Just Survive

About Just Survive

Just Survive is a multiplayer survival role playing shooter game with a horror theme. It was developed by Daybreak Game Company and was released on January 15, 2015. It received neutral reviews from players.

In Just Survive, you’ll have to be cutthroat, resourceful, and alert to protect yourself from zombies, beasts, and the deadliest threat of all – your fellow humans.

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Reviews

56%Audience ScoreBased on 37,392 reviews

gameplay514 positive mentions

stability1.4k negative mentions

Engaging survival, crafting, and base-building mechanics that are especially enjoyable when playing with friends.
Strong, immersive atmosphere with eerie sound design and environmental storytelling that enhances the post-apocalyptic experience.
Smooth and fast gameplay with great mechanics, including a tense and gritty tone that many players appreciate.

Numerous technical issues including bugs, poor optimization, frequent crashes, and server instability that detract from gameplay experience.
Repetitive and grind-heavy gameplay, with tedious resource farming and frustrating base-building mechanics.
Aggressive monetization and pay-to-win elements, along with hacking problems, diminish player trust and overall game quality.

gameplay
1,756 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29% positive mentions, 60% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions
The gameplay offers a solid core experience with engaging survival, crafting, and base-building mechanics that appeal especially when played with friends, though it can feel repetitive and grind-heavy over time. However, the game suffers from numerous technical issues, bugs, clunky controls, and imbalanced PvP that detract significantly from enjoyment. Frequent updates have improved some aspects, yet persistent problems with hacking, pay-to-win elements, and lack of content evolution prevent it from reaching its full potential.
- “The gameplay is smooth and fast.”
- “The game has great mechanics.”
- “The gameplay itself is fun and entertaining whether you play with friends or go it lonewolf style.”
- “The gameplay becomes repetitive very quickly, with little variety in activities or objectives.”
- “The game suffers from numerous bugs and exploits, including blatant hacking and teleporting, which heavily ruin the gameplay experience.”
- “Building mechanics are clunky, limited, and poorly developed, making base building frustrating and repetitive.”
stability
1,425 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 97% negative mentions
The game is highly unstable, plagued with frequent bugs, glitches, crashes, and poor optimization that detract significantly from the gameplay experience. Despite being in early access and showing potential, many players report persistent, game-breaking issues, including buggy AI, freezing, and server problems, with slow developer responses to fixes. While some find enjoyment especially when playing with friends, the overall consensus is that stability issues substantially hinder the game's playability and progress.
- “10/10 no glitches, bugs, exploits, cheaters—nothing.”
- “The game runs great on a range of systems, does not have the lag or rubberbanding that most other games encounter, and the environment hits close to home with its Midwestern feel.”
- “The game itself runs great for me on a HD7950 3GB, AMD 6100 and 8GB RAM.”
- “This game in particular has had the same exact bugs and glitches since the beginning.”
- “Ever since the game got a major redesigned system with a new map and new items, it's like the entire game went right back to square one, it's now extremely buggy, much more so than it was 4 years ago, the anti-cheat system is severely screwed up and bans people for not cheating which is complete b.s.!”
- “Despite the launch issues, this game was expected to have some buggy roads with it being 'early access', the game runs fairly well on high settings other than most other games requiring $5k graphics cards.”
graphics
1,247 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions
The game's graphics receive mixed reviews, with many praising the decent-to-good visual quality, immersive environments, and optimization suitable for various PC specs, while others criticize outdated textures, bugs, poor animations, and a lack of refinement compared to competitors. Although the graphics are often deemed acceptable or better than some rivals like DayZ, performance issues and inconsistent visual fidelity detract from the overall experience. Improvements are anticipated as the game progresses beyond early access, but currently, graphics are seen as functional but not outstanding.
- “Graphics and animations were great as well, which for me is most important. If I don't feel comfortable with how the game looks and feels, I can't play it no matter the content but this game had both a good feel to it and great content.”
- “Amazing graphics/game dynamics/play is smooth and is the best survival MMO out there right now.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, especially for an early access game like this, the ambiance is astounding, and the gameplay itself is really awesome.”
- “The graphics are trash even on ultra, with extremely poor animations and zombies running through walls and doors.”
- “The zombies and wildlife animations are ridiculous, moving at less than one frame per second, making them look disconnected and embarrassing.”
- “Graphics are outdated, poorly optimized, with numerous visual glitches, black flickering spots, and inconsistent performance even on high-end hardware.”
monetization
546 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2% positive mentions, 46% neutral mentions, 52% negative mentions
The monetization of this game is widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with numerous microtransactions introduced early in development—often seen as intrusive, exploitative, and poorly justified given the game's unfinished state. Many users feel the developers prioritized profit through splitting the game into multiple paid parts, selling crates, skins, and pay-to-win items, rather than focusing on meaningful content or bug fixes, leading to a loss of player trust and damaged reputation. Overall, the monetization strategy is perceived as aggressive and detrimental to the game's quality and community.
