The Withering
- November 17, 2019
- CM Softworks
- 7h median play time
Get on Steam"The Withering" is a post-apocalyptic survival strategy game. Collect resources, build and maintain your base, and protect it from zombie-like creatures called "Withered". Manage your health, hunger, and sanity while navigating through a procedurally generated world with dynamic weather and time of day systems.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a great concept and potential for an engaging open world survival experience.
- The atmosphere and sound design effectively create a sense of tension and immersion.
- Regular updates from the developers show commitment to improving the game and addressing community feedback.
- The gameplay is overly complicated with too many controls, detracting from the enjoyment of looting and crafting.
- The game has been criticized for being unpolished, with numerous bugs, clunky controls, and poor AI.
- Many players feel the game has been abandoned, with little progress made since its early access release.
- gameplay70 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with users citing issues such as a terrible user interface, clunky controls, and poor mechanics that hinder the overall experience. While some appreciate the mix of turn-based management and real-time action, many find the execution lacking, leading to tedious and repetitive gameplay. Despite some potential for improvement and new content, the current state of the game is seen as frustrating and unpolished, making it difficult to recommend to players.
“I am looking forward to new additions to gameplay, items base, as well as weapons in the game.”
“The gameplay is a great mix of turn-based camp management and 3rd person exploration/scavenging/gunplay/melee.”
“Gameplay is good, zombies are threats, maps and different locations add variety, and now multiplayer is in the works.”
“The game mechanics are terrible, hit boxes are horrible, animations are bad, controls are clunky, combat is slow and sluggish.”
“The gameplay is tedious, not engaging, and repetitive.”
“It's really, really hard to recommend this game to anyone but those willing to deal with constant crashes, graphics from 2004, sloppy controls that make no sense, and gameplay that seems specifically designed to be the polar opposite of user friendly.”
- story68 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 82 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal and lacking depth, with players feeling thrown into a survivor camp without clear objectives or narrative direction. Many reviews highlight the absence of a main campaign or engaging missions, leading to a repetitive experience focused on looting and base management rather than a compelling storyline. Overall, the narrative elements are seen as underdeveloped, leaving players to create their own context within a bare-bones zombie survival framework.
“I hope the developers make survivors playable and maybe even give them backstory or something along those lines.”
“The only thing that I hope for is a little more into the story.”
“There's no real story, you're just thrown into the survivors camp and expected to just... I don't know, make it better?”
“This game has at least resumed development (I think, there haven't been any updates at this point since November 2019) but is now essentially a bare-bones zombie MMO (but single-player) with a bad control scheme, sluggish controls, and bad mechanics/storyline in general.”
“There is no story other than a boring intro.”
- graphics62 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users citing severe glitches, pop-in issues, and outdated visuals reminiscent of games from over a decade ago. While some players noted that the graphics could appear better on high-end systems, the overall consensus is that the graphical fidelity is poor, lacking polish and proper updates, which detracts significantly from the gameplay experience. Despite a few mentions of decent graphics, the majority of reviews highlight a need for substantial improvements in texture quality, level design, and overall visual coherence.
“My rig is old, so I'm not going to knock the game that hard on graphics because maybe it looks phenomenal if you play it on a machine that can handle max settings.”
“I liked the graphics, the sounds, and the idea.”
“The graphics are good, bearing in mind that this is early access.”
“The graphics are pretty bad; there is so much pop-in, clipping, and disappearing floors, walls, and whatever.”
“It's really, really hard to recommend this game to anyone but those willing to deal with constant crashes, graphics from 2004, sloppy controls that make no sense, and gameplay that seems specifically designed to be the polar opposite of user friendly.”
“The game didn't get a proper texture/graphics update, and I suspect it came out of early access because the developer didn't want to work on the game anymore.”
- optimization16 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is currently a mixed bag, with many players experiencing frame lag and clunky controls, indicating a need for significant improvements. While some users report smooth performance most of the time, they express a desire for further optimizations and enhancements to gameplay mechanics and interface. Overall, there is optimism for the game's potential, especially with the developers' commitment to regular updates.
“Can't wait till it is optimized to drop loads of hours into this.”
“The game runs smoothly 98% of the time I have spent on it; shooting zombies, switching weaponry, and opening newly included supply containers are fluid.”
“Just needs optimization and some polishing regarding the interface.”
