The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival takes the popular zombie franchise in a direction it’s yet to go, and as a side-scrolling beat-em-up, it works pretty well. We’ve had Telltale do wonders with the series, and Saints and Sinners took walker-slaying into virtual reality. We’ve also had some awful takes on The Walking Dead in the shape of Destinies. However, Odaclick Game Studio has opted to replicate the thrill of the arcades while staying close to the source material, specifically the All Out War story arc.
Getting to play as the four best characters in the show rarely gets boring, though it is a little repetitive. Each character is armed with their iconic weapon, and with it you’ll take out herds of walkers, gangs of saviors, and more. Daryl wields his crossbow; Rick his magnum; Michonne her sword; and eventually, you’ll play as Negan who has Lucille. There are multiple stages that feel familiar if you’ve read the comics or watched the show, such as Hilltop and Alexandria. It’s all pretty cool and the attention to detail makes each level fun to play through.
On top of the weapons each character is known for using, there are other guns that can be equipped. Destructible melee weapons can also be found like knives and axes for a brief burst of damage. You rarely face one enemy at a time, and while movement is fine, if you get stuck in a combo, it’s difficult to stop and face someone else, meaning you can take damage much easier. It’s frustrating as for the most part the combat is enjoyable, especially when you’re faced with the odds stacked against you.
When you are balancing close-quarter combat and ranged attacks, The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is at its best. Trying to put down four or five walkers as an armoured brute gets closer is tense. Pulling out your gun and firing does more damage depending on whether the reticle has gone orange or yellow is another addition to combat and making use of the limited ammunition. Each character also builds up a powerful attack after successful kills, meaning it’s great for putting the final blow in to a particularly difficult encounter.
As you play through the various levels, you’ll collect knowledge which is used to upgrade your characters in different ways, such as reducing the time it takes to use med-kits. There are also collectables to find, so it’s worth searching through anywhere you see a magnifying glass icon. Some of the stages see you facing different bosses, and most of the time they’re varied in how you can defeat them, adding a little extra to the repetitive combat. It’s far from boring, but fighting differently every now and again keeps things fresh.
For those that love the tv show, there’s little beyond the main characters and a few of the minor characters. Jadis is there, as is Negan’s right-hand man, Simon. Beyond that, there’s no Maggie or Glen, and areas like the big farmhouse at hilltop is filled with nobodies. Still, for what it is, The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is great if you’ve got thirty minutes to spare and you want to go slaughter some walkers with a range of different weapons. Some dialogue changes depending on who you select, but it’s almost all text apart from one line of dialogue before a mission.
The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is a basic side-scrolling beat-em-up that does little to reinvent the genre. However, as a fan of the show, it was fun to explore the various locations from the show and get to play as legends like Daryl. While combat can become repetitive, there’re boss fights that occasionally mix things up, and trying to find collectables gives you something else to do in-between slaughtering the enemy, regardless of who it is you’re trying to kill.