Casting the player in the role of a wandering survivor, Survivalist: Invisible Strain is playable in both campaign and sandbox modes, with the sandbox mode especially offering an incredible amount of customisation options to suit your preferred approach, with the ability to pretty much knock the zombie element on the head and focus purely on city-building and the more social aspects, should you so wish.
The game features graphic novel-style visuals, with quite a unique screen layout, including portraits of the characters and enemies taking up a fair chunk of the screen real estate. It’s quite an idiosyncratic premise, but really does give Survivalist: Invisible Strain a sense of identity, and the focus on individuality in the game also ties in with this design aspect.
Should you try the campaign mode, you’ll find that this isn’t a game that you’ll breeze through without challenge, decisions are sometimes hard, whilst rations and key items can be scarce. You genuinely make relationships with characters in the game that have am impact when they are ripped away from you for some reason. For example, when I first entered the map, I came across a mysterious woman who was surrounded by dead bodies- and promptly attacked me. When I got the better of her (thanks to my handy fire axe), I acquiesced to her request to work together, and we soon made quite the team wandering the countryside, building campfires and scavenging.
As we visited small towns and traded items, sharing our food and water as well as occasionally engaging in banter, I was quite looking forward to having her around as we built up our nascent community. You can therefore imagine my sadness when, in a low moment when we were struggling for sustenance and medicine - and as I slept in a car to recover some fatigue - she wandered off, desperate for something to eat, only to be attacked by the well-armed inhabitants as she searched a military outpost, leaving her bleeding and therefore an easy target for the handful of zombies that proceeded to tear her to shreds and devour her.
Yes, it was a sad day indeed when I bumped into her a little later, and had to beat her – again – to undeath. It’s times such as these, the moment-to-moment ad hoc action and unfolding personal narrative when the game shines strongest. The individuality of each character and faction gives a true sense of world-building, meaning that you choices feel weighted and important.
The game is very much its own beast, and it does feel quite challenging, especially in the first few hours, as there are so many systems and gauges to keep track off as you make your way around the map. Something that only gets expanded upon as your little troupe grows. Having been in development for over five years, the game has an incredible amount of depth, and it’s this aspect that can make or break it for the player.
There were some moments when everything felt a little static, and I was in such dire straights that it felt as if there was no way to continue, as I wandered the map hopelessly with a feeling wavering dangerously near boredom – but then a single ransacking of a building or vehicle can completely change your fortunes and pick up the fun factor again. As previously stated, this isn’t a game that holds your hand, and you really have to fend for yourself (although there are beginner’s guides available from the helpful gaming community that have been with the development over the years), but when you do have a change in fortune, it can be an incredibly satisfying experience.
SUMMARY
A zombie game with character and class, this is a title that may be divisive in terms of its design and layout, but I can imagine it’ll gain quite a hardcore audience of fans that relish its indie charms.
A zombie game with character and class, this is a title that may be divisive in terms of its design and layout, but I can imagine it’ll gain quite a hardcore audience of fans that relish its indie charms.
The fact that it’s currently available on Xbox for a tenner is astonishing when you consider the amount on offer, and, as it has been created by such a small team, it has that quirkiness, verve and drive that only indie games driven by a solitary vision can generate, warts ‘n all.
7.5/10
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