‘Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days’ is an Evolved Survival Zombie Gaming Experience [PAX Preview]
Justin Wood
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If there is one facet of horror games that is congested, it is the zombie apocalypse-centered games. That is not to say they are all bad or the same, but there are a lot of them, and you need to strive to make a unique entry into the genre to gain some footing. Thankfully, with my short time with Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days, it’s easy to see they are trying something different that sets them apart from the rest.
Set in Walton City, Texas, in 1980, after a zombie outbreak has taken down the majority of civilization, a handful of survivors have to band together to survive. Players will have to plan their days out by selecting who is going to go exploring the zombie-infested city and who is going to stay behind. It’s a relentless struggle for survival, making sure the survivors return with enough materials to better their chances of survival. But there is one thing that really makes these choices and planning key: if your survivor dies out while exploring, they are dead for good, a stark reminder of the harsh reality of the game.
During my brief hands-on with Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days, I got to test out the exploration part of the game. While we had a few survivors to choose from, I found most of their skills didn’t really affect that side of the game and seemed more to serve the home base functions. But I chose my survivor, and off into the zombie apocalypse I went!
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is presented in a 2.5D side scroller style, much like Deadlight or Little Nightmares. Survivors will enter areas, scavenge, and fight their way through. Or, if you take your time and plan accordingly, it’s possible to make it through without having to get into a scrap with the undead horde. That being said, I was never the best at sneaking, so when presented with a shotgun, I knew exactly what I was doing until I ran out of ammo and lost three of my four survivors, trying to get my lost backpack back and escape safely.
There was a certain level of fear and tension that developer PikPok has managed to cultivate over the years of developing the Into The Dead series. While the series started as a first-person zombie shooter, Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days shows that they have begun to evolve the series and seemingly in the right way. I can’t wait to see how the survivor exploration integrates into the base survival aspect of the game. While the release target is 2025, I hope we get to see more of Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days before it launches.
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