The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

Not only does he create special effects, but he's also written the story for The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. He might just be the right man to tackle the difficult task of turning this extremely succesful license into a decent action game.

Survival Instinct is the story of brothers Merle and Daryl Dixon, two survivors who have a major role in the TV series. Glenn Gamble says he and his team were trolling forums pre-production to find out what the fans wanted. Something that's exactly what both the studio and licensors AMC want as well. What exactly that is, Gamble's not saying. But he was kind enough to show off some scenes.

TV series hero Rick Grimes is in a coma during the story of this Activision-commissioned game. So what's delivered is a prequel to the show's first season.

Location of the game's action is the U.S. state of Georgia, and our two leads are on their way to the safe zone. It's summer time, hot and humid. We pass through small towns and enjoy the prettiness of the rural scenes around us.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is a classic action game using the first person view. To get the look as authentic as possible, the team headed out into the woods to run around with GoPro cameras. They also invested some production dollars in motion capture sessions in which actors shred pillows to simulate greedily eating zombies. Finally, audio's all recorded in-house (slashing a watermelon gets that muddy kill sound apparently).

The game is visually conventional. The camera, less so. The studio's tinkered with the first-person view to enhance the fear factor. At key points the camera will forcibly zoom in, narrowing your field of vision as you focus on what the game wants you to look at.

Gamble explains that you need to constantly check your surroundings, but it's less dramatic when that process is scripted and repeated numerous times. Yet despite that, there's definitely an uneasy feeling generated - you feel like a fugitive in a hostile world.

It's also great that the zombies pose a real threat. There's many thousands of variants, each looking and behaving differently.

"Making [them] stupid is not easy," says Glenn Gamble at this point and explains this as the core problem in the creation of credible undead. They still want to eat fresh meat, always directly - and therefore the walker zombies are hell-bent on the quickest way to get grub.

We have to sneak to avoid detection, because the Walkers have keen hearing. They can even smell us, as you quickly begin to sweat in the southern heat. Anyone wishing to use the shotgun should give some thought before pulling the trigger. Noise attracts more and more walkers - and even three become a real threat pretty fast. Six of them prove to be a very challenging task.

The supposedly dead bodies that litter the ground often have life still in them - and those that do are generated randomly on each play through. Same with the living dead, spawning at different points come each new pass or attempt. Same to with items. A small detail, but it adds a lot to the tension.

The gameplay itself is generally pretty straightforward. Shoot or switch to close quarters combat with an axe or knife. What few HUD elements are visible include a compass and ammo, and everything can be toggled off. During melee a crosshair appears and we get buttons appearing as symbols to land direct kills. Otherwise you have to decapitate the zombies to finally kill them. Even without legs and arms, they'll still try and get you.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct isn't open world. Travel's by car between missions, and we're always accompanied by our current companions, survivors. How many we take depends on the currently active car. You have to always decide because even equipment and supplies need to be carried on as well. Everything is always valid and usuable for you and yours, and all need to be brought through to the level's end to save them.

Some folk can be utilized as helpers, much like in Assassin's Creed III and be sent on missions to gather supplies or ammunition. For a second or third pass Glenn Gamble promises a meaningful Game+. Finishing the game will only show you around fifty percent of the content. There's multiple branches to the story.

References to the TV show are very important to the team. The game should feel like the series, and expand the world of Walking Dead at the same time. Take Lemon Hill, as we focus on one mission.

The small town hosts a summer festival that went horribly wrong. Now thirty zombies shuffle around the town's centre. The idea is to pass by unseen. The best way is to throw one or two previously found glass bottles between the horde and amidst wrecked cars. The sounds draws their attention for a short time and allow us to run by quickly. We grab a lemonade bottle lying around which will regenerate energy.

If you are grabbed by a walker you should have more than one lemonade in your inventory, if you survive the attack at all. We need to cut zombies a few times and push, or score a direct hit. We drill knives through their eyes, severe heads with the axe.

Our pal Merle Dixon now thinks it‘s a good idea that we collect some boxes of dynamite, place them in the town's church, climb into the tower and ring the bells for Sunday service. The zombies come in large numbers - and a flare thrown into the throng ignites the party.

Frantically we flee through a zombie graveyard towards the car. Now we go guns blazing, as shots easily blend in with explosions from the church and zombies aren‘t the quickest. Anyone who has explored the level before has a clear advantage, because there are a lot of secrets to find. Cars with open doors invite us to find upgrades. Cars offer different amounts of fuel, each payload is different and of course the number of possible passengers vary. We will not drive, as the cars serve only as transfers between missions.

It's hard to say how well the concept will work out in the end. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct will be no total failure, that's for sure. But currently the graphics are average and the rather unpretentious linear missions don't inspire. The spirit of the TV series, however, lives on and still adds new facets to the universe. The only question is, how exciting the fight against the Walkers will be in the long run, how nerve-wrecking the decisions are when choosing which survivors to save, and who will be left to their fate.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct shows a new side of the large and lucrative franchise. We will see how many of the numerous franchise fans set out to buy the title for Xbox 360, PS3 or PC. Meanwhile, it is true that you can never get enough of zombies. It is also true that with the retail version of Day Z around the door, and State of Decay also being developed for 2013, strong competition will be shuffling towards us soon enough.