The Walking Dead: Road to Survival

 iOS
  • Publisher: Scopely
  • Release Date: Aug 26, 2015
The Walking Dead: Road to Survival Image
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
4.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 14 Ratings

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  • Summary: The Walking Dead: Road to Survival is the definitive Walking Dead strategy game, brought to you by Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comic series.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Gamezebo
    Aug 28, 2015
    90
    Overall, while The Walking Dead: Road to Survival is centered on the usual mode of delivery for mobile strategy games, the campaign gave me an engaging enough story and the combat was rewarding enough to where I feel comfortable saying that Road to Survival is a strong step in the right direction for the genre.
  2. CD-Action
    Dec 16, 2015
    70
    It doesn’t try to be innovative, but neatly adapts some tried-and-true mechanics. [12/2015, p.74]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Sep 30, 2015
    68
    The Walking Dead: Road to Survival is a competent base building game with some nice emphasis on combat, however the mechanics are way too similar to dozens of other titles you probably already played...and got bored of.
  4. 148Apps
    Sep 1, 2015
    60
    The Walking Dead: Road to Survival is a F2P settlement building/RPG game that's a bit by the numbers.

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 7
  3. Negative: 4 out of 7
  1. TheQuietGamer
    Jan 4, 2016
    9
    A hodgepodge of mobile game genres that puts you in charge of just about every aspect of surviving the zombie apocalypse. Even better is thatA hodgepodge of mobile game genres that puts you in charge of just about every aspect of surviving the zombie apocalypse. Even better is that it's free-to-play and is set in The Walking Dead's comic book universe. There's a lot to enjoy here and it's definitely worth trying out.

    Now before I get into any specifics regarding the gameplay I should talk about the game's F2P model. Yes, there are microtransactions. However they can be completely ignored. You are going to have to grind from time to time, but you can make it throughout the entire game without spending a dime. You can even succeed in the game's multiplayer portion without having to buy special characters. I've made it fairly high on the leaderboards and haven't given up a single cent on the game in the process. So rest assured this is definitely free and in no way a pay to win experience.

    So, let's talk about the actual gameplay shall we? From resource management, turn-based combat, RPG leveling systems, village building, and even competitive multiplayer, there are a lot of distractions to keep you busy for many hours. To make it all even sweeter all of these elements feel like thing you would actually be doing and managing as a settlement leader during a zombie apocalypse. None of the concepts are revolutionary or really made any different than how we've seen them in any number of different games, but they come together here to form a satisfying and often addictive package. The Walking Dead setting also helps.

    The game even comes with it's own story and characters set in the comic book universe. These events tie into big story moments from the comics and you get to interact with the characters from them. Decision making also plays a big role in the game. These decisions often mean the difference between life and death for the new cast. Most of these choices are actually tough to make. Mostly because you really have no idea how they turn out, and they all seem to lead to horrifying conclusions. I would prefer a little more context and a little more insight as to how exactly things will play out depending on which option you choose, but it's a mobile game so I can't complain too much.

    The rest of the mechanics kind of play out the way you would expect. The multiplayer portion of the game stays exciting thanks to regular tournaments that offer big rewards. Special single-player events are also regularly made available that can gift you with resources or powerful new characters. As should be expected, the more difficult challenges grant you with better rewards.

    The only real complaint I have with the game is tied to how you level up your survivors. Rather than standard RPG leveling systems like you would find in console RPG's, this one relies on sacrificing characters to each other in order to level them up. Reach their level cap and you get the option to "upgrade" the character. Doing so burns through special and often rarer items gifted through missions. Once you do that the cycle starts again until you max out the character. The problem I have with this system is that it is what makes the game feel like a grind. It also gets in the way of the game's collection aspect.

    The characters you'll take into battle consist of characters exclusive to the game, as well as familiar faces from the comics (and most recently ones from the Telltale series). There are also numerous variants based on rarity and different chapters in the comics. It's not hard to want to collect them all, but the way the leveling system is handled means that it's only fruitful to hold onto the rarest/strongest ones and sacrifice the rest to them in order to level them up.

