Survivalist is an isometric 3D sandbox RPG zombie survival game, with great emphasis on the survival aspect. You begin the game as Joe Wheeler who has been hiding in an underground bunker in an attempt to avoid the spreading zombie virus. Supplies have run out after a year, thus you must venture out and procure food and water in order to keep on living. Simple enough, until you realize that there are zombies running around and civilized life is all but wiped out. What follows next is your daily struggle in the search for food and supplies in order to keep you alive and safe from the hazards of a devastated, zombie-infested, gang-ridden land. This being an open-world game, you are free to roam anywhere you please in the search for more supplies. The further you stray from the safety of your bunker though, the more dangers lurk around every corner.

Survivalist focuses on a more realistic tone to the genre than most games do. While you do have the usual gunning and scavenging aspect as seen in similar games such as DayZ, the core mechanic of Survivalist focuses on community and humanity as a whole. When exploring Survivalist’s desert wasteland setting, you will often come upon other survivors of the zombie uprising. Each encounter can easily shape the outcome of your playthrough as every person you meet has their own personality, relationships, and personal goals and needs. Your actions upon meeting this person can easily determine whether they are a friend or foe, and they will remember your choice as well. Rob a passerby early in the game and later on in your next meeting they will remember your face with a seething look of hatred pointed your way and possibly the barrel of a gun as well. Begin friendly trades with a well-armed group and they will welcome you happily to their camp for further use and trade. The amount of work put into the AI to simulate a living and thriving community among the NPCs was simply amazing to see. The fact that I can slowly work my way into the good graces of a community by buttering up one or two members and see the results of my goodwill spread among the rest of the members left me amazed.

Speaking of community, it is not solely limited to pre-established NPC clans. The option is there to build your own community as well. With enough supplies, manpower and skills, you can build your very own fortress to house yourself and any friends you make on your travels. One key member you will come across very early in the game is a woman named Alice who is a diabetic and requires a daily dose of insulin in order to keep her alive. With her among your group, not only do you need the basic necessities but you also need to procure a regular supply of her medication. In a world devasted by a zombie plague, modern medication such as insulin does not come readily available, with the few caches coming in at a steep price. Do you keep her with you and attempt to save what humanity is left, or do you simply abandon her, leaving her to a grim fate?

In my playthrough, I decided to let her tag along with me and did the best of my abilities to keep her regularly supplied with her much-needed medication. I will have to admit that this hit a lot closer to home than I was expecting from a game. I come from a high-risk group of people for diabetes and my family does have a history of the condition. The fact that I got a small glimpse of what I may have to resort to if the collapse of civilization actually occurred, left me in contemplative silence. Not many games I have played have managed to evoke a feeling like this from me, it is both humbling and frightening when I think about it.

The gameplay itself is broken down into familiar action-rpg style mechanics. You have skills ranging from fitness, guns, farming, and construction. Each one can be leveled up by using that particular skill, with successive levels adding more benefits for your continual survival. More fitness for example can allow you to run further and carry heavier loads; better gun skills will allow you to aim more accurately, taking down zombies with ease. The zombies, while not as deadly as the human threats you may come across, are no pushovers themselves. Zombies in Survivalist come in various strengths which have been thoughtfully color coded as virus strains. The virus strains infecting the undead hosts range from a mildly annoying green, stronger blues, dangerous reds, and a rumored instant-death white. With skills you can manage each one with various difficulty, greens offering the least amount of danger and whites the most. Thankfully all the viruses save for the white strain can be combated with syringes called antigens in order to cure yourself of viral bites. These of course will further add to your list of much needed supplies. Getting bit by a zombie will mean death if the required antigen isn’t applied soon, so always carry a syringe or two while out scavenging.

I have to say I love this game. It’s a robust game filled with moral and physical obstacles while giving a grand look on the narrative of humanity and the choices we make. The graphics, while not the best looking, did the job well of playing out a world devoid of modern civilization. Abandoned towns looked eerie and foreboding, the game’s day/night cycle made you welcome the sun. Zombies looked grotesque and dead as they should; the interface offering multiple views and providing vital info when needed. The music in game added the appropriate amount of atmosphere, some more than others I might add. Having an easy, synthesized guitar track guide you along as you explore the vast desert inexplicably changing to a strange electronica tempo just felt jarring. Thankfully the majority of them fit right in and it didn’t distract me too much from the immersion of the game.