“- really poor optimization”
“So they will need to get that optimized; other than that, of a lot of zombie games I played, this one is top 2.”
- stability14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is plagued by significant stability issues, including severe graphical glitches, a rudimentary interface, and malfunctioning mechanics that hinder gameplay. While some players find it addictive despite these bugs, the lack of clear tutorials and limited content detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern, with many users expressing frustration over its numerous technical problems.
“Graphics have severe glitches, the interface and HUD are too rudimentary, and all basic mechanics either don't work or function very poorly. The text tutorial barely explains the rules. It seems the developers envisioned an ambitious mix of management and survival genres only for multiplayer in 3D environments, without a main campaign, secondary missions, or enemies, leaving the weight of plots and dangers to the community.”
“The game is buggy (yeah, EA) and there is limited content, but I found the game satisfyingly addictive, clocking a solid 8 hours of playtime on my first day of owning the game.”
“You got '7 Days to Die' but it's too buggy; get this game.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, primarily due to slow movements and interactions, as well as the repetitive nature of resource gathering and kit building for characters. Many feel that the scarcity of supplies exacerbates the grind, making the gameplay feel unengaging and overly focused on farming for resources. Overall, the grinding experience is described as a significant drawback, detracting from the enjoyment of the game.
“The most frustrating part, and most tedious part, is building kits for your scouts, scavengers, etc. I absolutely hate this part of the game.”
“The gameplay is tedious, not engaging, and repetitive.”
“It just feels like there are not enough supplies out there to scavenge, and it feels super grindy.”
- atmosphere12 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a pervasive sense of hopelessness and tension, particularly in the home base area, which is enhanced by unsettling sounds and minimal tutorial guidance. Players find the immersive city environment compelling, with its creepy ambiance and addictive gameplay drawing them in for extended play sessions. Overall, the atmosphere effectively contributes to the game's bleak yet engaging experience.
“The developer really nailed the atmosphere of hopelessness in the home base area, and I can only describe my first few hours of the game as being bleak.”
“Highly enjoyable, tense atmosphere; I found it quite addictive and sat down to play for about 3 hours on my first playthrough.”
“The developer did really nail the atmosphere of hopelessness in the home base area, and I can only describe my first few hours of the game as being bleak.”
“Creepy atmosphere; I can hear moans in the night and can only tell sometimes which way they are coming from!”
“This is partially because the atmosphere is well done in this respect, along with the sounds in the base, but also because the tutorial that you're given is extremely bare bones.”
- music10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it lacking and describe it as "pathetic," others appreciate the eerie background music and sound effects that enhance the suspense and immersion, particularly in zombie encounters. Overall, the music is seen as a significant element that contributes to the game's atmosphere, with some moments effectively eliciting jumps and tension.
“The eerie background music and effects of zombies keep me on my toes.”
“The creepy and suspenseful music made me jump a little.”
“Music is a big part of any good game for me, and I liked what I heard so far.”
“The sounds and music in the game are pretty pathetic too.”
“Keeps me on my toes, with the eerie background music and effects of zombies.”
“Made me jump a little, especially with the creepy and suspenseful music playing.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express frustration with the emotional impact of sudden, random bandit encounters that result in significant losses, leading to feelings of wasted effort and time invested in the game. This aspect highlights a potential disconnect between player investment and the game's mechanics, which can detract from the overall emotional experience.
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Reviewers express disappointment in the game's replayability, noting that after three years in early access, it still lacks a polished and complete experience that would encourage players to return.
“After being in early access for three years, I expected something that feels more playable and complete than this.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Reviews suggest that the game's monetization strategy may have been perceived as a cash grab, detracting from its potential by overpromising features like multiplayer that didn't fit the game's setting. Players feel that a focus on core gameplay elements such as survival and co-op would have been more appropriate and beneficial.
“This game feels like a cash grab that shot itself in the foot. It could have been something good if they had focused on survival, looting, and shooting instead of wasting time promising multiplayer features that don't fit the setting. Co-op would have been more realistic, especially since the maps are too small for more than two players.”
“The monetization strategy is frustrating and feels exploitative. Instead of enhancing the gameplay experience, it detracts from it and makes it feel like the developers are more interested in profits than player satisfaction.”
“I can't believe how much they are charging for in-game items. It feels like they are prioritizing profit over providing a fair and enjoyable experience for players.”
