Previews
[Early Impressions] Overkill’s ‘The Walking Dead’ Nails the TV Show’s Grit, But Frustrates With Repetition
A co-op shooter set in The Walking Dead universe? From the makers of Payday? Read why that’s both exciting and frustrating in our first impressions of Overkill’s The Walking Dead.
While many have been following Overkill’s The Walking Dead with a keen interest, others may be surprised to hear that the game has already launched, at least for PC players. It’s been an alarmingly quiet launch for a game that’s been hyped up for more than four years, attached to one of the biggest names in television. As long-time fans of the show, we were curious to see how this latest video game adaptation shapes up.
For those who have absolutely no idea who Overkill are, they’re the team that brought us Payday, an incredibly popular co-operative shooter in which you and a gang of up to three friends stage a series of daring heists. Its sequel, Payday 2, is still among one of the most played online games in circulation so when it was announced Overkill would be taking a swing at The Walking Dead, it was hard not to get excited.
Sticking to what the studio knows best, this is another first-person shooter strictly focused on 4-player co-op. While it can be run solo, Overkill has geared the core gameplay and level design in a way that makes it almost impossible to progress as a sole survivor. The sheer number of enemies, both living and dead, as well as the way objectives are structured demands a full squad of four, ideally communicating with one another.
Overkill’s The Walking Dead focuses on an entirely new cast of characters – a band of survivors protecting their Washington settlement from zombies and a rival faction calling themselves The Family. From what we’ve seen, Overkill has made an effort to flesh out this change of setting and those key characters who inhabit it, but not in a way that’s particularly memorable or impactful.
The four main protagonists each belong to a specific class with their own unique perks, abilities, and weapon proficiencies. It’s a choice that ultimately determines your role in combat – whether you want to get up close, pick enemies off from afar, or support your squad with buffs and items. Starting out, you’ll feel somewhat underpowered though as you complete missions and rank up, characters will grow stronger and more versatile.
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In many ways, these design choices mirror that of Payday 2 and it’s true that, in broad strokes, The Walking Dead can feel like somewhat of a zombie-themed reskin of Overkill’s flagship shooter. However, the overall flow and feel of combat, paired with the gritty post-apocalyptic setting, help obscure any overlap.
Fighting the undead usually goes one of two ways. You and your fellow survivors can either go for the efficient route, performing stealth takedowns and going unnoticed. Then there’s the more direct approach, hacking, slashing, swinging, and shooting. It depends on the scenario, as well as who you’re teamed up with.
However, some missions demand a quieter, more methodical approach. When coming up against The Family, you’ll need to change gears, using cover and limiting exposure as you would in a normal shooter. Make too much noise, and you’ll also fill a meter that populates the entire level with more walkers. Go in all guns blazing and you’ll quickly find your backs against the wall.
The Walking Dead tries to keep you plugged in, even between missions. You can spend any resources found on camp upgrades, recruit survivors, and send them on missions. It’s similar to the metagame Naughty Dog featured in The Last of Us and one that has you thinking about more than just gunning down zombies when out in the field.
It’s a brutal, fairly unforgiving co-op experience that’s rough around the edges and isn’t as fully-featured as some might expect (there’s no in-game voice chat, for example. Time to jump on Skype/Discord!). That said, our first impressions of Overkill’s The Walking Dead are mostly positive, overall. It successfully nails that grit of the television show and while the game can become repetitive – even frustrating – in spots, it’s a rewarding co-op shooter and one that will hopefully be refined to work out some of those awkward kinks. If you’re considering taking the plunge, just make sure you have friends to watch your six.
Overkill’s The Walking Dead code provided by the publisher.
Overkill’s The Walking Dead is out now on PC.
Previews
‘Evil Dead: The Game’ Looks to Be Raising the Bar for Asymmetrical Horror [Hands-On Preview]
The idea of synthesizing all of the moving pieces of the Evil Dead series into one cohesive package is one vicious, behemoth Deadite in itself. But on top of that, transcending the medium of film and television and adapting it into a gaming genre as volatile as asymmetrical multiplayer? One would naturally question how Saber Interactive could possibly appease every possible audience with EVIL DEAD: THE GAME, from veteran film fans to savvy gamers who want a unique and engaging experience. But as someone who fits into both camps who recently spent an hour with the developers kicking Deadite ass (and kicking ass as Deadites), I can happily report that Saber Interactive has pulled it off. EVIL DEAD: THE GAME is asymmetrical multiplayer at its best.