The game is so close to being perfect, it has all the aspects I ever wanted in a survival game as well as adding in zombies and a well-defined “living world”. The sheer depth it offers with the narrative separates itself from the other similarly-themed games. With it’s glowing gameplay and mechanics I do see a rather major problem coming up during the endgame, that problem being a gentle downhill slope into repetitiveness. In my playthough one of my endgame goals was to have at least one survivor with maxed out skills. Once you form a basic community and you have people cordoned off and specialized to do certain work, you begin using those members solely for their best skill and rarely anything else. I had one member who was the main builder of the group while I was a skilled marksman and scavenger. I would need to grind construction skills with useless buildings and dwindling supplies just to be able to “win”. Thankfully I have yet to experience this part of the game, perhaps it may not be as bad as I think when I eventually do get to that point. Either way this is a cause of concern for me as using timesinks in order to win does not seem enjoyable in the least.

Despite that, I think that Survivalist is great beyond all expectations and it has become my favorite game among all the titles being offered on XBLIG. It is nearly perfect and it outshines any other title I have played with the survival-horror-sim aspect. If you want a great survival game for a low price, get Survivalist as soon as you can. I guarantee it will keep you busy for hours. While it may not be as eye-opening to others as it was to me, I assure it will give you much food for thought.

Simply amazing.

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

Other reviews:

Survivalist on theXBLIG

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Over the past few years horror has been making great strides in the gaming community. With releases like Amnesia: The Dark Descent - which made a huge impression on the survival horror genre – it is no surprise that many others wish to make their own mark in the community. One of the more newly announced titles is Monstrum, a game by Team Junkfish and created in the Unity engine.

Monstrum sets you aboard an abandoned derelict ship filled with traps, environmental hazards, and another “passenger” who is not exactly friendly. From there you must find an escape route among the vast, dark, and claustrophobia-inducing confines of the ship’s procedurally generated corridors. Be sure not to meander too long because your fellow passenger is out to get you, and you have no way of fighting back. Run, hide, and use distractions and your wits in order to survive your pursuer’s relentless onslaught.

The ship generates a new layout each playthrough.

Monstrum incorporates permadeath, so if you unfortunately come to your untimely demise, you have to start over again with a brand new ship, new layout, and possibly a new hunter hot on your tail. With three unique monsters, each with their own behavior and hunting techniques, one method of escape or distraction may work on one hunter, but not on the others, forcing you to adapt your escape and survival strategy.

Does that not intrigue you enough? Perhaps the inclusion of Oculus Rift support would heighten your interest. Now you can experience the grit, claustrophobia, and terror first-hand as you attempt to flee your doom.

Monstrum is set to release in late Q3 2014 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you love horror games with a roguelike procedurally generated map, Monstrum is the title to look out for. With native Oculus Rift support planned, a unique map generated each playthrough, and three different hunters to chase you down, it seems like a no-brainer for any survival horror junkie.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Still Alive attempts to distil this popular ‘survival sim’ formula, removing some of the more hardcore elements of games like DayZ and Rust and introducing a bigger focus on player combat. By pitting up to 10 players against each other in a last-man standing deathmatch mode, players are expected to scavenge the supplies and weapons necessary to fight against their fellow humans in an attempt to be the sole survivor.

Today’s apocalypse is brought to you by way of a meteor shower raining molten fire and rock-based destruction across the earth. The planet is left scarred, most life has ceased to exist, and everything is generally looking bad for the remaining survivors. What’s worse, the meteor shower seems to have implanted an alien species onto the planet; a hive mind organism that can mutate any life form it is able to inhabit. Naturally, humans become a perfect home for these alien bacteria baddies, and genetically spliced mass murdering humans begin to flood the landscape seeking out the tender flesh of whoever remains.

It’s an interesting concept that I’m surprised we haven’t seen sooner. By amalgamating the best features of a number of games, Still Alive seems to be highlighting a specific element that makes these kinds of games great – the emergent play that comes from conflict between players. However, only time will tell if that alone is unique enough for it to achieve its $45,000 Kickstarter goal.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

When it comes to gaming, there are a multitude of different genres out there ranging from your standard FPS fare to obscure mash-ups of sub-genres. Many games tend to the specific needs many players seek out. My interests in particular lean towards the niche genre of gaming known as survival simulation. With that, I introduce to you Renewal, an upcoming zombie survival RPG game.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have my luxurious mane available for the hairstyles. A bowl cut will do.

Renewal is a 2D top-down RPG with heavy emphasis on player survival in a randomly-generated world. You create your own character and you must ensure the survival of yourself, as well as attempting to rebuild in a world devastated by zombies. Yes, zombies. I can already hear some of you readers groaning.

