The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

 PC
User Score
2.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 325 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 325
  2. Mixed: 48 out of 325
  3. Negative: 243 out of 325

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Aiekillu
    Mar 19, 2013
    2
    The game clearly doesn't deserve 50$, I took all my time to finish it, it took me 6 hours. Graphics are really bad but that was not a big deal, the gameplay was catchy and the voiceover was amazing, from the two series actors. I was quiet optimist through the whole game, but then the game just ended, probably the worst ending ever in the video games industry. Even if you're a great fan ofThe game clearly doesn't deserve 50$, I took all my time to finish it, it took me 6 hours. Graphics are really bad but that was not a big deal, the gameplay was catchy and the voiceover was amazing, from the two series actors. I was quiet optimist through the whole game, but then the game just ended, probably the worst ending ever in the video games industry. Even if you're a great fan of the Walking Dead, don't spend 50$ on that.… Expand
  2. jonnyohio
    Mar 25, 2013
    1
    This game was not even completed! The animations look unfinished, concepts are there but not fully implemented, almost everything seems half-arsed and rushed. There appears to be no optimization at all. Changing screen resolution and graphics options crashes my game to desktop followed by a bunch of error messages. It's as if this was an alpha build and some idiot in charge said, "ReleaseThis game was not even completed! The animations look unfinished, concepts are there but not fully implemented, almost everything seems half-arsed and rushed. There appears to be no optimization at all. Changing screen resolution and graphics options crashes my game to desktop followed by a bunch of error messages. It's as if this was an alpha build and some idiot in charge said, "Release this now!", and the developers gave up trying to explain to that person that the game wasn't completed. It should have spent a few more months in development. I don't even care that the graphics aren't the best I've seen, I was just hoping for a game that actually worked and was finished, and had all the ideas FULLY implemented into them that were talked about while it was in development; a game that put me into the walking dead world and was tense. I just hate to have to give a game such a low score, but the fact that it was released like this with a $50 price tag ticks me off, and I want everyone to know that they should avoid buying this game like the plague. I seriously doubt they can fix (finish) this game by releasing a series of patches. It's just awful. The one point I do give it is for the fact that they put in RPG elements and the ability to lean to look around corners as well as a few other little things. But these little things that might surprise you and make you say, "hey, that is cool!" are just overshadowed by the gut wrenching fact that they are inside of a big steaming pile of over-priced pooh.… Expand
  3. BlackCast
    Apr 23, 2013
    0
    This game... I have been so excited about it and thought it would be awesome! But it all let me down... This game became a piece of The graphics are on really not that bad but still its so crappy! You will ALWAYS find freaking zombies ignoring you and just hitting the wall or breaking a door even if you are just by them! I would have gave this game atleast a 1 out of 10 if it had CO-OPThis game... I have been so excited about it and thought it would be awesome! But it all let me down... This game became a piece of The graphics are on really not that bad but still its so crappy! You will ALWAYS find freaking zombies ignoring you and just hitting the wall or breaking a door even if you are just by them! I would have gave this game atleast a 1 out of 10 if it had CO-OP but no! They said they actually wanted to focus on the STORY! Does this look like a good story for you?! The ending is way worse than the ending of Mass Effect 3! The voice acting is really bad and when you send out a survivor for scavenging for some stuff for you he or she will ALWAYS come back with with a tiny little bit of health! Also they will NEVER EVER get valuable stuff! About of 4 survivors you sent will get you about 2 or 1 piece of gas, food, ammo and weapons! They didn't even try to get the stuff you wanted! And while you fight zombies out there you can have them stay in the car just doing NOTHING! Not even helping you! As a huge fan of the show and the Tell Tale Games' Walking Dead this is a HUGE piece of bull****! This deserves a very bad and stupid 0 OUT OF 10!! I can't give it a higher rating because of all this crap the game has to offer! Everyone who gives this game a rating over 7 is a dumb idiot who doesn't know what TRUE games are! Anyway thanks for thinking that this review is helpful so it can make idiots who love this game BELIEVE that it sucks!… Expand
  4. Kluge
    May 21, 2013
    3
    Oh, man.... I'm so glad I pirate games before buying them right now. I've been hearing good things about "that Walking Dead game" from co-workers for a while, so I gave it a go. I was coming here to see why on Earth they recommended that to me. (Oops!)

