Dead Age 2: The Zombie Survival RPG
- March 12, 2021
- Silent Dreams
- 60h median play time
Get on Steam"Dead Age 2" is a survival RPG with strategic turn-based combat and a complex story. Explore the open world, manage your base, and increase your reputation with factions through quests and trade. With no requirement to have played the first game, new and returning players can enjoy improved combat and a more in-depth narrative.
Mac OS
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Reviews
- Great improvement over the first game with more strategic elements and engaging storylines.
- Fun turn-based combat with a variety of skills and character customization options.
- Active developer support with regular updates and responsiveness to community feedback.
- Combat can become repetitive and tedious, especially with numerous random encounters.
- Some skills and abilities feel underwhelming or useless, leading to a lack of depth in combat strategy.
- The game has bugs and performance issues, particularly in early access, affecting overall gameplay experience.
- story434 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its continuation from the first installment and the potential for player choices to impact outcomes. However, many criticize it for being repetitive, lacking depth, and featuring poorly designed quests that often lead to confusion. While some find the survival backdrop engaging, others feel the narrative is bogged down by tedious tasks and uninspired dialogue, making it less compelling overall.
“The story is amazing!!”
“The main story is pretty interesting with quite a few twists and turns.”
“It is one of the few zombie survival games available and has a well laid out story which you can influence based on the choices you make.”
“The story is pretty bare bones at the moment, but again it is still in early access so more will come, including romance.”
“The story and quests are horribly cringy with stupid and uninteresting dialogs.”
“Ultimately this game is an incoherent pile of medium tropes masquerading as a story, built on a foundation of unoriginal and poorly-communicated mechanics.”
- gameplay144 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Dead Age 2 has received mixed reviews, with players noting a blend of engaging combat mechanics and a repetitive gameplay loop reminiscent of its predecessor. While some appreciate the simplicity and addictive nature of the mechanics, others criticize the lack of depth, poor communication of game systems, and the reliance on familiar tropes. Overall, the game shows potential with its new features and improvements, but it still requires balancing and refinement to fully realize its gameplay ambitions.
“The gameplay loop outside of combat is pretty fun.”
“Has a very addictive gameplay loop identical to This War of Mine but with far more engaging combat, and benefits immensely from future planning.”
“The different skills you can deploy during combat add a variety to the gameplay and can be the difference between an easy or difficult fight or life and death.”
“The game does an awful job communicating game mechanics and outcomes to the player.”
“Ultimately this game is an incoherent pile of medium tropes masquerading as a story, built on a foundation of unoriginal and poorly-communicated mechanics.”
“It just feels like the developers have put the mechanics in but not bothered to balance them properly, but the balance is everything in these games.”
- graphics80 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game have received mixed reviews, with many noting a significant improvement over its predecessor, particularly in character rendering and environmental detail. While some players find the 3D graphics dated and simplistic, others appreciate the charming art style and the overall graphical presentation, including the intuitive HUD and map design. Despite some criticisms regarding character portraits and repetitive designs in certain areas, the game's visuals are generally considered acceptable and well-suited to its genre.
“The graphics are very charming actually.”
“The locations are diverse and there is a lot of small detail in the graphical presentation, which liven up the whole experience.”
“The graphics are a huge upgrade; the sound quality is just amazing and the gameplay mechanics are spot on.”
“The only negative I can say about the game is while the in-game graphics are okay, the character portraits look absolutely horrible.”
“The 3D graphics are also very dated, but the 2D aspects such as the HUD and map (which you will spend a lot of time with) look great.”
“The rooms in the base, even on tier 3, seriously lack aesthetics and are boring.”
- grinding68 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 1 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and repetitive, often leading to a sense of burnout after a few hours of gameplay. While some appreciate the addictive nature of the grind and the engaging narratives, many criticize the reliance on monotonous fetch quests and resource farming, which detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the grinding can be a significant barrier to enjoyment, especially in the mid-game.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The combat gets tedious after a while.”
“Grinding out supplies is horrifically tedious.”
“You are going to be repeating the same stuff over and over, grinding through boring fights that all look and feel the same.”
- music32 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and appropriateness, enhancing the overall experience with a fitting soundtrack that complements various scenes. Many players find it enjoyable and immersive, with some describing it as enthralling and even the best aspect of the game, despite some criticism regarding other elements like dialogue and UI. Overall, the music significantly contributes to the game's atmosphere, making it a standout feature.
“The game is very fun and enjoyable, the music is awesome, and the developers are very involved!”