For those unfamiliar, asymmetrical multiplayer is a gameplay paradigm that heavily skews the power dynamic between two opposing teams. In the case of EVIL DEAD: THE GAME, four players select a character from the roster of Ash Williams and his cohorts from across the Evil Dead franchise (the “Survivor” team) to face one player who controls the all-powerful Kandarian Demon (the “Killer” team).
The survivor team is packed with familiar faces, including multiple iterations of Ash Williams as he appears throughout the Evil Dead series, meaning if you want to play Avengers multiverse style as a team of four different Ashes, the choice is yours. Just expect to hear a lot of quips from Bruce Campbell, who returned to reprise his role along with almost all of the original cast members from the films and television series. If you’re feeling a bit more sadistic, you can opt to play as The Kandarian Demon, which gives you the ability to control and summon Deadites to hinder and destroy the survivor team before they have a chance to use the Necronomicon to open a portal and excise the evil.
One important question I had when going into the preview was “How is this game going to stand out from its peers in the asymmetrical multiplayer space?” The genre is already well-known for hits like Behaviour Interactive’s Dead By Daylight, and is becoming further saturated with upcoming titles like Gun Media’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre game. Walking out of the preview, I felt that Saber Interactive knocked it out of the park in multiple ways, but my biggest takeaway was the sense of agency that the gameplay provides on both the survivor and killer sides.
For starters, on the survivor side, you’re given the option to select a character that fits into one of four categories: Leader, Warrior, Hunter, or Support. Each character in their respective class holds certain abilities that fit their archetype–for example, Cheryl in Support has an ability that heals the team as they converge around her. This system immediately establishes an element of complexity to the gameplay: how do you build synergy based on these classes? Do you want to be in the fray battling it out, or would you rather scout out objectives and rally the team to success? Additionally, you have the option of upgrading your abilities via cans of Pink-F scattered throughout the map, and have access to an expansive list of weapons to choose from shotguns to Medieval swords.
On the other hand, as the Kandarian Demon, you’re given free rein to zip across the map and collect Infernal Energy, which is used for all sorts of offensive options from summoning Deadites, to conjuring up traps, and my favorite, possession. Think of it like the survivors are in one big haunted house, and you’re the one with the master switch that controls everything that happens, from jump-scare traps to possessed trees and cars. Survivors themselves can even become possessed once their fear meters max out, giving you the option to take control of their characters to lay the smackdown on their team members, waste all of their ammo or separate them from the group. It’s as chaotic as it is a genuinely unique and a fresh take on the genre that’s never been seen before.
These factors of complexity and agency are so important because it counteracts an issue that often presents itself in asymmetrical horror: redundancy. Continuously playing matches can grow stagnant quickly if the gameplay isn’t complex and the same objectives need to be completed over and over again. The one hour I played of EVIL DEAD: THE GAME left me hungry to explore more. How does the gameplay differ between survivors? What are the other weapons like? How can I best optimize my team? And more importantly, I was excited to try out playing as the killer again. Like many other folks who play asymmetrical multiplayer, I tend to favor playing as the survivor over the killer, but playing as the Kandarian Demon was such a blast that I could see myself defecting to the dark side with EVIL DEAD.
EVIL DEAD: THE GAME truly offers something for everyone. Those who have stuck with the franchise since Sam Raimi’s first film in 1981 will love the homages and faithful adaptations, and those new to the series will love the blend of action, horror, and humor. People familiar with asymmetrical multiplayer can expect a fresh and innovative take on the genre, and if you’re new to asymmetrical multiplayer? I can confidently say EVIL DEAD: THE GAME will set the bar high for you.
EVIL DEAD: THE GAME will release on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Series X/S, and PC via the Epic Games Store on May 13th, 2022.
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