What is better than starting the new year with some zombie slaughtering? Many things to be fair, but beggars can’t be choosers, right? So zombie massacring it is!
Urban Strife can best be compared to
Dead State, as both games are turn-based tactics and follow the same premise: endure the zombie apocalypse with a ragtag group of hardened survivors.
Dead State is a great game, but it came with some unfortunately tedious turn-based combat that at times turned the game to a slog. My main hope here, seeing as the combat is more in line with
Jagged Alliance 2, was that
Urban Strife would take the number one place as
THE tactical zombie survivor game. And well, while I think the fighting is good, and much improved over
Dead State, much of the other things feels lacking.
Now, I must start with the fact that
Urban Strife is in Early Access. Actually, it’s in EARLY Early Access, meaning that there isn’t too much of a game to play nor complete. From my understanding, it ends after ACT 1, which was fairly short, under ten hours or so. I was about to finish ACT 1, but my camp turned to anarchy because I was too slow to deliver naughty magazines for morale. It was apparently only a few pictures of boobies that held my camp together, from delving into full-blown cannibalism. Who would have thought? However, it does not matter much, seeing as the quests ends at this point. To be honest, I was a bit surprised by this, considering how long the development has been already, but it is what it is. Just make sure you understand this, if you are thinking of jumping in.
Cleaning up the neighborhood, one zombie at the time
The combat
Let’s start with something I enjoyed. The combat is pretty solid, it feels pretty realistic if we talk damage. There are clear-line-of-sight rules, and projectiles will be blocked if the target is taking cover behind a wall, unless the caliber is strong enough to punch through. It’s very
Jagged Alliance 2 in that sense, but in 3D. On top of fighting humans, you also have zombies to contend with. And these assholes work on a different level, as they will swarm and tear into flesh like rabid dogs. A few of these are no problem, since melee with overwatch takes care of them easily enough. The issue comes when there are groups. Then these things can get pretty nasty. I had one such encounter indoors, when some kind of cult member lured zombies on me while I was trapped in an enclosed building.
It was harrowing, but nonetheless a cool zombie survival experience. However, the combat is not entirely faultless. You can’t go prone, which means all your dumdums in your squad will poke their head out of cover. Each skirmish that didn’t cover my group fully, had me praying for no-headshots, as that would spell death, seemingly regardless of weapon used. This aspect reminds me of
Phoenix Point. It’s another game that uses true-line-of-sight and simulated ballistics, but for some reason also has the dudes in cover exposing themselves through the animations. The animations look great, especially the side-stepping, but why must they insist on showing body-parts in
Urban Strife, making themselves open for attack?
Taking a step back from the fence is the better option, than standing next to it, since then your guy will be fully protected. Yet, it just looks and feels dumb playing like that. I would rather just have the player initiate lean, then automatic animations like this, even if they look cool. Other than that, it’s a pretty enjoyable and deadly turn-based combat system.
Kaylee, you are allowed to hide behind the wall, so you don’t get an arrow between your eyes
The visuals
Another part of
Urban Strife I appreciate is the graphics. It has this realistic and grounded style to it, which is very rare nowadays when almost everything newly released has a cartoony look. It also has this nice scale to it, with everything looking accurate to real life. The decay of the apocalypse also comes through well, as everything has a dirty, gritty feel to it. Like I mentioned, the animations are good too.
Urban Strife even have juicy ragdoll-effects to enhance the kills.
So, with the combat being fun, and the visuals being quality – what’s the problem? Sorry to say, it’s the story, and the whole vibe of the zombie end times. It’s just not there.
Dead State was not a looker, and did not have especially great combat. However, it nailed the melancholic tone of impending doom, of existing in the ruins of a world no longer. In
Urban Strife, not so much. I don’t think the writing is very good at all. It feels rudimentary, basic and bereft of any humor or flair. There is no build-up of dread, or sadness of a world lost. In other words: it’s very dry and non-engaging, and nothing about the quests, setting, or story excited me much. The depressive tone of being one of the few living in an undead world is missing. The concept is not bad, though, and fits the theme, it’s not just executed well. Sadly, it drags down the game, since it made me not care much about the survivors, or the story.
This is not the only issue. It’s pretty verbose at times, in the dialogue, which feels a bit like a gaming sin, since it makes your player created character come off as pre-made for the story. The character I made never really felt like he was mine. Yet, it does allow for freedom, seeing as you can fight whoever you want, regardless of faction. The sandbox nature comes through by the game letting you do whatever, but the writing / dialogue does not reflect it. I must also point out that despite of the sandbox nature regarding the factions, the story progression is very linear. You go from location to location to complete objectives, instead of surviving in a world set by your own rules.
Bubba doing what he likes best – bashing things on the head hard
Base building
Surprising enough, the base-building is not that great either. It does have stuff to manage, and build for the survival of your group, but it’s extremely harsh and filled with micromanage. Now, this does not have to be a bad thing, being hard to survive, that is. But my group, after I joined them, turned into anarchy and cannibalism in under five days, which meant game over. The rate of resources used by the group just feels too damn high, leaving you very little time to explore. This also means that you have to collect everything not nailed down to survive. It can get a bit tedious, scavenging every inch of the map, even if I like this kind of stuff for the most part. It’s just when it feels obligatory, it becomes more like work, than a relaxing enjoyable time. And if not being motivated by the story… Well, let’s just say it does not translate to having a good-time going through room after room for a package of stale spaghetti.
Conclusion
Urban Strife can become great, but it’s hard to recommend right now. It’s pretty pricey, considering what you get. It’s short, and way off from being finished. To be honest, I’m disheartened about the state of the game, because I was really looking forward to it. The subpar writing, and the underutilized setting kinda kills it for me. The moment to moment gameplay in the form of combat goes from okay to good. I can get over the excessive micromanaging, but the lack of motivation from the story sadly buries the game under a pile of zombie corpses. However, despite my negativity,
Urban Strife is far from complete, so who knows what is being planned, or changed in the future. I will give it a go again when 1.0 hits the shelf.
Thanks for reading.
