Review for How to Survive 2. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 08/09/2016 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 06/02/2017 The version for Xbox One came out on 13/02/2017
Son of a labor that is not exactly linear and heir to a convincing first chapter but proposed on the market in a somewhat questionable way, How To Survive 2 after almost a year from its appearance on PC it also arrives on consoles. The Eko Software survival / arcade hybrid launches us into a world invaded by zombies but which has not lost a sense of humor. Thanks also to the immortal Kovac and his dream: New Kovac City.
But how nice to see you again Kovac, I like you. And the family?
Let's start by saying that we are facing a very funny title. It is almost strange to say this in the face of a seemingly realistic survival game, but it is so. As in the first chapter, How to Survive 2 puts us in front of a gameplay, in isometric view, which has a lot in common with the classic survival games, but which also has a very strong arcade vein. Everything we will talk about: camp management, hunger and thirst, crafting (even quite thorough). Seasoned with a huge dose of fist fights, furious dismemberments and races among hordes of zombies bordering on ridicule, this almost perfect hybrid is what most convinced us in this title. But let's go in order.
As soon as we arrive on the game map we will find an old friend waiting for us: Kovac. This nutty Russian survivor has a very specific goal: to help the other survivors of the zombie apocalypse that has invaded the whole world, and then exploit them (in a completely friendly way, he is not a dictator) in order to build a field equipped with every comfort.
Kovac will be the first, and main, NPC who will give us missions. Quests are the focus of the game as not all the necessary resources will be found on the main map. Mainly you will move in the field, which is a giant expanse populated by animals, zombies and zombie animals. This will be fully explorable and you can place structures anywhere. The map is quite large, but we were disappointed that many points are identical to others, with areas copied, pasted and turned in different directions just to make the field larger.
As we said, however, the main map will not be the only place where you can manch zombies and collect materials and supplies, but you will also find dungeons. Each mission will grant you access to limited and often very small areas. Even if these areas have many explorable interiors (houses, palaces and various structures) they did not convince us, as this constant coming and going between the field and the dungeons seemed to us just a smart move to save on level design, but that makes everything quite a lot. All in all, however, if you are a lover of grinding (e especially if you play in multiplayer) the ability to repeat the various missions to accumulate lots of resources could have fun.
Break it all, take a second and break it all again
In terms of mere gameplay the title is very simple even if it presents, look at what novelty, several GDR components. Your alter ego is equipped with all the classic equipment slots and two for the weapons, which you can interchange at will. The weapons are many, but unfortunately very similar to each other. We found the damage of thrown weapons quite disappointing, not because it is low but rather because it is too high. To be clear: it is not possible for a pitchfork to kill a zombie in one go exactly like a firearm, especially if that pitchfork can then be collected to throw it again, and even less if the pitchfork thrown is automatically replaced by another if present in the inventory.
Killing pitchforks aside, let's talk about the evolution of the character. By killing zombies and completing missions you will acquire experience points that can be spent in various ways: by increasing the level of the field (allowing you to add more and more advanced structures), increasing the level of the character (giving you access to ever better passive skills) and increasing the skills of your character (suffer less hunger and thirst, run faster, waste less stamina).
Speaking instead of the survival side we can say that the title has lost some components of the first chapter (for example you will no longer have to sleep) resulting, in our opinion, more pleasant and linear from this point of view.
We mentioned multiplayer first. The cooperative mode is precisely the strong point of How to Survive 2. As simple as it is effective, it will give you the opportunity to play the game exactly as you would in single, but with your friends.
In our opinion, however, the focus of the game is crafting. In How to Survive 2 you can create a lot of different objects and buildings. As for the items you will have access to fairly basic recipes that will allow you to create: weapons, armor, upgrades for equipment and increasingly "refined" food.
But the best part comes in the "buildings" section. We found it particularly fun to create and above all to place the various structures, even if the pad procedure in the hand is much more woody than you can imagine. In addition to the facilities useful for crafting and storing items, you will also find walls and various traps. The latter give countless possibilities and make the game phases dedicated to construction a pastime, in some cases, hilarious.
Technically the title is very immature, but stable. Graphically it doesn't scream miracle, but it's not an eyesore either. The soundtracks are not so original and inspired, but they let themselves be listened to. In short: from the point of view of construction, you cannot move too many criticisms to How to Survive 2 for the simple fact that the developers have made the most of their budget, not going too far and thus creating a product that fits perfectly in its package. .
We had already tested How to Survive 2 on PC at the time of its release and we found its transposition for console perhaps even more apt. The controls are very comfortable even with the pad and everything is optimized properly. If you are looking for a 100% survival experience, you should fly elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you want to have fun chewing zombies in company without forgetting, every now and then, to eat and drink, you have found the title for you.
► How to Survive 2 is a Horror-Survival game developed by EKO Software and published by 505 Games for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 08/09/2016 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 06/02/2017 The version for Xbox One came out on 13/02/2017
