We have always had a lingering suspicion that Activision and Terminal Reality were developing The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct to be a quick cash in on the popular IP. Judging from a newly uploaded gameplay video, it appears that those fears were more than well-founded.
Youtube user MarphitimusBlackimus has compiled over four minutes of direct gameplay footage from Survival Instinct into a video titled, “The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct – Stellar GOTY Gameplay”. As you might expect from the name, the game’s development appears to be unfinished, underfunded, and rushed to market.
The good news is that if you have not dropped the money on picking up a copy of the game, you will likely find the video fairly entertaining.
Most of the highlights of the hilariously terrible gameplay center around just how poor the enemy AI is — even when compared to the low standards set by the video game undead. Zombies will routinely put an incredible amount of effort into break into the player’s area, however, once in they often turn right around and try to break back out of the area that they just got into. Better still, some zombies simply forget that the player even exists after breaking in and just stand around.
There is another segment of the video that shows a horde of zombies attacking the player, which would be scary except that they don’t all rush in at once and are easily dispatched by quick time event stabbing them in the head one after another. Oh, and this quick time head stabbing event last for about a full minute.
Finally, there is the “tactical knife stance” (pictured above). This is where the developers failed to change the player character animation for having a knife equipped, which results in the character holding their left arm out in front of them as if they were holding the barrel of an invisible rifle.
We are still in the process of putting together our review of Activision’s The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, but this video seems to speak for itself. Buyer beware.