    I was told of character depth and exploration, as well as meaning in choices not presented in a binary format. For this game, it's quite    Oh, man.... I'm so glad I pirate games before buying them right now. I've been hearing good things about "that Walking Dead game" from co-workers for a while, so I gave it a go. I was coming here to see why on Earth they recommended that to me. (Oops!)

    I was told of character depth and exploration, as well as meaning in choices not presented in a binary format. For this game, it's quite the opposite. Characters are just "there." I guess you are expected to have seen the early part of this series, which I did not (wish I had, because I hear it was even better toward the beginning). There aren't really any meaningful choices in the game which isn't objectively bad, but it doesn't have any character development, either.

    There aren't many weapons, but there's not an unreasonably limited amount of weapons, which I think would actually be good if the weapons were very different. Unfortunately, a machete pretty much functions the same as a hammer or a sledgehammer, and enemies are all the same, so the weapons' differences (within their own classes [melee, handgun, rifle]) are mostly skin-deep. Melee combat is pretty boring, and I have no idea why auto-aim would be default-enabled on the PC, but melee and ranged combat is fairly well-balanced (that is, the increased power of ranged weapons is often outweighed by the disadvantage of grabbing nearby walkers' attention).

    There's a "companion" kind of system in the game, but nobody ever fights alongside you in-game. There's not really any point to it. Survivors generally require more supplies to heal than they're able to scavenge (none of which I ever ran out of), there's no special reward, and there's no reason at all for them to be in the game, really.

    Levels are pretty small, and shockingly enough, repeated over and over in scavenge situations. The devs at least made item and enemy placement in SameLevel semi-random. Praise Jesus for the man who implemented that... I would've quit the game early on if I had to go through the exact same scavenge missions.

    The game devs decided to limit inventory, both in how much you can store on-person, and how much you can store in your car. By doing this, they've effectively limited how many weapons you'll ever use. Find a favorite weapon in each class (I brought the early bolt-action rifle and machete to the end), dump the rest.

    The game does a good job at getting a few cheap scares in. It's no survival horror, though. There were maybe four or five times it managed to catch me off-guard, and the first few levels gave me the sense of dread. They give you more powerful weapons as you progress and same-strength enemies, so combat ends up very uneven, totally ruining the atmosphere they appeared to be going for. That said, you can just go through the game with a first-level melee weapon without much trouble. I somehow managed to get the game to run at 2x speed (did this when I enabled "windowed" mode) on the last three levels and didn't have any problems getting through. It actually made the game feel much more intense.

    The game is indeed about 5 hours long. There's replay value in that you're forced to choose between "story" levels, so you can go back and do the other ones (not that you'd want to). -But really, it's probably the shortest non-indie game I've ever played. With a pretty mediocre graphics engine (or poorly utilized one, perhaps), it's shocking that this game takes up >8gB of storage. I'm not at all sure how they managed that.

    It's a forgettable, unpolished game with little depth. I'm giving it 3/10, but the game was running at 2x speed through the end level, so all I remember was shooting a bunch of super-fast zombies in the face with a machine gun, which was a pretty decent ending for me!    … Expand
  5. Slyguyi69
    Apr 3, 2013
    2
    Total waste of money, $14.99 would have been dead on for this game. Not the 50 you have to lay out. My mistake was not looking into the actual game before purchase. This game is nothing more than a cash cow based on the TV show is all. If you love "The Walking Dead" that much buy it but if I were you then please save it until it goes on sale. The graphics system looked like half life 1 genTotal waste of money, $14.99 would have been dead on for this game. Not the 50 you have to lay out. My mistake was not looking into the actual game before purchase. This game is nothing more than a cash cow based on the TV show is all. If you love "The Walking Dead" that much buy it but if I were you then please save it until it goes on sale. The graphics system looked like half life 1 gen and the gameplay itself was terrible. (The PC version) Has very little health and ammo powerups unlike from what I've heard on the console that they have tons of health and ammo everywhere. This game completely disappointed me and I wish they would have taken more time to develop it as it could have been something great! But again it's a NAME cash cow game that takes the player by surprise after you buy it. The publisher should have been another warning for me to check into it before purchase as well.… Expand
  6. mikevall
    Jul 4, 2013
    0
    Amazing show, Bad game.

