The Walking Dead has already survived television, comics and enough spin-offs to make even a zombie question the franchise’s life choices. Now it gets the retro brawler treatment, throwing Rick, Daryl and Michonne into the All Out War storyline. On paper, it’s a cracking fit. Unfortunately, The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival occasionally feels like someone found an old arcade cabinet in a Gravesend charity shop and decided it needed a licence.
Gaming Heaven
The pixel-art presentation works surprisingly well. Rick, Daryl and Michonne are instantly recognisable, while the walkers and Saviors have enough variety to stop everything looking like the same undead bloke wearing different trousers.
The three heroes also play differently. Rick favours fists and firearms, Daryl brings his bow and knives, while Michonne understandably prefers turning everyone into sliced luncheon meat with her katana.
There are some decent ideas in combat, too. Dodging has a cooldown, ranged attacks require commitment and adrenaline abilities encourage you to think before turning every encounter into button-mashing soup. Character upgrades and collectibles provide some incentive to explore.
Gaming Hell
Unfortunately, combat can become an exercise in irritation. Gun-wielding enemies are particularly obnoxious when several attack simultaneously, while cheap shots from off-screen can leave you wondering whether the apocalypse has finally claimed your controller.
Controls can feel sluggish, with characters occasionally swinging enthusiastically at absolutely nothing because they’ve apparently lost track of which direction they’re facing.
Bosses are inconsistent, too. Some offer interesting mechanics, while others simply have enormous health bars, turning fights into lengthy endurance tests. Multiplayer is also missing, which feels like a rather large corpse lying in the room.
Final Judgement
Streets of Survival has a decent concept, attractive retro visuals and some enjoyable combat ideas, but too many frustrating encounters and control problems undermine the experience.
Fans may get some mileage from battering Saviors with familiar characters, but this apocalypse needed considerably more brains.
