The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

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The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is a single player survival shooter game with a horror theme. It was developed by Terminal Reality and was released on March 21, 2013. It received negative reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is a single-player horror shooter game based on the TV series, allowing players to control Daryl Dixon using his crossbow to fight off walkers. However, the game is plagued with terrible graphics and numerous bugs, detracting from the overall experience. Despite the official description, gameplay mechanics and storyline receive mixed reviews, falling short of expectations.

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Single-Player

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct screenshot

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41%

Audience ScoreBased on 349 reviews

music4 positive mentions

story28 negative mentions

The game offers a unique perspective by allowing players to control Daryl Dixon, a fan-favorite character from the series.
The replayability factor is high due to the ability to make different choices and explore various paths.
The atmosphere and sound effects create a tense environment that enhances the zombie survival experience.

The game is plagued by numerous technical issues, including bugs, crashes, and poor audio quality.
The graphics and overall design feel outdated and lack polish, making the game visually unappealing.
The gameplay is repetitive and linear, with a lack of meaningful interactions and a weak storyline.

story
115 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
55%
24%
The story of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it mediocre and lacking depth, often describing it as confusing and poorly executed. While some appreciate the attempt to provide backstory for characters like Daryl and Merle, others criticize it for being linear, repetitive, and disconnected from the lore of the original series. Overall, the narrative fails to engage players, leaving them disappointed with its execution and brevity.
- “The story is intriguing and enjoyable so far.”
- “It has a good story about how Daryl and Merle live through the first days of the starting apocalypse, uses the original voices and sounds of the series and has some very good gameplay mechanics.”
- “As a fan of The Walking Dead, it was good to see what Daryl's story was when he and Merle fight their way to Atlanta before they met up with the group.”
- “The story is mediocre at best and sometimes I'm confused at why we're doing what we're doing.”
- “The story makes absolutely no sense (going from hunting to Atlanta to be evacuated, there is your story. There is your link for the Dixons to the group in season 1) with a few wink and nods being put in for TV show fans as a 'see, we have references!' point.”
- “The story line is weak and bad.”
graphics
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
34%
49%
Overall, the graphics of the game have received largely negative feedback, with many users describing them as outdated, buggy, and disappointing, especially for a title released in the early 2010s. While some players noted decent in-game graphics and atmospheric elements, the consensus is that the visuals fall short of contemporary standards, often marred by glitches and poor optimization. Despite these criticisms, a few users found the graphics acceptable within the context of gameplay enjoyment, but many felt they detracted significantly from the overall experience.
- “The in-game graphics are quite excellent and the level of detail is astounding.”
- “Good graphics, lots of gore, excellent voice acting, and some (admittedly lazy) fan service.”
- “The graphics are acceptable, the artificial intelligence of the walkers is nice.”
- “The graphics are just bad!!”
- “The maps are horribly made and the graphics are outdated for the time it was made.”
- “I can't complain enough about the graphics.....they are horrible.”
gameplay
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
41%
35%
The gameplay has been widely criticized for its linearity, clunky mechanics, and lack of freedom, making it feel restrictive and repetitive. Many players noted that the combat and movement systems are unpolished, leading to a frustrating experience, while some appreciated the atmosphere and survival elements. Overall, the game struggles to deliver an engaging experience, often feeling more like a chore than an enjoyable adventure.
- “The gameplay is great, the weapons feel great, the voice acting is top notch, the graphics are in my opinion good since they weren't going for realism, much in the same way the Telltale games didn't go for realism.”
- “It has a good story about how Daryl and Merle live through the first days of the starting apocalypse, uses the original voices and sounds of the series and has some very good gameplay mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is enjoyable and interesting and the storyline piqued my interest immediately.”
- “The gameplay is woefully linear and repetitive; you don’t feel like you are in an open world at all.”
- “The gameplay feels like you're on rails where you have to move along this one path instead of having a big open world to explore.”
- “The game mechanics from weapon handling, terrible inventory management, and survivor management all feel sloppy and are very simplistic.”
stability
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
94%
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of severe bugs, graphical glitches, and performance issues that hinder gameplay. Many users experienced freezing at launch and other technical problems, leading to a consensus that the game is poorly made and not worth its price. While a few players noted minimal issues, the overwhelming sentiment is that the game suffers from significant stability problems.
- “I have experienced no glitches or technical issues with the game or gameplay.”
- “The game runs smoothly without any crashes or interruptions.”
- “I appreciate how stable the game is; it allows me to fully immerse myself in the experience.”
- “Horribly made game, I had to jump through hoops just to get it to launch, but still unable to play it as it freezes at the loading screen.”
- “This game is buggy and doesn't deserve the $50 I spent on it.”
- “Bad controls and horrible buggy design.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
37%
27%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while many praise the soundtrack and voice acting as impressive, others find the music repetitive and feel that the budget was disproportionately allocated to securing the original theme from "The Walking Dead." Some players appreciate the immersive quality of the music, which enhances the atmosphere, but criticize the sound effects for lacking variety and depth. Overall, the music is a highlight for some, but its repetitiveness and the imbalance in sound design detract from the experience for others.
