After the announcement of its global test, I quickly installed DARKEST DAYS. Playing NHN Corp’s Guns Up! Mobile before, so I couldn’t wait to try this soon enough. The open-world multiplayer zombie survival title promises to take you through a zombie outbreak, raise your survival instinct, and pit you against transformed plants. In this DARKEST DAYS review, I will share my overall experience with the game, making sure that the things I’m going to tell are unbiased and based on my true feelings.
The game features a vast open world, dynamic environments, and several co-op modes. Before making this review, I played DARKEST DAYS for around 15 hours on my Google Pixel 5. I was trying the game in and out to check every detail, and now is the time to share the experience. Let’s dive in!
Experience a stereotypical zombie virus apocalypse
Starting with the DARKEST DAYS review, just like a regular zombie game or movie, this one tells a pretty similar story. After a zombie virus outbreak, the whole world became infected. So, you start in a wasteland which, of course, looks like a post-apocalyptic world. I think the game didn’t want to interfere much with the environment, so it stuck to the three basic terrains: Mountain, Ice, and Township.
The majority of us formed a connection with the zombies after watching Danny Boyle’s hit 28 Days Later. Or if not, Dawn Of The Dead triggered the instinct to survive in a Zombieland. You’ll feel the same after jumping into this game. As the infected are everywhere, the government built walls to keep the zombies in place.
But the catch is, zombies weren’t the real threat until people inside were found to be the ones. So, you fled from the safe zone to keep yourself safe! I do need to mention one thing about the storytelling. It gives you a feeling of interacting directly, apart from the conventional clicking through your lines. You’ll choose your inputs, like a story game, though much alteration in the main story is not possible.
Other features include building your skills and upgrading them. You’ll be accompanied by your fellow villagers who have different skills to help you out. Building shelter, rescuing people, fighting vagabonds and zombies, everything will keep you connected to the core gameplay heavily. So, I like the title for featuring a captivating story.
Survive against zombie hordes in a vast open-world map
The map is huge. You’ll know it after unlocking the first tower. You get a car, then roam around and continue with the story. There’s a fast move option, so you don’t need to worry about sticking to travelling only. But the gameplay is stiff, maybe a bit too clunky, as I’m used to using a gyroscope, which gives you smoothness all over.
However, you’ll see less action after completing the initial phase. I didn’t take it negatively, as this is primarily a survival title, and action comes after that. The sound for guns and other interactions is great, I must admit. Zombie games are unfinished without multiple variations of shotguns. This game provides the fun. I felt the recoil inside it, and the sound from those guns is thrilling to enjoy as an action title.
But don’t get too excited, I talked more about sound in the later part, so do read it. The gameplay is stiff, though. I felt like it could be made smoother. When rotating the camera or as you fire, the gameplay looks like it has lost some frames. I don’t know what exactly is causing this, but I think a bit more tuning can be made to improve it.
Simply Surviving can get pretty boring at times
If you’re not even much of a zombie survival fan, you will still notice that the title misses some features. I would say those are not essential, but part of core aspects, more like add-ons. You won’t be building any shelter like the other survival games.
Instead, you need to make some friends with in-game characters to help you out. So, there’s no hunger in case you wonder if the game will test your ultimate survival skill. But you do have to survive in an infected world, so you won’t want to take a hit from those freaky brain eaters!
The gun sights are not worth mentioning, and the guns are underpowered. The zombies are way too powerful, and you will feel the need to have multiple health bars before defeating a boos-type enemy. Two bullets right on the head, and still your nightmare is walking towards you! Come on!
Outdated graphics and audio make the gameplay overwhelming
The game starts with a cutscene where you get saved by Jimmy Hancock, and then you start your RPG quest. What I noticed in DARKEST DAYS is that the cutscenes are not well curated. You’ll feel like the game is from half a decade ago. But the good thing is the uncomfortableness vaporizes as you step into the actual gameplay.
You cannot complain much about the graphics. There are some features you’ll see not ready to interact with at first glance. I didn’t like the crosshair, too big that it filled the middle of my screen. Big crosshairs are okay when you use shotguns, but using pistols and seeing a big round cross in front stresses the brain.
I need to mention the sound as well. No wonder the background music is good and carefully polished. But does it match the gameplay? I tried to listen to each sort of BGM that the game provides and found it irrelevant during the fights.
The dramatic theme it provides only adapts well in storytelling, building hype, or thrill. But during the fights, the sound will irritate you as you will see it gets overdramatic, even if the situation is a regular fight.
IAPs are missing the F2P gamer’s perspective
Now let’s talk about the in-app purchase system of this game. I think the developers felt some kind of competition in making the IAP system worse. It won’t give you anything for free. Even the pet system requires purchasing, the least the game could do was to give a free companion. You will miss the fun due to its slow progress system.
Final Verdict
Zombies, even though non-existent, are something that we grew up watching in movies, games, and reading books. We do have a psychological bond with these creatures, as we like to think of ourselves in the position of survivors in a chaotic world.
This title will give you all the fun and excitement you need in a survival game. We don’t fear zombies, we fear being one. Unlike the Draculas, vampires, and werewolves, zombies are not powerful, but DARKEST DAYS will provide you with that fear as well.
On top, you will get the adrenaline rush and a tireless effort to continue with the story. However, the game is solidly built for those who want to enjoy another zombie survival title. I won’t promise you the best experience, but I hope you won’t feel disappointed as well.
Gameplay Mechanics – 6
Storyline – 7
Graphics and Music – 6.5
Controls and UI – 7
Free-to-Play Elements – 6
6.5
Average
DARKEST DAYS will offer you a thrilling joyride and adrenaline rush, however if you are not a fan of the genre, it will fail to hit you home.
That’s all from us for the DARKEST DAYS Review! Did you find my DARKEST DAYS review helpful? Let me know in the comments below!
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