Until We Die

It feels like there are many games these days that force players into subterranean survivalism. Some surface tragedy makes these colonies adopt rail stations as their new homes while defending them from otherworldly mutants. Guess what? That's exactly the plot of Until We Die! We'll forgive the similarities, though - the presentation here is intriguing.

Until We Die is a side-scrolling survival game as opposed to isometric, first or third-person gameplay. It's not an entirely new concept, but its ambition does raise questions about how it will work. The teasers suggested an absolute slugfest, where the game mechanics suggest otherwise. We need to find out.

For The Station, Comrade

I mean, why would you really end up defending this hellhole? I guess it's home, after all. Until We Die will set you in a post-apocalyptic Soviet underground station where you will go about your daily life. Trouble is, every day is another battle for survival according to these intense game mechanics presented in this chaotic palette.

The visuals of Until We Die set the standard from the beginning. This game isn't going to be an easy ride. The dark, dreary, pixelated assets and characters suggest a life of hardship and difficulty. That notion is purely representative of the gameplay. You'll be tasked with fending off foes from your colony in a Rambo-esque style - while resource managing with the comrades that follow your lead.

Your objective is to build up a base to enable your party to survive for 30-days. Believe me when I say that things can get very real, incredibly quickly. Enemies get stronger, life gets tricky, and survival becomes much more challenging. But that's what your party is for - you can assign them to build defenses, structures, and research technologies. It's up to you to construct the ultimate fortress.

Until We Die is punishing. While the game mechanics are actually engaging once you get the hang of them, the game's difficulty will frustrate players until they draw blood. There's an overall vibe that this was intentional - but cultish gamers will very much enjoy the level of detail and cognitive reflexes needed to survive.

30 Days Later

I can come out and say straight up that Until We Die is not for everyone. Any player with a relatively short attention span will not enjoy this - mainly because you can't gung-ho your way to success. Extreme planning and strategic approach are required to make it to that trophied 30-day survival period.

Pros:

• Engaging and urgent survival game
• Visuals perfectly represent the overall tone
• Combat is incredibly entertaining

Cons:

• The difficulty of this game is extreme
• It requires a heavily detailed approach to ensure success