Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a thrilling 2.5D side-scrolling survival game by one of New Zealand’s leading game development studios, PikPok. They have numerous mobile game titles under their names, such as the Rival Stars series and Clusterduck. Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is the third entry in the Into the Dead series. It takes a completely different approach to its gameplay compared to prior games in the series. Unlike previous titles in the series, which were first-person shooters, this game combines strategy and shelter management set in a 2.5D horror environment.
Published by PikPok and Boltray Games, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is set in 1980s Texas. In the game, the once-thriving Walton City has now fallen to a zombie outbreak, and the game casts you as the leader of a ragtag group of survivors fighting to stay alive. You’ll lead these survivors from safehouse to safehouse; you’ll scavenge for supplies, craft weapons, and engage in combat with the relentless hordes of the undead. The key to survival lies in careful planning, tight-knit cooperation, and, above all, constant movement. One wrong step, and it could be the end for your group or at least the end for one or two survivors.
Most of the gameplay is structured around scavenging locations for resources, crafting tools, and fighting off zombies while managing the well-being of your survivors with every turn of the phase. Each scavenging mission is crucial, as it brings you closer to unlocking escape plans, which is the ultimate goal of the game: escape the zombie-infested city. The current build of the game offers two distinct escape plans where you can pursue a successful ending.
At the beginning of the game, you can choose from five different survivor groups, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, although you only start off with two survivors. These survivors come with two positive traits and one negative trait. For example, Sebastian, one of the survivors, is a skilled gunsmith and marksman, but he also has the “Jaded” trait, which means his morale recovers at a slower rate compared to other survivors. While he can craft guns more efficiently and deal more damage with a ranged weapon, his emotional resilience is a bit weaker, requiring a little bit of extra attention to keep his spirits up.
Dianne, Sebastian’s partner, boasts the “Untiring” and “Optimist” traits. She loses rest more slowly than others and passively gains morale in every phase. However, Dianne suffers from the “Poor Craftsperson” trait, which makes her less effective at repairing barricades that are needed to keep the zombie hordes at bay. Each survivor’s unique combination of traits forces you to adapt their strategies and manage resources carefully, although it gets a bit easier with the dismantling station, as every decision could impact the success or failure of the group, especially if you bite off more than you can chew.
Survivors in Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days must micromanage three fundamental needs: hunger, rest, and morale. Hunger is their need for food, rest is necessary to prevent fatigue, and morale directly influences their willingness to fight and cooperate. As the game progresses and more survivors are discovered, managing these three necessities is an increasingly strategic task, a bit like learning to juggle for those not used to shelter management games. The game forces the player to balance scavenging, sleeping, and morale-boosting, so it is hard to keep everyone alive, and sometimes, you’ll have to make a sacrifice for the good of the group you’re keeping alive.
Each location in the game offers a chance of getting four types of resources: Base Resources, Weapons, Medical Supplies, and Food. These are vital for your survival, allowing you to heal injured survivors, craft new weapons, and maintain the health and well-being of your group. Injuries such as broken ribs need medical attention, while psychological traumas like nightmares and grief must also be addressed to prevent them from affecting the survivors’ performance.
Scavenging is a risky but highly necessary part of survival, as noise can attract unwanted attention from zombies, and if the survivors are caught off guard, they fall victim to the undead. Locations that have already been cleared of zombies will not respawn loot, so it’s essential to keep moving and find new places to scavenge before the zombies break through your shelter’s barriers. Each scavenging mission requires careful planning, as survivors must remain vigilant, avoid making noise, and ensure that they don’t get caught in direct line of sight with the zombies.
The game features two distinct phases: the Day Phase and the Night Phase. Each phase is divided into five segments, and you can perform limited actions during each Phase, such as dismantling items worth 5 segments or upgrading benches. Moving to the next phase or completing a scavenging mission requires hitting the confirm action bar, which allows the player to move on to the next phase or return to the safe house. Scavenging is only completed once the survivors return to the safehouse, meaning the clock is always ticking, and every action counts.
As you progress through Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days, you’ll need to upgrade and craft essential tools to aid in your survival. The game features five key facilities or benches that are crucial to your success: the Workbench, the Weapons Bench, the Medical Area, the Cooking Area, and the Communal Area.
The Workbench is your starting point, allowing you to craft basic tools and upgrade other facilities. The Weapons Bench unlocks the ability to craft stronger weapons, as the durability of most found weapons is limited. The Medical Area is essential for crafting healing items and medicine, which will be vital when treating injuries.
The Cooking Area allows you to prepare meals, and the quality of the meals can greatly affect how much hunger is alleviated. Finally, the Communal Area is used to restore morale, allowing survivors to recover from negative mental states. Unlike the other facilities, it doesn’t unlock new recipes, but it plays a vital role in maintaining the psychological health of the group.
Upgrades are also available for the Workbench, such as Portable Beds, which are essential for when your survivors need rest in less-than-ideal shelters. Barricades are another crucial upgrade, as they allow you to reinforce your safehouses and hold out longer against the relentless zombie attacks that occur every night. You’ll also need to get a Dismantling Station up and running. You’ll come across items throughout your time scavenging, which will help you produce extra-base resources after taking them apart.
The controls in Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days are pretty straightforward to learn, as they make the management and strategy the biggest learning curve. Of course, there is a learning curve to the game as you control the survivor who heads out to scavenge, and not all runs end in a happy ending, but that’s honestly what makes this game fun.
While the controls are simple and the mechanics are easy to grasp, the combat system won’t make this a one-and-done deal. With different starting survivors, you can try out new strategies that rely on both the positive and negative traits of your survivors. With the game being in early access, there is a lot they can add and expand upon to bring in new strategy curveballs.
The sound design in Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is another standout feature. It creates an immersive atmosphere that perfectly fits the game’s dystopian horror vibe. The soundtrack doesn’t feel as if it gets repetitive, even after hours of gameplay. The voice acting, though minimal, is incredibly well-executed, adding depth and emotion to the characters’ struggles. The game’s sound design enhances the tense and harrowing atmosphere, making every encounter with the zombies feel intense and overall giving an “on the edge of your seat” feeling, especially in locations with a lot of Zombies around.
Visually, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a feast for the eyes. The game’s 2.5D graphics are beautifully crafted, with an 80s horror aesthetic that is noticeable in every aspect of the game, from the character designs to the environments. The punk and new wave influences are evident, and PikPok adds its own unique twist to the art. The detailed backgrounds and atmospheric lighting combine to create a hauntingly beautiful world that keeps you on edge throughout your journey.
Overall, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days offers a fun and engaging twist on the survival genre. With its strategic gameplay, immersive sound design, and stunning visuals, it delivers a thrilling and intense experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Whether you’re scavenging for supplies, upgrading your shelter, or fighting off waves of zombies, every decision you make is crucial to your survival. If you’re looking for a survival game that combines strategy, resource management, and intense action, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a must-play.
