A Zombie Apocalypse

More than definitely a great storygame. The story runs with the usual trappings of the zombie apocalypse genre, but remains an enjoyable experience. There's a lot of items, weapons and characters, all which have rather distinct personalities. I got to both endings and felt they were well-earned.

Ending Stats:
ARROWS is 0 (never used them).
BULLETS is 94.
GRENADES is 3.
HEALTH is 80.
ROCKETS is 2.
SCORE is 1305.
SHELLS is 54.
SHOTS is 0 (never used them).

SPOILERS:

I took a lot of notes for this story because of it's length. While it is a quality storygame, there are a few points where it could be improved.

Concerning characters, the story uses cliche characters usually seen in other zombie stories to make up its cast. It's good that there's a lot of them, but some barely get to have any presence in the story before they're killed. Sometimes, it seems like the goal is just to have them so that the cast seems fuller than it actually is. Of course, a genre staple is that characters die in abrupt ways to shock the audience, so this isn't completely unexpected. However, while the protagonist does get quite a bit of development for herself (the use of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" is a good choice), the supporting cast never really gets that much in terms of dimension. Nadine is emphasized in the narrative, but more in hindsight than when she was actually alive. As a player, knowing that there are a couple of times where the player gets to rest, it could have been an opportunity to get to know the characters better before continuing the plot. It would have made the fate of the cast even more dramatic and tragic. I kept a list of all the characters that I met (22 companions, by my count). The ones that stick around more than the others could have gotten more backstory or had more time to bounce off of each other. Of course, while I do criticize, it's only because the story actually did make me care about at least some of them, and that's worthy of praise.

The first couple sections of locations have some flavor, but there aren't a whole lot of actual real choices. In fact, there's a literal crossroads point where the narrative makes a choice for you (168), reminding the player that this is a rather linear experience. Of course, it's still a good ride, but having more choices with consequence and variance of reward would be an even more enjoyable experience.

Items are well varied, though I didn't actually know that I could use food until 162 when it flat out told me that I could. Prior to that, I tried using food only to be told that the item couldn't be used at that time. In hindsight, I could have tried to use the food during other break times, so that's on me. I would say though, for narrative flavor, that the player doesn't have to be told literally to save and take a break. Diegetic language can communicate that and preserve immersion, and the player can be given credit to make the decision to save on his own.

The weapons are well varied, but there are times when the use of them is invalid for no reason, even if the context should allow it with no consequence. For example, I'm fighting zombies with Ralph at the Clothes Store, and there are two zombies. If I use one of the bats on one that is at critical durability, I successfully dispatch one while the other attacks, causing me damage (variable depending on the weapon that breaks). However, I then still have to continue to use weapons to "actually" kill the first target. This pattern repeats if I use the other weapons at critical disability. However, if I use the knife, which has durability to spare, I will then deliver a strike, successfully killing one zombie, and then Ralph will kill the other. This problem communicates to me as a player that I'm not actually supposed to use any weapon that has only 1 use left. I used the knife on the very first zombie, and that was the only one I had found that roamed alone. It makes the guitar and other items with only 1 use left as useless. It can break the immersion knowing that I have a weapon that is good enough to kill one zombie and know that the narrative will take care of the other one, but not if that weapon is about to break because then Ralph will just arbitrarily not kill his target, even though he's bound to do that anyway. This all becomes less of a problem as the storygame continues on past the first couple of areas, especially as you get a plethora of weapons, but the feeling
sticks with the player as he continues on.

And of course, there are the references. I enjoyed the character of Alex Emerick for the callback to classic disaster movies. I enjoyed the shoutout to the Walking Dead a bit less as it seemed too self-referential to the genre, but that's probably just a case of personal taste. Still, I liked the finding these things when I saw them.

Overall, I loved playing this game. Thank you for making and sharing this with the site!

