Do not look for Rick or Michonne (and even less Clementine, of course) in this Walking Dead there. The group of survivors to which one belongs was specially designed for the game, just like its enemies. In this case, it is the Family, which could be described as local "Saviors", since this group seeks to tap into the reserves of others, and does not hesitate to punish those who resist. Nothing extraordinary in all this and, multi game requires, we feel that the scenario takes second place. However, it is not as flat as it looks at first sight, the adventure reserving us some quite unexpected twists for a multiplayer experience. The latter revolves around four characters, who represent as many different classes. Heather acts as a scout, wields the crossbow and pickaxe, throws smoke grenades, and can detect certain traps and objects in the environments.
LEFT 4 (WALKING) DEAD ?
Being the good tank that he is, Aiden favors the shotgun and the bat, uses blinding grenades and benefits from damage reduction when he is wounded. Grant the tactician relies on his sniper rifle and staff, throws Molotov cocktails and can mark enemies, who will then take more damage. Finally, armed with a submachine gun and a machete, Maya represents the support class, deploys first aid kits, and revives fallen allies faster and more efficiently than others. The icing on the cake, with a redhead, a black, an old man and an Asian, the account is good in terms of quotas! More seriously, if it is appreciable that the different classes are personified, we regret that it is possible to have several copies of the same character in a game. Even if the game offers a few skins and other cosmetic options, immersion takes a hit when the team is made up of, for example, two pairs of homonymous clones. Come on, let's say it offers a greater degree of freedom, as does the ability for each character to use any weapon. We advise you all the same to stick to the fetish weapons of each class, because this then confers significant bonuses.
In order to stand out and to respect the spirit of the work of Robert Kirkman, the title of Overkill acquires a management aspect intended to simulate post-apocalyptic survival.
The respect or not of the Walking Dead license was an important point for the game which, in the event of failure, then risked being only a clone of Left 4 Dead. In order to stand out and to respect the spirit of the work of Robert Kirkman, the title of Overkill acquires a management aspect intended to simulate post-apocalyptic survival. Thus, during combat missions, we must free survivors if we ever cross our path. And search as much as possible in order to recover plans necessary for camp improvements, medicines to treat injured inhabitants, as well as scrap metal and provisions for maintenance costs. If you collect enough of them, the morale of the survivors will be better. Between missions, it is up to you to assign men to the different buildings (depot, firing point, radio and clinic) in order to obtain bonuses in combat (faster health regeneration, less noisy walking, etc.). You can also send them on standalone missions, so they bring you some extra resources. This all takes place through a basic interface and isn't the core of the game, but it's a doubly welcome addition, enhancing the survival vibe and useful for the main missions. These are made up of a few camp defense missions and, above all, attack missions where you have to infiltrate enemy bases. Again, the Walking Dead license is fully respected because the levels include both walkers and humans. Going into the pile by shooting at all costs is therefore doomed to failure, because each shot fired will attract the surrounding gaunt people, and will also increase a gauge which, once filled, will trigger the arrival of a horde. This is sometimes unavoidable, especially when a pitched battle breaks out between the two enemy human groups, but it is better to delay this moment as much as possible. The gauge has several levels, and the last corresponds to the arrival of hundreds of zombies, the engine being able to display and manage many creatures simultaneously.
SILENCE, WE PLAY!
For a game to go as well as possible, you have to avoid groups of prowlers as much as possible, assassinate isolated individuals by approaching them from behind, use melee weapons when you are spotted, and take care to equip the silencer guns. However, accessories such as weapons wear out over the course of the games and can therefore break or jam. Also, ammunition is relatively scarce. It is therefore better to reserve the shots for the humans, by trying to shoot them down quickly enough so that the noise gauge does not rise too much (the enemies never use a silencer...). The shooting sensations are like the graphics: not revolutionary but quite honest. In addition, the game has a small crafting system, which allows you to create bandages and other picking tools, and the characters can take with them cutting pliers to unlock certain passages, kits to bypass certain systems electrical, or even mechanical kits to dismantle certain devices. Some temporary obstacles will also require you to find fuses, batteries or codes in the scenery in order to be crossed. All these elements are partially random, which allows you to do the same missions several times without getting too bored. The infinite repetition, or almost, of the levels is necessary because the game gives pride of place to the loot and the progression of the characters via skill points. It also requires a lot of cooperation between players. A very nice feature, which guarantees good times when playing with friends. On the other hand, for the parts resulting from the matchmaking, it is another story...
COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS...
In a totally incomprehensible way, the game ignores any voice chat. Still, when you're busy fending off groups of zombies, you have better things to do than read text chat or type in it. As a result, novice players spend their time chasing after veterans without having time to enjoy the atmosphere and the script elements. Conversely, regulars rail against stragglers who don't seem to understand what to do. And it only takes one participant who plays badly (that is to say loudly) for the mission to become hell, the game then transforming into a “mole slapper” of infinite zombies. To circumvent these problems, one might be tempted to practice solo. But the game is clearly not designed for that. On the one hand, you have to create a private game by not inviting anyone and still stay online. On the other hand, the level of difficulty does not seem to adapt to the situation, and is therefore extremely high.
The shooting sensations are like the graphics: not revolutionary but quite honest.
The presence of bots could have solved this problem, but the developers also ignored this feature. They also decided to make it impossible to pick up weapons left by dead enemies, the loot being obtained in crates and as mission rewards. It's unfortunate, but less than the many bugs that tarnish the experience. The most annoying concern connection problems: infinite loading at the end of the mission, "lost connection to the server", "error when connecting with other players", nothing is missing! Moreover, the total absence of tutorials makes the first steps very complicated. Some players even completely miss the crafting system, which is never presented by the game (if it doesn't come to your mind to hit the Tab key during missions, too bad for you…). In addition, the whole aspect of weapon and character progression is quite unbalanced, because you start way too low. A player who lacks patience will quickly give up the game seeing the initial weakness of heroes and equipment. As it stands, OVERKILL's The Walking Dead therefore risks missing out on its audience, which is all the more unfortunate since the game is not lacking in interest when played in good conditions. We can only hope that a few patches will quickly improve the situation...
