➤ Points of view 🎮

A zombie apocalypse, an archipelago invaded by the undead and a handful of survivors are the ingredients of How to Survive, the interesting twin analog shooter-style survival game developed by Eko Software and released on both PC and console in 2013, for then debut the following year on next-gen platforms with an extended and enriched version, the Storm Warning Edition. We are therefore at the third revision of a product able to get noticed thanks to some good ideas, above all the multifaceted crafting system and the abundance of missions available, but in this case the developers have seen fit to change perspective ... literally. How to Survive: Third Person Standalone represents in fact the evident attempt to take the original gameplay and structure and remodel them to create a different experience, which abandons the three-quarter top view in favor of a third-person approach (in fact ) that seems to be mimicking State of Decay. The final result, however, is conflicting: let's see why.

How to Survive: Third Person Standalone puts Eko Software's survival game from another perspective

Survive first of all

Let's start with the characterizing elements of the game, which, as mentioned, has become a third-person survival game in this version. After selecting a character among the four available (Kenji, the balanced option; Jack, a sort of gruff wrestling wrestler; Abby and Nina, the elusive but deadly damsels of the situation), we will find ourselves on the beach of a tropical island far from deserted, as most of its inhabitants have been mysteriously transformed into zombies hungry for human flesh.

The threat is immediately evident and so, grabbing a stick, we will have to make our way among the undead (also making spectacular combos to tear them to pieces) to reach different areas of the scenario and interact with some other survivors, each with a story to tell and a request for help. On the island, however, we will also find the expert Kovak, a man with many resources who has disseminated his survival guides around and who, during the early stages of the adventure, will take us under his wing to teach us to look for raw materials. right and also build rather sophisticated weapons, such as pistols or air rifles. After this introductory part, clearly boring for those who have already spent a few hours with the previous incarnations of How to Survive, we will be able to move around the map, face different types of enemies and use a modified combat system for the occasion, which enhances close shots but inevitably distorts the use of firearms and the bow.

Horror on the island

How to Survive: Third Person Standalone, we can say it with relative confidence, is not a product designed for those who have already completed the Eko Software adventure, although the developers have passed the message that it is a revision created on the basis of criticism of users. The reason is obvious: beyond the new approach introduced by the third-person view and the consequent changes to the gameplay, the experience is unchanged in the structure and in the events, which means that replaying it from the beginning is a practice reserved for those who he really enjoyed the original game very much or, more likely, to those who were intrigued by the title but not by its initial setting, preferring a solution similar to that of the aforementioned State of Decay.

Having tried both incarnations of this survival game, we can say that we appreciated the latter more, even if some technical and design limitations jump to the eye. The community on Steam appears very divided on the issue, with the aficionados of the first edition who are unable to accept the changes and point the finger above all on the problematic management of firearms and shooting, but beyond some inconvenience with the bow we can say that the third person view makes it easier to deal with hordes of zombies, thanks to the possibility of hitting the "boomers" from a distance (whose explosive touch often proves fatal) and having better control over our surroundings. Having left the controls unchanged, with the triggers to activate aim and attack (at least on the Xbox 360 controller, perfectly supported), on the one hand avoids traumatic changes for those who had memorized the original layout, on the other it shows the side of some inconsistency with respect to the standards of the action genre. Added to this is the impossibility of jumping, which creates quite grotesque situations when, to reach a point on the map, you have to make a huge turn instead of climbing over a small obstacle. Also missing, even in this version, a cooperative multiplayer mode: that yes could really relaunch the contents of the product.

Another perspective

The strengths of How to Survive, represented as mentioned by the crafting system and the many quests, have remained unchanged despite the change of view and still constitute a valid reason to buy the product, even more so considering the reduced price.

However, we cannot speak of a perfectly successful transformation, both from a technical and gameplay point of view. The fights have in fact preserved the "slipperiness" of the first version of the game, which however now stands out due to the new perspective, giving the feeling of a poorly refined production and even less attentive to the performance of the impacts, not received. As far as graphics and sound are concerned, it is evident that many animations were not conceived for anything other than the camera from above, and the lack of advanced options for visual adjustments only confirms this thesis too. The game runs at a frame rate that often exceeds 120 frames per second, but for detail and polygonal modeling the rendering is that of an older generation title. On the front of the audio sector there are good dialogues in English and discreet sound effects, but the music can be really annoying and you will find yourself turning down the volume in no time at all. Ultimately, we would like to recommend this new version of How to Survive to those who have not tried the original edition and much prefer a third person approach over the top view, even if the final result is like the traditional " mixed bag ".

PC System Requirements

Test Setup

Processor: AMD FX 8320
Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Jetstream
Memory: 8 GB of RAM
Operating system: Windows 8.1

Minimum requirements

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
Video card: ATI Radeon 5700 series, NVIDIA GeForce GT 240
Memory: 4 GB of RAM
Operating system: Windows XP

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Digital Delivery Steam Price 9,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

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How to Survive: Third Person Standalone plays a rather new card, that of the change of view, to relaunch the fate of a survival game that in its original connotation had built a certain following, and that in this new role may perhaps attract users from tastes closer to the genre of third-person action games. The crafting system, the different characters, the skill tree, the quests and the various islands that make up the setting represent the strengths of this renewed edition as well, and the new combat system seemed better in several respects. , although far from perfect. A good opportunity to try the survival game of Eko Software, with its ideas and its full-bodied structure, even if it is difficult for those who have already completed the adventure to accept to play it again.