The Strolling Lifeless: Destinies places you in command of the TV present’s first 4 seasons, enjoying out the occasions because the characters however making selections that may change the course of occasions, akin to having Shane kill Rick to steer the group, or turning into buddies with The Governor. On paper, it sounds nice, however in actuality, you find yourself altering little and simply see static cutscenes performed out with totally different characters. I am a giant fan of the sequence, so regardless of its unattractive look and the truth that it is revealed by Cranium Island: Rise of Kong’s GameMill Leisure — sure, this 12 months’s Kong sport that helped us neglect concerning the terrible The Lord of the Rings: Gollum for a short second — I used to be nonetheless interested by checking it out.
Now, to be clear, I’ve had moments of enjoyment with The Strolling Lifeless: Destinies, as when performed on its Regular or Arduous difficulties, it performs as a fairly enjoyable stealth sport, however it’s overshadowed by unimaginative design selections and sheer ugliness. Ranges are linear and activity you with working via numerous elements of the TV present, which virtually interprets to sneaking previous zombies, destroying some crates, and reaching the mission’s finish to fend off a wave of zombies. Rinse and repeat. Alongside the best way, you will discover well being kits and quite a few throwables like bottles and grenades that are utilized by urgent LB — you may solely carry one factor at a time — and quite a few totally different weapon sorts like machetes, shotguns, revolvers, and the like. Most objects are both mendacity on the ground or could be present in smashable, copy-pasted crates discovered all through the degrees, which amusingly could be opened with any weapon however the sledgehammer.
Whereas you should utilize any weapon you want, it is not fairly the identical case for characters. In every stage, you might be locked to the characters that function within the corresponding scene from the TV present. Whereas every character has a ability tree and talents you may unlock with Talent Factors, the gameplay itself largely sees you sneaking round and stabbing zombies within the head, in order that they’re nugatory for 90% of the sport. It’s possible you’ll discover a distinction when battling the ultra-thick human enemies, however for probably the most half, the ability system provides little gameplay selection.
Nonetheless, one of many strangest design selections is discovered between every stage whenever you’re positioned again within the hub space. Relying on the Act you are on, you will end up within the campsite, on Hershel’s farm, and so on. It may need been cool to hold round these vital areas in-game, aside from the truth that there is not something to do however stroll over to the Mission Desk to begin your subsequent mission. You will be supplied expeditions right here as properly, however all they encompass is telling a member of the group to go and do one thing when you’re in a mission, which rewards Talent Factors if it is a success. You will discover a single determination to make every time you go to, which is selecting to facet with somebody on an argument, and appears to don’t have any actual worth except for rewarding you with but extra Talent Factors.
The hub areas, or the beginning of every mission to be extra exact, is the place you will bear witness to the lifeless, static cutscenes, which loosely hyperlink the story factors to tug you thru every stage. I’ve felt dragged as properly, because the storyline has been lower in order that as a lot of the sequence could be squeezed into as little a sport as doable. When not watching static cutscenes full of price range variations of the TV present’s characters, you are enjoying catch-up by studying snippets of textual content to assist fill in among the gaps. In case you’re a fan of the present, you will have already got a good suggestion concerning the occasions surrounding every stage, however for newcomers, it could possibly be a little bit of a whirlwind.
After writing all of this, I am sitting right here wracking my mind in an try to seek out one thing constructive to say, however to be trustworthy, I simply can’t discover it in me. The character fashions are nearly insulting to the present’s forged, who performed their roles phenomenally, and the limp gameplay solely serves as a motive to place off any Strolling Lifeless newcomers from ever watching AMC’s present. My suggestion? Save your $50 and spend it on an Amazon Prime Video subscription so you may try the true factor.