    Despite my frustrations with the character leveling system I can't complain too much. This Walking Dead game combines multiple different genres into one complete and cohesive package. It's a heck of a lot of fun, has regular events, and a lot of challenging and addictive content to sink your teeth into. It's also free-to-play and doesn't require use of the micotransactions in order to actually make progress. Some grinding aside this is a heck of a lot of fun and arguably the best zombie game on mobile devices.    … Expand
  2. onetime80
    Sep 27, 2015
    5
    Things in the game are too expensive. Sometimes there will be a "bonus" item for buying things, this requires 20 to 35 pack openings, which isThings in the game are too expensive. Sometimes there will be a "bonus" item for buying things, this requires 20 to 35 pack openings, which is over US$100. That's just ridiculous.… Expand
  4. Elmo2221
    Oct 27, 2021
    5
    While the Gameplay is nice but repetitively boring and heavily biased towards p2w
  5. MP1982
    Nov 3, 2015
    4
    Not quite sure how I feel about the game.

    It is loosely based on the TWD comic book, featuring characters spanning from the Woodbury era to    Not quite sure how I feel about the game.

    It is loosely based on the TWD comic book, featuring characters spanning from the Woodbury era to the present in Alexandria. It starts off fun enough, with an RPG-ish story progression that sees you joining the Governor's forces after making your way to Woodbury. However, at the fateful battle of the prison, you get to begin choosing which direction you go.

    Choices in the game lead to you gaining certain characters and losing others, so every choice matters and affects how the story progresses in the game. The battles consist of turn-based, 1-click operation. It's as simple as selecting an enemy and then clicking which character you want to attack it with. Characters have "Adrenaline Rush" super moves that can do massive damage to a single enemy, area-affect a whole group of foes with damage and/or status debuffs, as well as buff or heal your own team. Enemies consist of either zombies or humans. Zombies tend to amass in overwhelming numbers, whereas humans are usually groups of 3 - 6 at a time that tend to do massive damage to your team with their weapons.

    There is a considerable variety of enemies amongst the zombies and humans. There are some zombies that take massive amounts of damage but move slowly, so it takes a higher amount of turns for them to close in on your team, whereas there are others who can close the distance to your team in a single turn, and make take as many as 4 characters attacking to put it down. Human enemies can attack and kill your team members from the getgo, and can also use Adrenaline Rush capabilities.

    As for characters available to the player, you can get anywhere from 1 star (weakest) to 5 star (strongest) characters. It is a "trading card" system in which you will receive many duplicates. Character cards are used to level up other characters. Matching "persona" types may also result in an adrenaline rush upgrade. You will only ever get 1 star or 2 star characters, with 3 star characters appearing very rarely. 4 and 5 star characters are locked behind a pay wall. The game features world building, site upgrading, crafting and character training. It's your standard free-to-play mobile app game. As expected there is a PvP aspect, along with "Faction" teams. However, as with most games of this type, it hits the "free-to-play, pay-to-win" wall very early.

    In only 2 months of going live, PvP has become completely dominated by elitist "wallet warriors" who buy up 5-star characters and 5 star weapons. In the earlier weeks of the games launch I was typically able to hold my own in PvP, winning 4 out of 5 matches on average. Now, with wallet warriors dominating the brackets, win ratio typically tends to be 1 win in 20 matches. There also appears to be some form of cheating, as often times enemy teams all start with adrenaline rushes active. In many cases, my entire team is wiped out in a single turn by one character using an area-effect adrenaline rush.

    Getting raided costs you your resources and persists while you are away from the game. Since the domination of the wallet warriors in the game, I have been unable to keep resources. In only 9 hours of not playing, my 450,000+ building materials and 375000 food were all wiped out due to raids. I have not been able to recover since, as consistent raiding keeps me deadlocked at zero resources, and therefore am at a point where I cannot possibly grow my settlement any further.