Well... that was more challenging than expected. Had to retry 3 times just to get past the initial zombie attack (the sneaky End Game Here and rate or comment" did the trick) and now I'm commenting here after my first successful playthrough reaching the score of 275 (well not quite successful as I ended up being eaten by the zombies, but still). After the hell the main protagonist (and I as the reader) went through, the question posed right at the story description section is very fitting: "Can you survive?".

Judging by the title, the reader expects a survival adventure story, with a generic take on zombies and a cliché
protagonist who'll kill zombies along with their ever-growing team of survivors. But the last two couldn't be further from the truth. The generic, pop culture, take on zombies is ridiculed and debunked through an original take, a blend of the writer's imagination and probably inspiration from the Walking Dead (come on, it was way too obvious. A character named Will and his "fascination" with the Walking Dead.), while the main protagonist is a traumatized and depressed young woman who has lost both her parents and joy in life, but it's the adrenaline rush and survival instinct, the strongest in humans, which gives her a new purpose in life. The woman could make a good case study for anyone who likes writing them.

As much as this is a fight for survival against zombies (multiple theories on the relation between the protagonist's immunity and the zombies always seeming to catch up to her, but will save that for later), it was also an exploration of her psyche. She wasn't fighting only zombies, but also her inner demons: PTSD from watching her parents killed and survivor's guilt due to having to run away, leaving her short-time comrades to die again and again.

Aside from the minor annoyance, I absolutely loved the prologue. The names chosen for the city and her place of residence, prior to her first encounter with a zombie, serve as symbolisms for her mental state and the situation she was in. Lost City and Dead End. And the foreshadowing through the Call of Duty (kind of chuckled at the game of choice) passages was awesome. This and the clever usage of her dreams for the backstory exploration, on which I'm not going to expand (neither on other events) due to spoilers.

Grammar-wise, there weren't any noticeable errors, at least I didn't catch any, except for some commas missing at the prologue. It was brilliantly and beautifully written.

As a puzzle storygame, the primary goal is to survive against zombies, keeping your health stat from reaching 0.

Essentially there are three stat categories you need to keep in mind: ammunition, health and score. Similar to El Paso, you need to be very calculative when it comes to types of weapons chosen. Depending on the terrain, the physical build of the zombie, the tactic a mob uses and the type of weapon chosen, you could take health damage, so until you figure it out, the "Go Back" link is your best friend.

As the story progresses, the weapon categories and gear change, reflecting the rise in difficulty, though I'll have to say, the hand-to-hand combat weapons are basically cheat weapons, making it too easy for the player to survive zombies, which explains getting rid of them at the trailer battle.

Generally speaking, the system is balanced and makes the game quite fun to play. It's worth replaying it over and over again, especially for me as I've yet to break the record of score 305.

Overall rating: 7/8

Final stats (just for fun):
ARROWS is 0.
BULLETS is 121.
GRENADES is 3.
HEALTH is 0.
ROCKETS is 4.
SCORE is 275.
SHELLS is 42.
SHOTS is 0.

The score isn't what it seems like, it only goes up to 305 before the end. My tip: Use the weakest item as much as possible. (If it works) It's a must read, IF you have the time.

Good story but very linear

it could be a good idea to use different font or parentheses to indicate when to use and drop items

Too many things to pick up but never a time to use them

Fun to play but the story itself is very linear.

Good story but very linear

The story is quite well-written, but unfortunately, it’s also extremely linear, with the only real choice being right at the end, and even then only one of the options leads to an epilogue. There were some areas such as the forking of the road where it seemed like there was supposed to be branching, but the author decided to reduce the scope of the story and make the protagonist choose automatically. Additionally, the structure of the story becomes very predictable and repetitive: arrive at a new place, explore by clicking every link, kill zombies and loot, meet new companion, lose old companion, rinse and repeat. There was also no real challenge throughout the story, so it just felt like I was going through the motions. The idea of *spoiler* zombies that become smarter over time was an interesting premise, and I wish it was explored further.

Love the twists and turns with the different partners, and the weapons mechanic! Very compelling read, doesn't take itself too seriously.

Only thing is, that curveball in the beginning had me frustrated for a good minute.