If you thought trudging through the monotony of your everyday life was difficult, try having to survive and escape an island overrun by the undead with only your wits, the clothes on your back, and a small knife! Published and developed by Jacktostudios, Night of the Dead is an open world survival game with a heavy emphasis on crafting and finding extreme ways to slaughtering those zombified folks. Play solo or play with friends, there really is no wrong way to try and stay alive in these tough times.
There is no mistaking the similarities between the popular 7 Days to Die zombie survival game and Night of the Dead. Both games begin with a lone survivor who must craft and search throughout the land and abandoned buildings for supplies. All the while having to fend off the aggressive undead and wild animals. The most noticeable difference is that in Night of the Dead, the zombie hordes come every night, and you can craft destructive machinery that looks like medieval torture devices. There is also the possibility of escape from the hell that you’ve woken up in as journals can be found scattered throughout the map with clues leading to your possible freedom.
Unlike 7 days to Die, not everything in this game is harvestable or available for crafting. Instructions of what can or cannot be used aren’t entirely clear and is mostly by trial and error. After completing all the initial tasks such as building booby traps and crafting new weapons, you are on your own to decide if creating an impenetrable fortress is more your gameplay style, or if trying to escape is your ultimate goal. There is no experience point system or leveling up in Night of the Dead. Instead, the character gains better abilities by collecting research papers and utilizing the research table to unlock skills.
Zombies are the main enemies and threats throughout the game as there are also varying types to watch out for. These advanced mutants are noticeably different in appearance, movement, and attack styles. As they are tougher and stronger, the loot that is dropped over their decaying bodies is usually worth the trouble. If the zombie don’t kill you first, then getting caught by your own traps, starvation, or wild animals such as bears and wolves can easily finish you off as well.
Night of the Dead has a thorough and beautiful environment, interesting exposition, exciting opponents, and the options for different levels of difficulty for any gamer looking for a new challenge. However, there are some strange glitches throughout the game that remind players that this is still in Early Access and is not yet complete. Trees and rocks would momentarily disappear during harvest and then later reappear after more swings. The bodies of large animals have a habit of defying gravity as soon as they finish going through their final death throes, the corpses would fly into the air and land a few feet away. And bugs, such as weapons not fully connecting with targets, can become especially frustrating. Samurai swords and baseball bats are good examples of this as certain swings will simply phase through your enemies and leave the player open to attack.
There is potential here, but there is still much to improve on. The physics need to be fixed/adjusted, environment could be more interactive as not everything is available, and clearer instructions of the game should be the first to be fixed. With games like 7 Days to Die, Raft, and The Forest competing for gamer’s attentions, Night of the Dead will need more work to fully flesh out the gameplay and create a wholly unique experience from what is already on the market.
Check Out the Night of the Dead Steam Early Access Trailer:
Night of the Dead is available for PC for $24.99 via Steam Early Access.
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Video games have always been a huge influence in my life and have definitely shaped me to who I am today . Some of my best memories growing up were the many adventures and stories I was able to experience and become immersed in. If my hands aren't either covered in clay, typing, editing, creating, or helping shoving food in my mouth, they would either be gripped to a controller, tapping away at the screen of my phone, or clicking away on my PC. I am always up for trying something new because why live just one life when you can live many.
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