.
Set in Washington D.C., the post-apocalyptic landscape is crawling with more traditional zombies that are numberless. As with the show and comics, the main objective is to survive both the zombies and other encounters. Building bases will be crucial but being able to work as a team will also play a big part too.
One of the biggest features of Overkill’s The Walking Dead is the four-player co-op play. Once in the game, four characters work together to secure the fences, kill any zombies trying to get in and just get things going. Unfortunately, for new players, there isn’t much of a tutorial or hints to get everyone started. This is troubling for a lot of players. Seeing as how each character has their own set of skills and abilities, no one is entirely sure who needs to be doing the tasks at hand.
Among general confusion of how to play, the camera can be troublesome too. Since the zombies don’t have the ability to run, killing them is easy, but if you get too close and they get ahold of you, the camera suddenly bounces around and becomes uncontrollable. Motion sickness in these moments can be a very real problem. For more familiar players, the stealth kills are much more effective.
With stealth kills, floating through the game becomes a lot easier and has the slippery slope of potentially becoming boring very quickly. The noise meter, however, will work against you if you choose to use a gun instead. Zombies really listen closely to noise and will make their way to you if you go rogue. In the end, the overall game becomes protecting your space, killing zombies and maybe running into a few other survivors that want to kill you. The more entertaining option to this plot is to walk past the zombies and fight the humans instead.
Overall, the game has issues. Although killing zombies can go on all day, the plot isn’t enough to keep players entertained. Mechanically most things run smoothly except the camera. It’s probably best to work with your team and go through the motions in order to stay alive.
6/10
Available on PC ( Xbox and PS4 version coming in Feb)
