How to Survive 2 is the sequel to the hit game How to Survive, developed by Eko Software and published by 505 Games. The original game was released on Steam then brought to Xbox One as a Games with Gold title. A year later the sequel was released on Steam and is now available on Xbox One. The title of the game fits very well with the gameplay. How to Survive 2 is all about survival. Rather than taking the route of other zombie games by having players just kill zombies, How to Survive 2 challenges players to craft weapons and armor to fend off hordes of zombies.

The games levels are somewhat linear although each level does have a ton of exploring to do. The levels have a base in which you will be spending a lot of your time. Here you can craft weapons and armour with the items you scavenge from around the level. There's a long list of available items to craft, everything from guns to melee weapons and all sorts of armour to protect you. Along with having to worry about having good weapons you will also need to watch your health by keeping your water and food supply plentiful. This all sounds daunting at first but if you have any experience with RPG survival games you will feel right at home. Basically the gameplay of defending your camp and building items is similar to the crafting system seen in Fallout 4, but what makes the gameplay a tad different is the fact you can have other players join into your game and help out. All done via Xbox Live. There is also quest in which you can take on given to you by various NPC's around the game. These quest vary from finding food and water to killing a problematic horde of zombies. Luckily you can also complete these quest with friends via Xbox Live multiplayer.

 

 Now if you are not a player that enjoys crafting for a majority of gameplay then the game may not be for you, a few times I found the game getting a bit repetitive but thankfully with the co-op online and local gameplay, you can have a friend tag along to make thing a little more interesting. With local co-op , each player shares the same screen meaning one player can't go too far without a invisible wall blocking them from moving further, while in online co-op you are free to roam as far as you wish. A cool feature with the game is you are able to bring local co-op players into a online game, allowing for several players to play with each other.

 

As for the combat system I was pleased with How to Survive 2's style. You play with a isometric point of view, or a top down "birds eye" view, and with the view point you have a lock on targeting system and are able to see enemies coming from all directions unlike in FPS or 3rd person Shooter games. You have two styles in which you can kill, either with a stealthy approach or a guns blazing style. Both of which are very effective. Although I found the stealth method to be better suited for the game. While guns blazing is effective at taking out a group of 10 zombies, this method will attract more zombies to your area, while the stealth approach takes more time, you are better off in the long run as you save precious ammo and don’t run the risk of more zombies coming to kill you.

Graphics for the game are an improvement to the first. While still keeping the top down view, Eko Software improved a lot of features with the graphics, when you enter a room or building the game will give you this see through style view, basically letting you see through the wall of the building while you are in it. Next up the special effects are very pleasing, I was very satisfied with the gory blood splatter when killing a zombie with a machete, and seeing a wave of 10 zombies drop to the ground as I sprayed them with the H&K rifle was a site to see. Each level looks good and holds a good attention to detail, from the little thing like a fence or piece of wood to the big things like characters and building, each piece in a level looks good. Sound effects wise, the game is nothing special. Zombies sound as they should and you are able to hear zombies that are not in you immediate point of view, but I found a few moments when one sound effect drowned out the other and I would hear short pauses in a certain effect. Nothing to problematic but it was certainly something I couldn't help but notice.

 

Next up let's talk about achievements, if you played the first game then you will know the 1000G will be no easy task. While you will get about 600G just from basic gameplay, the other 400G will definitely test your skill and test your patience. You will need to complete almost every aspect of the game, from finishing each quest to levelling up each skill tree. Then you have your basic various side achievements, such as setting off a car alarm with a trash can to completing a certain amount of missions in co-op. The you have your "repeat" achievements, such as upgrading a gun for the first time, then upgrading every gun, also create a potion for the first time to creating 50 potions. Thankfully the game has online co-op so you don't have to attempt these achievements alone.

 

Overall I was very pleased with How to Survive 2, the game provides a unique approach to the zombie apocalypse, crafting and surviving has never been done this well in any game I've played before. While the game can get a bit repetitive at times, you can remedy this by having a buddy join you in your adventure. There is a large variety of things to do in this game and for a price of just $14.99, it's almost impossible to say you don’t get your moneys worth with the game. Online co-op is very pleasing and I really enjoyed the variety the game provides. How to Survive 2 took the problems with the first game and improved on those points, at the same time they took what made the first game great and even improved those features. How to Survive 2 has earned a score of 8/10 for me.

 

Final Score - 8/10

 

Written by John aka YoDz

John@nastymastadaddy.com

Twitter @AkaYodz   Xbox: YoDz

 

A download code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review

 

You can purchase How to Survive 2 on the Xbox Store Here

 

Release Date - ‎Monday‎, ‎February‎ ‎13‎, ‎2017‎

Price - $14.99

Download Size - 6.76 GB

 

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