Recent reviews by MindDefect

No other game on the market quite like it. It's the best mix of action and strategy, in a single game. Though the game desperately needs more players.

Finally a great and super polished, cat-n-mouse chasing, multiplayer horror game! This isn't just a gimmick like the others I shouldn't name..

Whether playing co-op against a Human monster or AI monster, you can have a good time. And it's easy to pick up and play, while still having enough depth. Using your ears is actually a big part of this game, so headphones are recommended. The maps are huge, but open enough, to not be so overly confusing to get around. Plus you have compasses to help you find your way.

The game doesn't require 1337 ultra precision aiming skills, so almost anyone is capable of playing this game, but not only that, I think almost anyone has the potential to actually get "decent" at the game, with just some patience and experience. That I think is the most overlooked positive aspect of this game.

It can be slightly confusing at first, but that's only because it's unique in it's mechanics, and forces you to actually 'use' your ears, which is unlike most games. But why shouldn't more games force you to? I also love the fact that the "investigators" have a great selection of characters to choose from, that have different playstyles, unlike some other games like this... Games that only have vastly different "monsters" to choose from, but the characters are the same or basically the same (boring).

I recommend this game to just about everyone. It slso doesn't need a monster to run it..

This game reminds me of a mesh of some of my favorite games of all time. Part ARPG (Din's Curse in this instance), but has a similar feel and depth that old-school games like Seven Kingdoms, Majesty, Civ, Dwarf Fortress and various roguelike style of games. Let me first get to the Graphics and Sound, and also let me clear up why this isn't quite like a regular "Zombie" based game, if you can even call it one.. If you want to skip to the gameplay review, skip down to where the review says "Finally, on to the game...."

Let me first get to the graphics and sound, they are not a sole reason you look to play something innovative like this for, but for me, being an old-school type of gamer as you can tell from the games I mentioned... they are waaaay more than passable. And if you are here currently reading this, you wouldn't be suprised to know this isn't a big dev game, so in that case I think you'll probably be satisfied with it visually. If you're ok enough to ever play a game with the graphics of some currently released games nowadays, say like the "The Escapists" or something else visually on a similar level, then you should have absolutely no room to nitpick here. Visuals are moderately sharp and have a good enough amount of variance for any given generated world. Music is pretty good to me, it comes on and off in certain moments. Not an epic soundtrack, but then again, it's not overly dramatic like some can be. Sound is varied enough from the somewhat various amount of different monsters, skills, and traps that are in the game, but some sound effects can still sound a bit too loud, so I would recommend lowering the sound volume in the options. This issue has been improved upon patch by patch. The Dev has been updating this game with major patches weekly, since it's existence.

Secondly, this is not a ZOMBIE based game in the general sense, not as much as you would think for something with Zombie and Parasite in the name.. Most of it comes from the fact that there are zombie based versions of monsters, and this also causes a lot of in-fighting between monsters. But even regular monsters can declare war on each other, yeah it's pretty crazy! Though, there is a Zombie threat bar on the bottom, that will go up over time and make more zombie based monsters exist in the world causing havoc, which you can slow it's rate of raising by doing certain quests. And you and your clan members can be infected, and this can be taken care of in various ways. Now it's basically a single dev game for the most part, so I know it can't be easy, but in my opinion I think he could have done better job coming up with the name of this game, marketing wise. I think it should be changed to something like "Perils of Survival", to give a better feel for the actual game. Though that name would be similar to "Depths of Peril", a previous game by this company.

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Finally, on to the game.... You create a character that levels up and gains skills, that you can keep playing through each game (generated world) you play, win or lose, and each game takes usually takes a few hours or more (this may vary by the world generation settings you set). It does have hardcore and semi-hardcore options.

So what is it generally like? It is beyond just another ARPG/Diablo clone, and like just like a lot of roguelikes, everything you do in game (for this game, doing quests/defending/raiding/diplomacy/clan member management), feels like it's for an important purpose or actual incentive to your clan or the game world.. The world moves even without any user intervention, as monsters level up and form factions to group up with another. And they even plot to raid your town or cause some form of trouble for you or other clans. A certain type of monster, say Imps or Orcs for instance, could actually go to war with you if you kill too many at once (think they will just let you just keep farming them, hey why shouldn't they fight back??)

You are considered a "clan" leader basically, with a home town (just one town inside walls, that doesn't ever expand in area) that has to win a generated world via one of these victory conditions, that are basically: Last clan alive victory, an Alliance victory, a gather enough food supply victory, or a do all quests victory.... all against actual other competing AI clans just like you (for the most part..).

Most quests are generated on the fly as you play, such as to collect such and such to fix a clan's poisioned water supply, or a town's curse. You can pay for rumors for somewhat accurate locations of these quests. Also quests like "to kill a certain powerful enemy(s) threatening to eventually cause trouble for a clan" (and he/she will, they are not BS'ing!). Escort, rescue, stop a zombie uprising, and many more types of quests that have been added since early access has been moving forward. You can turn in quests that other AI clans give out, quests that they don't end up finishing yet themselves (and you may even do some quests via chance without knowing, before you even meet these clans for the first time... and after you finally meet them, you can turn them in and get rewarded with XP/gold and improved relations) Doing quests for them is a great way to improve relations

You also have clan members that interact with each other, and have personality traits. You have to manage this a bit and it can be fun, interesting, and at times frustrating, like when people go insane. But that's part the challenge and variance this game has that I enjoy. You have to make sure to only recruit people that will probably tolerate each other enough, and you also migh need to help them tolerate each other. And you have to make sure they get fed, and don't hiring way too many clan members if you don't have enough extra food, as this can cause a domino effect of happiness and insanity issues.

To sum it up, to me It feels weird, in a very GOOD way, playing an action RPG type game... where you feel an actual pressure and importance to acquiring more XP, Gold, and also manage just enough other various things, to improve your chances of not losing and failing a given world/game. It's not super intense like a MOBA or most FPS games, it's more so a similar feeling to some older unique games of the past, and a lot of rougelike type games I've played before, have given me.

I also need to mention, there are SO many things that can be modified in the game with notepad via the Assets4 file, for you to tinker with if you'd like. There are mods already if you search the official game forums. Say for example, if you are bothered by lack of inventory space in early levels in ARPG games like this, and would like more in the earlier levels.

I urge people to give it a shot with the demo, and I recommend at first trying low stress mode at first. It can probably use just a bit more feedback before it officially releases in the coming months, but don't get me wrong, it's great just the way it is, even if released now. I don't think there is any game quite like this that exists.