The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

Director - Angel Gonzalez Jr.
Voice Actors - Norman Reedus (The Boondock Saints, Blade II, The Walking Dead), Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Walking Dead), and Troy Baker (Resident Evil 6)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Format - XBOX 360 (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

      I first came across the glory that is The Walking Dead when I was a sophomore in high school.  At the time I had a substitute science teacher that was too a fan of everything horror.  There was no comic shops in my county but lucky for me he was from another county and drove over an hour to work.  He hooked me up with 30 Days of Night, Wake the Dead, and the first three issues of The Walking Dead.  I really enjoyed all three but The Walking Dead became a short lived obsession. I got the first 10 issues but they were extremely hard to come by (I did not trust my mail carrier at the time).  After I graduated I spent time at home working for my dad before heading off to college.  While at college I was able to get caught up on the series and I read up to issue 84.  Sadly, I have yet to read anymore.  When the television show premiered I almost wet myself and for most of the episode I'm sure I had a boner.  With season 3 just coming to a close I catch myself missing The Walking Dead storyline but the show itself has become rather dull and boring.  Que in this game here.  I completely dropped the ball and had no idea this game was coming out.  When I found out I had to have it.  

     The film follows Daryl Dixon as he struggles to cope with the dead rising from the grave.  After losing a close family member, Daryl sets out to find his older brother, Merle.  While searching for Merle, Daryl comes across other survivors and he has to choose to help them or leave them to die before reaching his asshole brother.

   

  I often dislike games based on television shows and movies.  None actually set out to deliver a decent game that is fun to play, instead they create below par games to cash in on the name's popularity.  Very few games are on the same level as the film/television series.  Therefore, I did not have much stock in this one but I did want to play it to see where the story took me.  The game's graphics are pretty shitty for the most part.  The zombies look decent but the survivors all look bad.  Saying they look bad may be a bit harsh because they don't actually look bad, however, they don't look as good as the other games that have been released as of late.  The story is really nothing new and does not really fill the void for those that are fans of the comics and show are looking for.  In fact, if you study the cover art and read the back panel then you get where this movie is going before you even play the game. Finally, the game play is horrible.  When I play zombie games I often compare them to Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead II, and Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green and this game is not even close to being as good as them.  The game play is not that fluid making it difficult to play.  I understand the game is trying to be realistic, however, when you have more than two zombies it is damn near impossible to come out alive.  I like to run around and kill the undead so that is a very big let down.  Also, the controls are very stiff and awkward making it even more difficult to play.  Overall, this is a lackluster game that is not worthy of The Walking Dead name.  I do not recommend this one and suggest looking in to the three games I previously mentioned.