Undying Review: Everything for Your Child

How would you prepare your child for a world without you? That’s the question Anling faces when she becomes the unfortunate victim of a zombie bite. While she still has time, she must teach her young son Cody to survive before it’s too late. Unfortunately, the world around the family is slowly deteriorating and they must reach safety as soon as possible. How will Anling manage her remaining time with her son and can she get him to safety?

Undying starts with a powerful premise that draws you in as you want to learn more about Anling’s situation. Taking care of Cody and interacting with the world around you reinforces the desperation of everyone involved. Interacting with objects isn’t perfect and combat can be finicky, forcing you to take more damage than necessary. There are areas that could be improved upon, but the foundations are solid and it delivers on a touching experience.

Undying is in the last stretch of its Early Access on Steam, available for 19.99 USD. The game will release fully on December 7th, just a few days after this review goes up. 

Story – The Bite Changes Everything

Undying puts you in the shoes of Anling, a mother who is hoping to evacuate with her young son Cody. While waiting at an evacuation point in the local subway, the defenses crumble and zombies come in. During the chaos, Anling is bitten but manages to protect Cody, escape the horde, and return to the family home. Anling has to find another evacuation zone but more importantly, find a way to survive before Cody gets to safety.

The story premise is similar to survival games such as 7 Days to Die but it has an unusual twist. Anling is already infected and she’s more concerned with her son’s survival than anything else. While it’s not made clear at the beginning if Anling is doomed, she’s not in great shape. Her son Cody is just a child and the thought of him trying to survive is unthinkable. Anling must do everything she can to prepare Cody for a world without her, much earlier than anticipated.

Anling and Cody are everything to each other.

It’s rare to see a game come in with an emotional gut-punch from the beginning, especially one that remains poignant throughout. Anling’s concern for Cody is felt throughout the entire game and it never stops being the focus. Getting to safety within the time limit is important as well, but a big part of the game focuses on Anling and Cody.

Cody’s youth ramps up the urgency because he’s not old enough to fend for himself. The idea that Anling might have to leave Cody all by himself is a horrifying concept. It’s also possible to shape Anling’s fear as frustration when she talks to Cody. It might seem cruel but it does give you a chance to harden up Cody if you feel it’s right.

Gameplay – Get to Prison ASAP

The game is split into two parts; survive in your world and make your way to prison. Investigating enough with Anling reveals that the local prison is the next evacuation point. Evacuation won’t wait forever and Anling must make her way there with Cody before they leave. In the meantime, Anling must find enough resources to keep herself and Cody alive. With zombies constantly posing a threat and society starting to collapse, it’s not the easiest task.

The beginning works similar to what you would expect in a survival game. It’s similar to games such as Floodland where everything is abundant at the start. You aren’t too concerned about food or water, electricity is everywhere, and zombies aren’t too threatening. There’s plenty of time to explore and get your bearings together.

Zombies will do anything to hurt your family.

Unfortunately, things change just as rapidly. Your supplies begin to dwindle, power runs out, and you must explore more areas. The interesting part of Undying isn’t that the game gets harder per se, but you must make more desperate moves. While avoiding dangerous zombies is par for the course, you are forced to face them as supplies begin to dwindle. You must also make riskier decisions as Anling begins to suffer the aftereffects of her bite.

You must also teach Cody how to survive. Not only does he want to help out, it’s crucial to teach him to fend for himself in an unforgiving world. As Anling works on gathering resources and fighting off zombies, Cody is getting a first-class education on survival. Undying is ambitious, introducing several concepts that can enhance or hinder your gameplay. But that ambition is a double-edged sword because it takes time to get used to everything.

Learning – Hands-On With Replays

While survival games take time to learn, Undying has a higher learning curve than most. Controls for combat can be finicky and the UI can interfere with harvesting resources. You also aren’t told that Cody must be instructed to watch you or he doesn’t get trained. It’s also not made clear that almost everything usable has a durability or freshness meter.

You aren’t going to create a self-sustaining loop given the time you have, it feels like more concepts could be explained better. The result is that you end up having to make multiple playthroughs because you missed something vital. It’s not the end of the world but it is annoying when even a simple garden shovel has limited durability.

Having Cody be helpful is tougher than it looks.

Reducing the difficulty helps ease you in and you can learn more about the game there. If you feel like challenging yourself, ramp up the difficulty but only after you know what you’re doing.

Audio & Visuals – Grim & Depressing

Undying is bitter survival and that is represented by the soundtrack and environment. There are few happy sounds and the world is dull. It brings across the state of the world perfectly, as the situation is dire. When you find safe encampments, the colour returns and everything feels more vibrant.

That doesn’t mean the situation remains safe, as darkness and rain hamper your efforts. You always know what’s going on outside and what zombies are threatening. While you don’t get much visual expression in faces, there’s enough description to catch the tone. It’d be nice to see faces, but given the general vibe it’s unnecessary.

Undying was reviewed on Steam with a code provided by Skystone Games. The version of the game that was reviewed was the 1.0 launch build.