    Huge let down, this is shovel-ware at its finest. Do yourself a favor and buy Telltales, The Walking Dead, and call it a day.
  7. Blackdevils696
    Jun 18, 2013
    3
    Once again another crapy move/tv licensed game. Have we not learned already about how much these games such. This is such a copy and paste shooter with a weak story line and brain dead AI. The quick time event is so annoying when attacked by a horde. I love the Tv show and I guess that is the only reason to buy this game. Instead get the telltale Walking Dead Game. IT IS AWESOME!
  8. TounVic
    Jul 9, 2013
    3
    I liked the fact that the voice acting are from the actual characters of the TV show. But the rest of the game is just AWFUL, the game play is just so repetitive, the story is boring, lazy and pointless. The ZOMBIES have a terrible A.I, terrible and insulting ending for the fans of the TV show. Repeating side missions and broken mechanics. Worst game of 2013 so far.
  9. Gizmo19
    Jul 30, 2013
    0
    a really big shame that they still asks 50$ for this garbage. this game isn't even worth to download for free.. this game was released 22 march.. and still not 1 update to fix the problems.. but i love the tv show
  10. Sky-Moondrift
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    An atrocious game, And possibly one of the worst Ports in video game history. I could only stomach about 40 minutes of this trash until I wanted to throw my mouse at the wall.

    The graphics look like a Playstation 1 game, the sounds are repetitive and annoying, but the one thing that makes this game total garbage is the horrifying controls, most notably the forced Mouse Acceleration that    An atrocious game, And possibly one of the worst Ports in video game history. I could only stomach about 40 minutes of this trash until I wanted to throw my mouse at the wall.

    The graphics look like a Playstation 1 game, the sounds are repetitive and annoying, but the one thing that makes this game total garbage is the horrifying controls, most notably the forced Mouse Acceleration that makes aiming and navigating a complete disaster.

    Not only does it have the most retarded Mouse Acceleration, but the mouse aiming will just glitch out and start sticking on different parts of the screen.

    An unplayable travesty of a game. And to make matters worse, the devs still won't recognize or fix the horrible controls and mouse issues, which shows you how little they care. I couldn't play any more of this if someone was paying me.

