Walton City, 1980: a sprawling city in Texas, is caught unaware when a strange epidemic reaches its shores. The city, already facing a scorching heat wave and economic crisis, is soon overrun by the undead. Survivors are left stranded, as Walton receives no real help from the outside. In this undead nightmare, survivors must band together to endure the zombie threat and try to find a way out. With a seemingly endless horde of zombies bashing at their barricades, they wonder if there is even a point in trying.
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a side-scrolling shelter survival game where you control a group of survivors attempting to scavenge, build, and endure through a zombie apocalypse with base building and location scavenging. You explore the city of Walton while trying to manage your survivors’ physical and mental needs.
This game is currently in Alpha Early Access, with more to come. The story is not the main focus and is still in development. Currently, there are multiple escape opportunities, which means there is a lot of replayability and little informative snippets here and there that tell you about what has been happening within this setting. A few cutscenes outline key information regarding the outbreak, but for the most part, it’s all pretty mysterious. Plans are in the roadmap to add more world events, factions, and other story-based interactions, but for the moment, it’s pretty simple.
However, simple doesn’t mean bad, as there is much to read into in this game. One example is the way that the zombies are acting; there’s something definitely weird about them, something different than most other zombie games, almost like they aren’t completely gone. From the written information, radio messages, and conversations between survivors, you get a good picture of what is happening within the world.
Into the Dead is a 2D side-scrolling shelter survival game with similarities to This War of Mine. The two main components of gameplay are scavenging and base building. Within the base, you have a number of craftable stations like the cooking station, the communal space, and the dismantling. Each of these has a specific use, and most, if not all, are integral to the longevity of your run.
The needs of your survivors tie in heavily with the stations. Survivors have four main status bars: health, hunger, sanity, and sleep. These need to be monitored frequently and managed during the base periods of the game. Other small factors, like effects, change the way that these needs operate, and these can be managed or fixed with crafted items or specific areas in the base.
The final factor of the base area is the protection of the barricades. There will be random attacks on your base after each expedition or each time period spent doing something within the base, each to a differing extent. While it seems mostly random, this will require repairs on the barricades, taking one of your survivors away for that period to do so. It ends up being a massive factor in the running of your shelter, so you need to keep an eye on that.
There are many aspects to gameplay during expeditions. The basics are to avoid, eliminate, and scavenge, but this breaks down into many smaller aspects, the first being preparation. Before you go on your expedition, you’ll need to choose the items you’ll be taking from the base with you. This could include weapons, lockpicks, and bolt cutters. However, you can’t just load up and go because each of these takes up an inventory space, which means you won’t be able to bring back as much as you possibly can. Notes on things missed during a run can be helpful, so you can return another time and finish clearing out the remainder of the level. The map shows you the threat level of zombies and things that can still be scavenged, which allows you to make informed decisions before returning.
The level design itself is basically just a big maze, so figuring out the puzzles and areas that connect takes a good amount of exploring and experimenting. Once you have the layout pretty much figured out, it makes it easier to navigate and fight because you’ll know your escape routes if you need them. The combat can be a little bit finicky but overall a good experience. It’s recommended to give it some time to really learn the combat. The still and roaming undead are the easiest to deal with, but it gets a little more intense once you get into the packs of undead or the hiding ones (the hiding ones are annoying). Don’t be afraid to run and come back another night if you need to; it’s not worth losing a survivor just to feed your gamer ego.
There can also be other survivors in some of the maps, who can be either hostile or non-hostile. You’ll have to decide whether to eliminate them or, for the ones that are willing, bring them back to your base. But remember, it is another mouth to feed, so you’ve got to take that into consideration.
Finally, the last piece of gameplay is scavenging. Expeditions are where you’ll pretty much get everything you need to survive: food, resources, weapons, medical resources, and the things you need to craft better items. It helps to write a list of things needed for needs or upgrades and then focus on grabbing them while you are out. Remember, you can always leave your stuff and come back for it if you are desperate.
The environment and level design of Into the Dead is amazing, and there is definitely something unique about the undead. It feels quite different from other zombie apocalypse-style games. The level design really emphasizes that, and as you explore the different levels, little touches here and there create a sense of guilt that slowly builds as you pick up on the emotions and the ways of the infected. With each area you visit, you get a good sense of how bad things are and easily connect with the ups and downs of your survivors, feeling what they are going through.
As this is early access and in Alpha, there is a roadmap that shows some pretty big things coming, starting with environmental and world events that will affect your shelter over time, zombified survivors showing up after they have been lost, new thralls, new starting shelters, and much more. Future updates include traitors, new survivors, locations, new zombie types, additional combat, and dogs. The idea of a dog companion that needs to be looked after is exciting. It would be brutal if anything happened to it, but absolutely amazing. The team behind this is passionate and communicative with the community.
Into the Dead provides a This War of Mine feel, and with the exciting additions proposed on the roadmap, it’s poised to become a future favorite.
Into the Dead is currently available on Steam in early access for #36.99 AUD. Playtime can vary considerably. My first playthrough, with a bit of luck, clocked in at around ten hours. However, the game offers multiple endings, suggesting the potential for much longer engagement. I’m eager to see where PikPok takes this and will be following its development closely.
In fact, this is a game I’ve been anticipating since I first experienced the demo at Pax. It’s great to finally get my hands on this.
Ultimately, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days delivers a compelling and immersive experience in its early access form. Whether you choose to pick it up now or wait for further development, keep an eye on this title and, until then, stay caffeinated.