- “The soundtrack and voice acting are nice.”
- “The soundtrack is amazing.”
- “Awesome music.”
- “The only reason I start this up is to listen to the theme song at the menu screen.”
- “It seems as though 95% of the budget allowed for creating this abomination was spent on obtaining the original theme music from the Walking Dead television series.”
- “Horrible use of sound effects and music, check.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
20%
30%
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its dark, immersive qualities that align well with the zombie genre, featuring effective sound effects and solid presentation. While some players find the overall design lacking, many appreciate the survival elements and the ability to evoke fear through environmental cues. However, opinions vary significantly, with some rating the atmosphere poorly, indicating a divide in player experience.
- “The game atmosphere is very dark, just like a zombie game should be.”
- “Despite the countless gameplay issues and story holes, the atmosphere of this game is absolutely gorgeous.”
- “Recommended for any zombie-lover who plays mostly for the sake of atmosphere.”
- “City & town 4/10: bad design not giving the atmosphere of survival.”
- “Atmosphere 2/10.”
- “The gameplay has to work with that and create fear using atmosphere, numbers (sound attracts them, etc.) and difficulty to make a kill (the headshot).”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game's replayability is somewhat mixed; while it offers branching paths and side quests that can enhance the experience, many players find it limited due to a short story length and repetitive gameplay. Achievements and relics from New Game Plus provide some incentive to replay, but overall, the replay value is considered minimal without additional content like DLC.
- “Replayability is increased more with achievements and relics (new game plus unlockables).”
- “The game also has decent replayability as there are different paths/storylines you get to choose and you meet different survivors along the way.”
- “Also, the game is quite replayable as you can always take different routes.”
- “Mainly because the game offers very little in regards to its replayability and in-game content.”
- “My only complaints are that the story is extremely short (my first time playing I finished it in under 8 hours) and the only replay value it has is if you have the herd DLC or if you are trying to unlock all achievements and relics.”
- “There is a travel system that lets you go a few different ways to your location and stop for supplies or break down along the way, but this offers only minimal replayability at most.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The game's optimization has received largely negative feedback, with users citing poor performance, inconsistent controls, and numerous bugs. While some praise the graphics, they are overshadowed by complaints about bad animations and overall optimization issues, leading to a general consensus of dissatisfaction.
- “Awesome graphics, somewhat poor optimization and not very detailed storyline.”
- “It's quite a poor port, not optimized for keyboard/mouse very well (cursors on title/pause menu screen are tiny, and sensitivity between using guns and melee is inconsistent).”
- “Awesome graphics, somewhat poor optimization, and not a very detailed storyline.”
- “Bad graphics, bad animations, bad voice acting, poorly optimized, and buggy.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of the game is widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with many reviewers feeling that it is overpriced at $50 and lacks quality and inspiration. While some suggest it could be worth a lower price for fans of the genre, the overall sentiment is that the game fails to deliver on its promises, making it feel rushed and disappointing.
- “It's obviously a cash grab and you can tell it's rushed.”
- “Bland, depressing, uninspired cash grab.”
- “At $50, this game is a cash grab ripoff; under $20, and it isn't a bad game if you want to get your zombie fix in.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to the slow-paced nature of sneaking around zombies and the lack of save points, which exacerbates the difficulty of progressing through levels.
- “Sneaking around zombies becomes tedious rather quickly.”
- “It can be rather tedious and mind-boggling, since the zombies will attack you one at a time.”
- “Add to this, there are no save points at all in these very slow, tedious levels and no option to manually save.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as either genuinely funny or pleasantly charming, though it is often overshadowed by technical issues. Players noted that while the game generally runs smoothly, engaging in a specific mini-game involving combat can lead to frequent crashes, detracting from the overall comedic experience.
- “When they do, it's either funny or really nice.”
- “The funny thing is, the game works stable in general, but as soon as the walker starts grabbing you and you enter a small 'mini game' to kill them by stabbing them in the face, you can be sure that after that happens more than around ten times in one level, the game will crash.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that the game features a protagonist with significant emotional instability, which adds depth to the narrative and enhances the overall emotional experience.

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30%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct review
Eurogamer.net
30%

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6h Median play time

6h Average play time

6-8h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is a survival shooter game with horror theme.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is available on PC, Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and others.

On average players spend around 6 hours playing The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct was released on March 21, 2013.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct was developed by Terminal Reality.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct has received negative reviews from players and negative reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its music but disliked it for its story.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is a single player game.

Similar games include The Forgotten Ones, Dead Island, State of Decay: YOSE, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, State of Decay and others.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

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