    Stay well away from this abomination.    … Expand
  11. PCDOCTOR
    Nov 6, 2013
    1
    Awfull really bad, boring, killing moves are kinda cool but get very repative. I really think this is one game you avoid. I got it on xbox and brought it back to the shop after 1 hour. I love zombie games and The walking dead but this is just terrible.
  12. Bahlemar
    Mar 24, 2013
    2
    It's a real shame this game was made the way it was, an utter cash in with the only redeeming features because the amazing voice acting by Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker. Graphics are a complete let down with rooms being full of nothing more than one chair and a table half the time, if this wasn't a Walking Dead game it wouldn't be worth a second glance.
  13. ContraBran
    Mar 21, 2013
    2
    The Kings of Cash-In have done it again. I seriously believe that this is what Activision has been reduced to: making bad games to cash in on licenses. This newest FPS cash in is very short so I will make this review short and spoiler free in regard. Walking Dead: Survival Instinct doesn't deserve $50 nor does it deserve $10. Survival Instinct is a complete disrespect to the license andThe Kings of Cash-In have done it again. I seriously believe that this is what Activision has been reduced to: making bad games to cash in on licenses. This newest FPS cash in is very short so I will make this review short and spoiler free in regard. Walking Dead: Survival Instinct doesn't deserve $50 nor does it deserve $10. Survival Instinct is a complete disrespect to the license and its fans. On the PC version, you will experience horrendous frame rate drops from dated graphics that look like they could have been made for the PlayStation 2 and XBOX. A lazy story that ends abruptly with loose ends (though I seriously doubt Activision is going to release any DLC for this disaster). Terrible voice acting with some of the worst AI I've ever encountered because on five different occurrences, the Walkers in this game RAN....yes RAN!!! Also keep in mind that Terminal Reality is used the same engine that was used for Star Wars: Kinect. With that in mind you will experience badly timed QTEs and mini games that probably come from iPhone games and climbing mechanics straight out of Minecraft. If you are a fan of the series then stick with Telltale's version of The Walking Dead.… Expand
  14. Shadow34
    Mar 22, 2013
    3
    At first i thought it is a joke, when i saw the graphics 1st time. But no. It looks like cheap games done 5-7years ago. I said OK... Nevermind, its all about athmosphere so i go on. I played like 30 minutes, got almost done 1st mission and suddenly... game crash! Checkpoints not saved, so i had to start mission over again from the beginning. Next bad thing about TWD: SI, it just freezesAt first i thought it is a joke, when i saw the graphics 1st time. But no. It looks like cheap games done 5-7years ago. I said OK... Nevermind, its all about athmosphere so i go on. I played like 30 minutes, got almost done 1st mission and suddenly... game crash! Checkpoints not saved, so i had to start mission over again from the beginning. Next bad thing about TWD: SI, it just freezes all the time, its hard to aim in it at all. There are some better things like map travels, equipment, but its definitly not worth its price. What a waste, especially when there are such awesome characters like Daryl and Merle used.… Expand
  15. TheFandango
    Mar 20, 2013
    0
    This is probably one of the worst games I have ever played. I actually can't believe that they released this game in the condition that it's in. The graphics were basically really high end 2005 graphics. It feels like and plays about as well as the new Duke Nukem did. I think that there were about 5 various zombies in the whole game. If you played the game Land of the Dead imagine a muchThis is probably one of the worst games I have ever played. I actually can't believe that they released this game in the condition that it's in. The graphics were basically really high end 2005 graphics. It feels like and plays about as well as the new Duke Nukem did. I think that there were about 5 various zombies in the whole game. If you played the game Land of the Dead imagine a much worse Next-gen version of that. I can't believe this game is retail for $50. It should be $20 at most. Do not buy, do not look at it even. It's bad. Really bad.… Expand
  16. Clericx
    Mar 19, 2013
    0
    No More Room in Hell way better Zombie survival game with 8 player cooperative... and that games FREE. Riddle me that... I have to agree with GameDev11 on this one and say it's a rushed title with little to no effort put into it, just to collect on the payout of the 'Walking Dead' label/franchise. Save your money I see this game dropping down to $5 just like Duke Nukem did within a month or two.
  17. mafon2
    Mar 22, 2013
    2
    It's like Day of the Dead (horrible zombie-game on Unreal engine 2), but with «updated» graphics (still looks horrible).
    The rush with which game was made shows. It's glitchy as hell. Shallow and repetitive gameplay.
  18. kckkryptonite
    Jul 29, 2013
    3
    This game was a huge disappointment as I’m such a fan of the Walking Dead series and Norman Reedus, but it’s like TR didn’t even care, the game feels and plays like a pretty good college-project with a Walking Dead theme slapped on it. The basics of the game is you travel from instanced area to area with one main mission with optional side-quests thrown in, allowing you to do things suchThis game was a huge disappointment as I’m such a fan of the Walking Dead series and Norman Reedus, but it’s like TR didn’t even care, the game feels and plays like a pretty good college-project with a Walking Dead theme slapped on it. The basics of the game is you travel from instanced area to area with one main mission with optional side-quests thrown in, allowing you to do things such as change vehicles, get extra supplies, and find other survivors. Vehicles determine how many extra survivors you can have when travelling from one area to the next. At the beginning of each area, you can assign tasks to the survivors such as searching for ammo, finding gas, or finding food (healing). It all sounded so cool and the ideas were there, the lore was there; but the execution was piss poor. The combat gets tired after 15 minutes and the gameplay repetitive, nothing you do or the choices you make really seem of relevance, you don't ever get into the story before it just ends. Pretty bad.… Expand
  19. GameDev11
    Mar 19, 2013
    1
    This tile was created for the sole reason to gain profit off of the Walking Dead series. It was forced out by Activision and it's subsidiary developers in under half a year, with literally no effort put into it. The campaign is linear, the engine is using tech that is presumably pre-2006, and the gameplay is generally all around terrible. The ending is NOT an ending. It feels like the endThis tile was created for the sole reason to gain profit off of the Walking Dead series. It was forced out by Activision and it's subsidiary developers in under half a year, with literally no effort put into it. The campaign is linear, the engine is using tech that is presumably pre-2006, and the gameplay is generally all around terrible. The ending is NOT an ending. It feels like the end of a mission that you'd play in the middle of the game .