“Everything has been improved from the first game and it's got a great soundtrack to boot.”
“Plenty of tension done just right with resource gathering, base building, making sure there is food and water, base defenses are built and maintained etc. The music is also great with a gothic cowboy quality to its sound.”
“The dialogue is a snoozefest and the music about put me to sleep.”
“I mean, the only thing I do differently is put relaxing music while I'm playing it and the depressive ambience settles in.”
“Combat strategy isn't very deep but has turned out to be a great background game while listening to new music.”
- stability18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is currently plagued by numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes, leading to a frustrating experience for many players. While some improvements have been noted since earlier versions, significant stability issues persist, particularly in early access. Players have reported freezing inputs and performance drops, although the development team appears to be actively addressing these concerns.
“Game is unfortunately still too buggy to date.”
“The game is currently very buggy with numerous crashes, but the dev team seems to be responsive on the forums.”
“1) 'janky alpha (tm)' state - a galore of bugs, glitches, crashes will make your experience frustrating to outright impossible due to interface disappearing, quests glitching out, memory leaks occurring all of a sudden, reducing performance to a slide show even on a top rig.”
- replayability18 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers a moderate level of replayability, with players noting that the learning process and procedural generation contribute positively to the experience. Many users suggest that multiple playthroughs are necessary to fully explore the storyline and make different choices, with some estimating 3-4 enjoyable runs, especially when engaging with various factions. While the replay value may diminish after a successful run, the initial 60 hours of entertainment and the ability to earn points for progression keep players coming back.
“Procedural generation and randomness add to replayability.”
“Replayability: I say you can do it 3-4 times again, joining different factions and playing hardcore.”
“Replayability is great, as the storyline appears to need multiple playthroughs to experience it all; decisions matter.”
“Replay value: none”
“- not a huge replay value after a successful run but 60 hours of entertainment is definitely worth the price!”
“Replayability: I say you can do it 3-4 times again, joining different factions, and playing hardcore.”
- optimization16 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is currently a significant issue, with many players reporting bugs, glitches, and performance drops, particularly at higher graphics settings. While some users find the game stable and enjoyable, the overall experience is marred by early access problems, including lag and resolution limitations. Many reviewers express hope that future updates will improve performance and address these issues.
“The game is stable, optimized, and oh did I mention fun.”
“I will recommend this game in the future once the bugs and optimizations are done.”
“I need to spend more time with the game, but I think that with some time, the developers will be able to boost performance and make the game more enjoyable.”
“Game performance and optimization are bad (but this is common to most Unity games).”
“At this stage, it's really early access. It has a bunch of performance issues such as lagging. Also, the max resolution isn't the best in this day and age; most screens are at least 1440. The story is decent and the gameplay is okay. I do like the whole base building. Keep up the good work, devs! Looking forward to seeing what you guys will add in the future.”
“The 'janky alpha' state is filled with a galore of bugs, glitches, and crashes that will make your experience frustrating to outright impossible due to the interface disappearing, quests glitching out, and memory leaks occurring all of a sudden, reducing performance to a slideshow even on a top rig.”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, eliciting both frustration and laughter from players due to its quirky writing and absurd scenarios, such as a punk sending his wives into battle. While some animations are amusing, they are often overshadowed by the overall lack of polish in the game's presentation. Players find themselves laughing at the game's shortcomings, leading to a unique, albeit inconsistent, comedic experience.
“But after the update, I made it through 20 rounds of combat before laughing, quitting the game, and writing this review.”
“There is even a really funny one where a punk sends all his wives at you.”
“The animations are not great, although some of them are incredibly funny, so this is somewhere in between a pro and a con.”
- character development6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is limited due to the small number of characters, but players appreciate the unique and distinct artwork for each character. Overall, while the depth of character development may not be extensive, the visual design is well-received.
“Factions, base, open-world, choices, character development...all going great.”
“Character development: there aren't many characters in this game, but I do love the artwork and I think they all look unique and different from one another.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally well-received, with players appreciating its immersive qualities. However, some critiques suggest that other artistic elements are compromised to prioritize the gaming experience. Overall, the atmosphere stands out positively despite these concerns.
“I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the game.”
“This is a video game that prioritizes gameplay above all else, resulting in a crude distortion of other artistic elements like plot, dialogue, player interaction, and atmosphere.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the game lacks emotional depth, with many players finding the story to be boring and unengaging. Overall, the emotional impact is perceived as minimal.