- “All of the microtransactions are strictly skins (like cs:go), although you can win rare skins by playing and then crafting better skins from the ones you've won.”
- “The system of microtransactions for this game is a lot like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.”
- “But in my honest opinion, SOE has handled the microtransactions for this game extremely well, in a fair, fun way.”
- “This game has been, and will always be a massive cash grab to say the least, and sadly, the Daybreak dev team can finally be exposed for what they truly are.”
- “The developers are in it for a quick cash grab; they have no clue what they are doing.”
- “They broke the game in half, filled it with microtransactions, then burned the whole thing to the ground, and drunkenly rebuilt it so far beyond recognition that I actually thought the game was removed from Steam when I looked for it in my library.”
optimization
537 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25% positive mentions, 44% neutral mentions, 31% negative mentions
Optimization for the game is widely criticized for poor performance issues including frequent frame rate drops, bugs, crashes, and server instability, especially in densely populated areas, making gameplay feel unpolished and frustrating. While some users report improvements and decent performance on high-end PCs or after updates, many describe the game as poorly optimized overall, requiring powerful hardware to run smoothly and often falling short even then. The developers are acknowledged for ongoing efforts, but optimization remains a major concern affecting the game's playability and reception.
- “Great game, horrible community, wonderful formula, very well optimized..... recipe for a great survival game.”
- “For an early access game I could almost say this game is now nearly complete, has tonnes of stuff to offer very minor bugs and is insanely well optimized.”
- “The biggest perk of this game is the fact that it is actually optimized, I don't have to live in fear of that huge lag spike that could be server or game related and then I get killed by some random guy that wants my gear or just the satisfaction of actually killing something.”
- “Technical issues and poor optimization further hurt the experience, giving the game a generally unpolished and unfinished feel.”
- “Performance issues, such as frame rate drops and server instability, plagued the game, particularly during its early access period.”
- “Optimization is poor, frame rates drop whenever you go into a city with a couple of strongholds around it, weapons are poorly balanced and leave the player with basically two choices, shotgun for close combat or sniper for long range.”
story
418 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9% positive mentions, 85% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
The game lacks a coherent or engaging central story, with many players noting the absence of meaningful quests, NPCs, or narrative depth. Instead, the experience is largely defined by player-driven encounters and environmental storytelling, which some find compelling while others see as insufficient. Overall, reviewers call for more structured missions, lore, and story elements to enhance immersion and purpose beyond survival mechanics.
- “You didn’t need a story — the encounters were the story.”
- “The world itself told its story quietly.”
- “I do think this game can evolve to a better game, it is really good now, but it's got room to be better, there needs to be a story or some quest, so you can form a bond with your character and also just add lore to the game.”
- “However, the game lacked a story mode, any plot or purpose of the survival.”
- “The story, or whatever little bit of "story" there is, is difficult to find let alone enjoy.”
- “Without any story or meaningful quests the only thing there is to do is explore the map, make a bigger base, make stuff... and that's it.”
humor
415 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions
The humor in the game largely stems from its chaotic, buggy nature, funny player interactions, and absurd in-game situations, especially when playing with friends. While glitches, hacking, and frustrating mechanics are often mentioned as annoyances, many users find them unintentionally hilarious, adding a layer of comedic entertainment. Overall, the game’s humor is situational and social, thriving on unpredictable moments and the lively, sometimes outrageous community.
- “Absolutely hilarious interactions in H1Z1, both in lobby and during the gameplay.”
- “I cannot deny the countless hours spent laughing hysterically with friends during battle royale and during survival mode.”
- “The best things about the game are the vehicles; they are hilarious combined with the physics this game has, sometimes stupid, sometimes hilarious, depending on your kind of humor.”
- “I've installed and deleted this game so many times it's not funny anymore. I try to play this game with friends but every time I think yeah it's a great game and install it, it only takes 5 minutes to realize what's wrong with it all.”
- “Not funny game, if you buy it, you will be unhappy forever.”
- “Pretty good game, but it's not funny when you are playing solo and you will get bored of it :d playing with friends is funny though.”
grinding
203 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1% positive mentions, 2% neutral mentions, 97% negative mentions
Grinding in this game is a major and often tedious aspect, requiring extensive time investment in farming resources, crafting, and base building, which can be frustrating especially for solo players. While some find the grind rewarding and enjoy the survival challenge, many report it as repetitive, slow, and prone to loss from raids or hacks, making progress feel easily undone. The experience is generally improved when playing with friends or in clans, but the grind-heavy nature and scarce resources lead to a mixed reception.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “If the grind for loot wasn't tedious enough, you are always hungry. Your character is like 'The Blob' from those 80's horror movies; you can't stop eating blackberries that give you 2% food and 2% hydration. If you leave it too long and can't find a berry patch, you find yourself stuck eating insufficient berries without enough energy to move on.”
- “Early in the game, you spend a lot of time picking hundreds of blackberries just to survive, making the grind for resources quite challenging.”