    There is absolutely no reason that you should ever pay for this title.. This game is worth maybe five dollars at most. 1/10    … Expand
  20. Andre23
    Mar 20, 2013
    0
    Played for 25 minutes and unistalled. The game has horrible quality, idiotic gameplay and super linear. The oposite of "The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game Series". The only good think is the recorded voice Daryl and his brother. Dont buy this trash! It is an insult to the franchize.
  21. Europianguy
    Mar 19, 2013
    2
    Story and characters:none found in here.There's no weight to any of the characters and the story is laughable.After telltales master peace this game proves how badly things can go in this segment.
    Gameplay:horrible.Its very repetitive and basic.It requires no skill no timing,nothing to be quite frank.Its just mouse button mashing over and over again.Weapons variety is poor and all the    Story and characters:none found in here.There's no weight to any of the characters and the story is laughable.After telltales master peace this game proves how badly things can go in this segment.
    Gameplay:horrible.Its very repetitive and basic.It requires no skill no timing,nothing to be quite frank.Its just mouse button mashing over and over again.Weapons variety is poor and all the melee weapons do same damage also it takes 4 hits to kill a zombie no matter where you hit it.Also gameplay is very linear and map design isn't impressive at all.Also FOV is very narrow and there's no way for you to change it.
    Graphics:yeh,they are bad.But the thing is that its a game from activision it's not an indie game.It looks like the game is made out of clay.Everyone expects good graphics from such a huge company but be prepared to be disappointed.This game looks ugly,it's obvious that they didn't even try to make this game look good.
    Sounds:i guess its OK at best.Dialogues feel forced and since they are poorly written voice-over makes them sound awkward.
    Bottom line:an obvious cash in on the franchise.Game is rushed out,it has nothing unique in it,nothing worth while.    … Expand
  22. Mark2IT
    Mar 19, 2013
    0
    Only created to gain some cash from Telltale's success and The Walking Dead series. The gameplay is bad, the graphics are bad, the story is linear, and no effort was put to create this game, and the pc port is awful. Also, so many fake reviews and rates. Casually, some of these people have rated only and only this game high for all platforms. Pathetic.
  23. Gayfish
    Mar 21, 2013
    0
    To start off this game is terrible not worth the $50 price tag at all more like $15. Because it was published by activision the game was rushed out and it's a mess. The controls are clunky and the missions suck. Last, but doesn't matter that much, the graphics look like they came from 2003. Don't buy this game even if you are a die hard TWD fan like me, take your $50 and buy season 3 whenTo start off this game is terrible not worth the $50 price tag at all more like $15. Because it was published by activision the game was rushed out and it's a mess. The controls are clunky and the missions suck. Last, but doesn't matter that much, the graphics look like they came from 2003. Don't buy this game even if you are a die hard TWD fan like me, take your $50 and buy season 3 when it comes out on dvd/blu ray.… Expand
  24. dimitrii_ss2
    Mar 23, 2013
    1
    i don't understand how people are giving 9/10 to this game, i wonder if they are payed or just dunno are still playing games released 15 years ago and they are like wow this is a video game and at 40$+ you would expect AAA quality or refund, this worse than War Z and this is not a compliment.
  25. BakaGamer
    Apr 1, 2013
    1
    This game is... borderline broken... I don't wanna do a review... just don't buy it... please. The only good thing in this is the Voice Acting of some characters. Awful AWFUL AWFUL game.
  26. Ghoster
    Mar 20, 2013
    0