    Pay-to-win also affects the PvE game. I have been stuck on mission 11- 9 for over 6 weeks, with no combination of battle items, characters and abilities able to defeat the mission. Human enemies are tremendously powerful, often able to withstand your team's attacks by taking negligible damage, while retaliating and causing massive damage. You are also often stuck with a level 1, 1-star character that you are forced to take with you due to the "story" element, taking away an available character slot for one of your more powerful characters.

    It's a good game in theory, but it hits the pay-to-win wall quickly, and there is simply no way around it once you get there. Between constant raiding keep your resources down to practically nothing, and story mode missions that require a pay-to-win approach, Road to Survival is not a game for casual TWD fans. If you have the money to waste on a mobile game, you will enjoy it. Otherwise avoid this title.    … Expand
  6. enPhenom
    Mar 28, 2019
    3
    Ah, what to say...
    Game mechanics aren't anything new but way they are implemented is not that bad. Game will actually keep you entertained    Ah, what to say...
    Game mechanics aren't anything new but way they are implemented is not that bad. Game will actually keep you entertained for several hundreds of hours. There are competetive system, variety of possible activities in both PvP and PvE.
    Unfortunatelly, thats all you get...
    Once you get adapted to game you can see rotten greedy foundations of this so called Scopely company. Honestly, I've never seen such insolent attitude towards your own playerbase. During my time I spent approx 1000$ just to keep up with my faction members, just to keep up... There were few who spent thousands of $ and yet didn't even touch those in top 10. This game is ridiculously expensive so be prepared for that.
    Another sad experience comes with PvP raiding. It's been fun once you are progressing into assembling high end teams but once you reach this high end it's getting imbalanced and game shows you how badly it's designed. Mostly you encounter loosing to timer counter or get destroyed by ridiculously broken toons. Instead of balancing to improve your gaming experience they'll rather add up another broken toon and gives you seriously great offering to spend 200$ just to try to get this toon and mostly got nothing. That's how Scopely works.

    Pros:
    Live serviced game with lots of to do.
    Challenging weekend events such as global wars or faction events.

    Cons:
    Ridiculously expensive - literally Pay2Win
    Crappy user support
    Cheaters
    Badly designed PvP raiding once you reach endgame
    Lack of balancing

    I hoped for at least 5/10 because this was my 1st mobile game that actually held me playing for a long time but i can't rate this better than 3/10.    … Expand
  7. Summerfest
    Dec 7, 2015
    0
    Long story short: it's a decent game ruined by pure greed. This is the worst cash grab I've ever seen and your chances of getting good heroesLong story short: it's a decent game ruined by pure greed. This is the worst cash grab I've ever seen and your chances of getting good heroes even with cash are abysmal. I don't mind paying for short cuts, but there is NO viable f2p path. Plus, you have to drop a few hundred to make any real progress. It's disgusting. Worse still, cheating went unchecked and rampant for 3 months so you will never catch up unless you're willing to drop hundreds of dollars.

    In more details: $50 will only average you a single Epic and a few Ultra Rares, the rest of your pulls will be trash. It gets worse, you can't unlock the ability to even level your Epic characters past tier 2 without grinding thousands of hours or by paying money, which is Scopelys way of forcing you to pay to progress (play.) Scopely gave beta testers $200 worth of pulls, plus they left an exploit that let people keep fishing for the best Epics for 3 months straight. Next they did a beta test on the live server that let a few people sell 1* and 2* weapons for massive amounts of supply points so they could max out all the 5* Epic characters that they had got for free. The top PVP players are now unstoppable giants with thousands of dollars of unlocks and straight destroy everyone in the PVP tournaments that the mid/ end game revolves around.
    Do yourself a favor and skip this game completely.    … Expand
  8. offshore1997
    Sep 5, 2015
    0
    I'm in a loss for words with this disaster of a game...
    This is the most frustrating piece of Pay2Play software ever produced.... And I    I'm in a loss for words with this disaster of a game...
    This is the most frustrating piece of Pay2Play software ever produced.... And I thought that Angry Birds 2 was already bad. A ridiculous raid system, iAPP, chat function and difficulty curve are just a few of the standard P2P extravaganza you'll encounter with this game... Don't download this!    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2015
58
#58 Most Shared iOS Game of 2015