Wanna Survive released this May on the Switch and Epic Game Store. Does pixelated zombie bashing sound like your thing? Check out this review to get the skinny on this overlooked turn-based game.
Wanna love it
Wanna Survive has a lot of good concepts. The key idea is simplification, but that doesn’t mean it’s dumbed down. Each player character you meet has different strengths like they have more movement, or can attack at range, push enemies, or have a wider attack focus. All of that potential complexity is visually displayed so it is easy to understand and put into use. In the beginning you pick up new player characters at every map, with their skills presented as an non-controllable “NPC.” Giving you a preview of their skills, and also a chance to use new skills as a tutorial. I always like it when games have you learn as you play and Wanna Survive implements this concept excellently.
The story is pretty much standard zombie fare, but it makes sure that aspects of the zombie genre (a particular favorite of mine): death of important characters, ever-encroaching hordes, different zombie types, and a feeling of oppressive doom, are a central part of the experience. In every difficulty mode permadeath is possible for any character so you are always on your toes. However, not all is lost since the game does give you one free redo of the last turn or current turn or you can pay coins you find for the same opportunity. Also, you can always restart that map from the beginning, which I found myself doing over and over again, to try a different approach. In this way, the game feels less like a turn-based RPG than a puzzle game as you try and figure out the best way to complete the map with minimal loss of life.
There isn’t a lot to say about the graphics. If you like pixelated graphics they are fine. The PCs are a bit more appealing than the zombies, but that’s probably the intention. The focus is rightly on the well-tuned mechanics and that is what makes this game shine.
Survive It
Is this game perfect? Of course not. My major criticism would be its difficulty. They offer three levels of: normal, chill, and casual. I am an experienced turn-based player but I found normal to be insane, chill to be hard, and casual to be normal. That means there is no real casual or easy mode. Also, there is a severe difficulty spike after the initial tutorial maps that can really catch you off guard and frustrate your progression. If you don’t realize about the ways to redo turns or stages it can get quite tedious. The next difficulty is the camping mechanic between stages/maps.
The idea of camping is a rest between stages, a chance to reflect on past mistakes and prepare for future challenges, right? However, in this camp you have to decide who gets to eat or who gets to watch others eat while they lose a health heart or get close to death. I understand the mechanic – it’s a harsh zombie world after all – and scrounging for food was part of your last map, but it seems all too harsh, especially if it’s your first time learning the mechanics of the game. I wish there was a mode without food or just unlimited food where you could focus exclusively on the combat stages. Once you had that under control, you could choose to add in the stress of nutritional deprivation.
The Skinny
This is a solid entry in the turn-based survival zombie genre, if that’s even a thing. It wears its concepts proudly on its sleeves and that’s admirable. The game will not win any awards for its graphics and story, but that’s not the point, the excellently realized mechanics rule in this game. The addition of more difficulty modes, especially on the lower or “easy” end would really help in my opinion, but if you’re willing to realize you will die a lot, redo and repeat a bunch, there is a lot of fun to wring out of this thing.