    As a huge fan of the series and also zombie video games I was looking forward to try this game. Can't say I'm disappointed because what I feel is more than that. Can't still believe they used that awesome series name for this crap. Graphics is somewhere on Quake 2 level but that's not too important (remember Payday: The Heist with terrible gfx and awesome game). Gameplay is even worse thanAs a huge fan of the series and also zombie video games I was looking forward to try this game. Can't say I'm disappointed because what I feel is more than that. Can't still believe they used that awesome series name for this crap. Graphics is somewhere on Quake 2 level but that's not too important (remember Payday: The Heist with terrible gfx and awesome game). Gameplay is even worse than gfx and audio also terrible. I almost never give games score 0 because there is at least effort of programmers and we should respect that. Here, seems no even effort to make playable game.… Expand
  27. Duskspark
    Mar 25, 2013
    7
    The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is an enjoyable game that combines the claustrofobic feeling of being chased by walkers and the need to scavenge in a good way, but the graphics are very dated and some issues keep the experience from its prime.
  28. Zeron
    Mar 19, 2013
    6
    Graphics is terrabad, storyline is okay. Horror factor is somewhat scary. Daryl is really a plus in this game, and it does gives back the atmosphere of the show though. Not the greatest game ever, i wouldn't recommend it for a full price.
  29. Spike23
    Mar 20, 2013
    1
    this game really reminds me of the good old Medal of Honor on PS1, compass, graphics, it's almost the same, it would have been the best FPS in 1998 before Half-Life, now it's just garbage, the only good Walking Dead is from Telltale Games, this is complete waste of time, exactly like the tv show.
  30. Chackal099
    Mar 22, 2013
    5
    I was expecting a game like a TWD in First Person, but i need to admit I was expecting more than a repetitive merry go around of facts and mechanics and a butt-ending that blows me off...
    taking out the fact of (poor) interacting with other survivors, scavenge of new items for continue adventure with new cars, weapons and more, the game include lack of graphics and Gameplay, that makes    I was expecting a game like a TWD in First Person, but i need to admit I was expecting more than a repetitive merry go around of facts and mechanics and a butt-ending that blows me off...
    taking out the fact of (poor) interacting with other survivors, scavenge of new items for continue adventure with new cars, weapons and more, the game include lack of graphics and Gameplay, that makes the game boring and repetitive...
    The history isn't that bad, but isn't good though, resuming: only a REAL fan (like me!) will TOLERATE a ONE time gameplay (you finish the game, and you put on your game stash and never touch him again...)
    Other positive point is the GREAT voice os Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker, they were good in the series, they were good in the game too...
    Well, if you aren't a REAL BIG FAN of TWD, i think you should prefer to play Left 4 Dead, or No More Room In Hell, even The War Z (just kidding, haha)    … Expand
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

91
#91 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
38

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 12 out of 13
  1. Thunderbolt
    Jul 10, 2013
    20
    After the excellence of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, it’s clear that Survival Instinct is the weaker of this species.
    Read full review
  2. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 5, 2013
    38
    What’s frustrating is that Terminal Reality, whether you believe it or not, had laid the foundations for an extraordinary game. WD:SI includes all the activities that a decent zombie survival game should have. [May 2013]
  3. CD-Action
    May 13, 2013
    40
    None of its elements is done well enough. The combat system is primitive and slapdash, there’s practically just one enemy type with several skins and the level design based on simple greyish blocks is trivial. [CD-Action 06/2013, p.68]
See all critic reviews »