- “You spend hours and hours grinding for ten thousand gold coins to buy a base.”
- “Once you finally get a plot of land and grind for ammo and supplies, you spend another literal week or two grinding for building materials.”
- “Conclusion - don't buy this game unless you want to spend day in day out grinding resources which will probably get offline raided by a group of noobs.”
music
131 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19% positive mentions, 73% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions
The game's music effectively enhances its atmospheric and eerie survival horror vibe, with dynamic, location-based tracks that intensify moments like low health or zombie encounters. However, some users find the soundtrack repetitive or distracting, especially due to music spam from other players' voice chat, which can break immersion. Overall, the music is praised for adding tension and mood, though it would benefit from more variety and improvements in sound quality.
- “The music sets the scene very effectively and helps to immerse you in the environment with the in-game audio working well as you move closer to other players or away from.”
- “With survival, zombies are freakin' terrifying because if just 1 or 2 follow you, the music gets really intense and you think you're in a lot more trouble than you thought.”
- “[Music] - creepy music will come up dynamically in certain areas or events (low health), sometimes for no reason at all in the middle of nowhere, and it really fits the mood of the game.”
- “Music: the music in this game is bad. While trying to set a realistic atmosphere, the sound quality is poor; for example, firing an automatic weapon sounds like two bullets instead of one.”
- “There is an annoying glitch where soft ambient music plays, but every time you go prone, crouch, or stand, the music restarts. Hopefully, that will be patched out as sound is a great survival tool in this game.”
- “The random music that was put in is too loud and unrealistic. Thankfully, you can turn it down because it's extremely annoying, especially when listening for footsteps or other cues needed to stay alive.”
atmosphere
120 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45% positive mentions, 47% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions
The game is widely praised for its strong, immersive atmosphere that effectively conveys a bleak, post-apocalyptic survival experience, enhanced by its eerie sound design, environment, and zombie encounters. However, some users feel that issues like poor optimization, repetitive gameplay, and certain design choices (e.g., pay-to-win elements, poor AI) detract from the overall mood, making it less atmospheric than comparable titles like DayZ. Despite flaws, many appreciate the game's tense, gritty tone and see significant potential in its atmospheric world.
- “The setting, a bleak, ruined countryside dotted with towns and encampments, creates an atmospheric backdrop, evoking a genuine sense of danger and urgency.”
- “The crafting system is fantastic and the atmosphere pulls you in, it's really eerie and the zombies are creepy (even though they are all clones), the zombie behaviour is good, not all zombies are slow and they can catch you off guard at times.”
- “The atmosphere of this game is amazing... the sound, the music, the ability to hear the voice of that strange person running towards you with an axe screaming...”
- “The atmosphere of the game is lacking a lot.”
- “The game just seems absent of an apocalyptic atmosphere.”
- “No 'survival' atmosphere, feels like a 'meh' team deathmatch or free for all.”
replayability
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 62% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions
Replayability in the game is divisive, with many praising its battle royale mode for offering extensive, engaging replay value, while criticizing the survival mode as lacking depth and becoming boring. The game's replay worth is viewed as promising but currently limited due to bugs, incomplete content, and early access status, though ongoing developer updates are improving playability. Overall, it holds strong potential, especially compared to similar titles, but some players feel it doesn't yet justify the cost.
- “The game is extremely replayable, and it will keep you hooked for a long time.”
- “I find the game very interesting and I've devoted over 70 hours so far trying to win a battle royale; the game is extremely replayable, and it's an amazing game.”
- “Battle royale and survival are both tons of fun, offering lots of replay value.”
- “Players didn’t get as much satisfaction from survival beyond a point, which hurt its replay value.”
- “No replay value and don't recommend wasting twenty bucks for a terrible title that you will want to refund.”
- “Survival mode is just boring garbage with no replay value.”
emotional
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Users express highly mixed emotions about the game, with moments of intense immersion, suspense, and connection contrasted by frustration over bugs, lack of updates, and disappointing progression. While some find it emotionally engaging and even heartbreaking, others feel drained or let down, leading to a love-hate relationship with the experience. Overall, the game evokes strong feelings, but inconsistency and unresolved issues hinder sustained emotional investment.
- “I purchased this game in early 2015, and it has been a complete emotional roller coaster for me.”
- “Despite this, it has been one of the most immersive, scary, emotional experiences I have ever had in front of a monitor.”
- “Do you like making friends, being betrayed, and being emotionally ruined in the best ways possible by complete strangers?”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20% positive mentions, 20% neutral mentions, 60% negative mentions
Users appreciate that Ark offers superior character development, emphasizing its potential to introduce unique skills that enhance group dynamics. There is also interest in additional character design features to fulfill the promise of a more immersive zombie survival experience.
- “Ark has better character development.”
- “We were promised a zombie survival character development game.”
- “Those are going to be a game changer because it's going to allow for more character development and a much more unique set of skills that can allow groups to really come together in far different ways.”