How to Survive, unsurprisingly, is a survival game, which includes zombies and features some action and RPG elements. You find yourself washed up on an island with nothing except the clothes on your back and a rucksack. Not knowing where you are you head off to find others, and a way to escape what you soon realise is not quite the paradise island you’d like to be washed up on.
Survival is the key word in the title in a game that scavenging and intelligent use of items becomes imperative as the game progresses, and especially in the challenge mode, a bit more on the latter later. Campaign wise, the game is a linear affair which includes, for the majority, a load of find and collect missions. There are times where you have some ‘side-missions’ (involving monkeys and parrots) which you can go about as and when you see fit. But you’ll spend your time speaking to one person, who sends you to a location, and then return to push the game forward.
On the way you’ll collect guides on different aspect of the game from fishing to sleeping. You see, you need to look after your character. Keep an eye on your levels of hunger, thirst, tiredness and of course your health bar. As each of these run lower your ability to perform drops, which will bring your demise at the hands of the undead sooner rather than later.
It’s the foraging, survival elements and crafting that is HTS’s strength. Yes there is crafting. Collect different components to create new things – you will need to find blueprints before crafting. Got a machete and a piece of wood? Make some arrows, some shrubbery and some fabric? Craft a makeshift bandage. Weapons, food and other items can all be created by combining items in your inventory – which will soon fill up. Knowing what you need and what you can do without comes to the forefront when the rucksack is full. Can you really do without the Molotov cocktail?
HTS is a top down twin stick controlled game, which suits it quite nicely. While graphically it is nothing to write home about (there are some nice death animations and blood splashes), I found the voice over work really strong. Your protagonist is a silent participant in the conversations, but the people talking at you have been cast well.
Back to the challenge mode. Here you start off on an island with no supplies just an empty rucksack. You need to know what you’ve learnt from the Campaign to survive and find a plane to get off the island. There are different scenario’s featuring a set type of the various enemy types the game offers. The variety of enemies is nice to see by the way – you need to take in to consideration which enemy you are facing when coming up with tactics for the fight. Do you take out the small scurrying enemies which take down a small amount of health with their quick and frequent attacks, or focus on the exploding fat guy to take out multiple enemies (including you if you’re stood too close). Both challenge mode and the main campaign features local and online co-op play.
While the zombie genre is beginning to outstay its welcome in all forms of entertainment, How to Survive is an enjoyable, if not difficult at times little game. Campaign wise you get around 6 or so hours worth of play, but going back to the challenge mode solo or online will extend the longevity of the game. The RPG elements of picking new skills with your gained XP will be a draw for some; others may enjoy collecting all the items for their home made gun or other weapon. There is nothing groundbreaking here, and the linearity of the campaign can become a bit of a drag at times, but if a zombie survival game sounds like something you fancy, then look no further.
