Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth playing"

I waited about 2 years for this game, after reading an article in a video game magazine. When first announced, the game was to take place immediately after a disaster, and the character went through the city as people were dealing with the immediate aftermath. That idea sounded great. But, for some reason they decided to start the game 1 year after an unknown disaster, which I was disappointed about.

The game is great, but a couple big flaws stop it from being a 9 for me.

I just finished the game, and the end screen says it took me 11 hours to complete. This is not accurate since it does not include the time I spent restarting the game when I died. So, it probably took me more like 13 hours of actual playing time to complete.

The Bad

Save System.:The save system is faulty. There are only save points at the end of each chapter, and there are very few checkpoints. So, what this means is that if you have just spent 25 minutes going through a level and you die, you have to repeat all that 25 minutes of game play. Also there is not unlimited lives. Instead you have "replays" which can be earned, but the most I ever had at once was 7 replays. If you die, it costs you a replay. I found myself restarting levels just to save replays.

Combat: Some reviewers thought the combat system was great. The only drawback I have is that even though you have a machete, you can't swing it at will. You have to wait until an enemy is in front of you, then you can swing when prompted, which takes time. If you have 2 AI attacking you at once, you are dead. Because of the combat system I spent a lot of time replaying battles after I died facing multiple (meaning 3 or 4) enemies at once.

The Good

The AI is really smart and responsive. The AI responds to your actions. If you don't pull out a weapon, they will not attack until you "sneak attack".

The graphics are great.

You do a lot of climbing on building and exploring which can be interesting. There are a lot of hidden places to discover by climbing.

There is a option to help victims with items you find in the streets. This adds an extra element to your gameplay.

This is a survival game, so items like bullets, and food are scarce, you really have to monitor the use of your items.

I really liked this game, but I have to admit that a few times, I shut the game off out of frustration caused by the save system or the combat system which would make me repeat portions I just played.

It is difficult to know if there will be a part 2. The way they did the ending, this could be a one timer, but they do leave it open for a second I am Alive. I hope they fix the save system.