Yeah zombies are a bit overdone, but I among others welcome more contributions to the classic monster. Renewal has plenty of them roaming around for you to encounter and vanquish, all while you scavenge around looking for supplies and weapons. Go out into the world beyond the safety of your town walls in order to find better items for yourself and for the citizens. Use your wits and your newfound items to craft more weapons as you get stronger and bolder.

The game has been in development for about a year, and from what I’ve seen while playing the public beta, it looks to be promising. There really isn’t much to look at in terms of art, but the gameplay is the main focus here and so far everything seems interesting. That is, while the game was playable. I continuously ran into some game-stopping bugs, but seeing as this is still in beta this is to be expected.

Thrust headfirst into the undead nightmare.

More features and gameplay are planned for the future, but so far I like what I see. The beta and its planned goals hold some good promise, and it caters to the survival aspect nicely with its randomly-generated world and loot.

If you like RPGs, survival games, or zombies, I would keep an eye on this one. If you wish to contribute to its development, there is an Indiegogo campaign created by its sole developer, available here. The beta is also available for download there so give it a go if you wish. Give a helping monetary hand or even some encouraging words if you like what you hear.

It is always nice seeing new entries into a specific niche corner of gaming, I for one welcome it.

Watch the Renewal trailer.
Visit the game’s Indiegogo page.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Welcome to space, where no-one can hear you scream. That is, welcome to Xenominer, a game by the folks at Gristmill Studios introduced during the Indie Uprising III event on Xbox Live Arcade. Xenominer is a voxel-style base building game that tests your survival in an alien world. Before continuing, this is another voxel game where you can dig and build any structure you can imagine. But if you are expecting another Minecraft clone, you are missing out on a lot if you dismiss it as such.

When Xenominer begins you wake up on an alien world, the lone survivor of a crash. With nothing but your survival suit, a small tank of oxygen, and the messages from an A.I. named DAI-SE you journey into a strange unknown world. A far-out landscape filled bizarre “trees”, floating landscapes, and the odd alien structure or two, there is the possibility of riches buried deep within.

That is all fine and dandy until the local star begins to rise, then you must secrete yourself away into the nearest cave lest you be burnt to an irradiated crisp. While Xenominer does not have hostile mobs in a traditional sense, the dangerous radiation of space will cut short your future plans of galactic conquest if you don’t seek shelter regularly. Hope you like digging, because you will spend the majority of your journey underneath the surface, away from the harmful rays and radiation in your cramped and claustrophobia-inducing underground quarters. At least until you upgrade your gear.

Speaking of upgrades, you have access to a plethora of building options and equipment. You can raise your chances of survival, assuming you have the materials to create them of course. They include suit and oxygen tank upgrades, sturdy building materials, more powerful tools, and even gravity boots.  See a piece of iron or diamond on the ceiling? Simply use your gravity boots and walk up the walls, humming the theme song to Spiderman while you are at it.

One feature that stands out from the rest is the use of a robot to do your dirty work. Once you acquire it, the bot can lighten your work load immensely by doing many repetitive tasks for you. You can have it tunnel a mineshaft, build your new space castle, or whatever you want it to do. If you can figure out how to actually program the darn thing, since the interface for it is in alien language. The scripting interface uses a strange pictographic command language which can be a bit daunting to decipher.

You have any idea what’s going on here? For the longest time, neither did I

For the longest time, I could do nothing but scratch my head while trying to get my own script going. After many fruitless attempts and carefully examining the built-in scripts, I was able to figure out what the symbols meant and began building my own script. When I activated my custom mining script I was as giddy as a schoolgirl as I watched the little bot go about its duties. Soon my galactic headquarters will be complete, with my little bot to do my bidding.

I enjoy this title, and there is very little I have against it. While it does have a lack of ambient music or sound, that suits the outer space setting. Only the ominous tone announcing the rising of the sun or the hum of your mining pick break the silence.

The user interface text is rather difficult to read. I played on a standard definition TV and the majority of the interface was simply too small to be clear. HD users will have no problems, but people who still play on standard sets may have some difficulty reading the HUD.

This review took too long for me to write. I have been playing for the better part of three weeks, and since the Indie Uprising event Gristmill has been able to implement many welcome improvements to the title. I continuously had to revise my views on the game as each patch brought welcome improvements. If you liked it at launch, you will enjoy the game even more so now.

I heartily recommend this title, and at a low 80 Microsoft points you have absolutely no excuse not to pick it up. Go grab it now before Gristmill realize they can charge more.

Go buy it. GO NOW!

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Additional coverage:

Review on Clearance Bin Review

Review on Indie Gamer Chick

Review on theXBLIG

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.