When they first revealed 7 Days to Die, way back in April, it was a game that I instantly liked the look of it. I love the zombie games, and there`s so many games and franchises I have played in my gaming life that I really have enjoyed and really set the bar and boundary for the zombie and horror genre. So when 7 Days to Die was announced as a next-gen title, I was really up for it. But, I wish games that weren’t finished or anywhere near ready to be released aren’t released. Because 7 Days to Die is a game that either should have been enrolled into the Game Preview Program in its current state, or not released at all. I was about to realise what a true horror it was.
7 Days to Die is a game developed by The Fun Pimps, and after a successful kick-starter campaign, has been published by Telltale, the company behind some of the best story-telling games to play on a console. It`s an open-world survival game where, you, have to do everything you can to survive. You`ll need to build shelter, make clothes, weapons and everything to keep the zombies at bay and to keep you alive. Different time zones will make the difference, as during the day you`ll find the zombies peaceful and at ease, where at night, it`s a different story altogether. But building yourself in shelter isn’t going to be enough. Zombies tend to be pretty dumb and stupid, but these zombies will dig, climb and find any-way they can to get in and destroy you. You need to set up traps and more to keep them at bay, and crafting and using your survival skills, it’s a game that truly will test your nerve and ability to survive.
Now, during the game, you`ll find lots and lots of elements that feel like the award-winning and hugely popular creating and survival game Minecraft. You`ll need to build things to survive and explore things in order to craft weapons, clothes and more. All of which while staying out of the freezing cold and keeping yourself warmed and insulated. From the main menu you can set up the game to how you want, giving you a vast range of options that you can mess around with and turn on in order to play the way you want, giving you near full customization of the game you want to play. If anything, this is the Fun Pimps way of trying to take something and a format that has been extremely popular, and put their own twist and spin on it, and it`s something they`ve done awfully. Survival, Survival is the key and main emphasis on the game, and is something that is going to feel slightly tedious after a while.
Players can host their own servers for which their friends are able to join them in creating and crafting a world slaying and surviving from the zombies (hints and elements of Minecraft in there?) and you are able to play within 2 modes of Multiplayer. Creative mode, where the zombies will not attack you, and Survival where you get the main experience from (Again! What does that remind you of?)
It`s a ID game. Graphically it falls in line with other ID games, and it’s not a game you`re going to get massively loads in terms of its graphic capabilities out. But, it`s a game that looks very similar to another few games, in terms of it Graphics (I think it looks very similar to Preview Program Game Ark: Survival Evolved) and isn’t something that you`re going to get much attraction from. Some ID games graphically are beautiful, but this isn’t one.
I don’t know how on earth Tell-tale publishing have thought for one second that this is a game in its finished state. I love the fact that The Fun Pimps have managed to get a successful kick-starter campaign going (which I do really like, and we`ve seen some very good projects that have really got off the ground with it) but I like playing games that are released fully, and in a good state. It`s a shame as this was a game that I had high hopes for. It`s a game that I feel would have benefited from being part of the Xbox Preview Program, and a game that could have been developed, patched and updated over time. But the fact that is has been released in this state, at the price of £24.99 is a absolute disgrace. I`m very, very disappointed by it, and is a game that you should definitely stay away from, regardless of whether it comes down in any sale.
A huge thank you to Telltale Publishing for supplying us with a Review copy.
