The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
When it comes to breakout TV series, The Walking Dead certainly captivated the world for a large part of the early 2010s. While my friends would rave about it during social events, it was one series that I somehow completely missed. But then The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival appeared in my inbox, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Captivating source material brought to life with a Double Dragon Gaiden-style art direction? Consider me intrigued. What’s It Like? Choose your hero, warm up those fisticuffs, and “don’t open, dead inside” as we review The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival for Nintendo Switch 2.
Set during the events of The Walking Dead’s All Out War storyline, Streets of Survival drops you into a world overrun by walkers, where survival means fighting your way through familiar locations and facing some of the series’ most recognisable characters. You’ll step into the shoes of Rick, Daryl, or Michonne as you battle through Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Sanctuary, encountering both the undead and human enemies along the way. While the story draws heavily from the world and characters of The Walking Dead, it merely serves as a placeholder for the gameplay, putting the emphasis firmly on surviving the next fight.
To start, you’ll be able to play as Rick, Daryl and Michonne. Some levels let you choose your character, while others lock you to a specific hero. For the most part, they feel fairly similar, although there are some differences when it comes to your ranged ability. Rick has a faster-firing magnum, Daryl uses a crossbow with a slower reload, while Michonne gets up close and personal with her swords. Combat follows a fairly traditional beat-’em-up formula, with light and heavy attacks, a four-hit combo, and adrenaline moves that can be unlocked to deal significantly more damage. There are also firearms in the game, with limited ammunition scattered throughout the levels that can help turn the tide of battle. Unfortunately, this is also where one of my biggest frustrations with Streets of Survival comes in. You see, Streets of Survival has a firearms problem. Mainly, there are simply too many enemies using them. You can roll out of the way of attacks, but that ability has a cooldown, and when you’ve got four or five enemies with guns on screen, things can quickly become frustrating. You’ll essentially be shot, knocked over, get back up, take a few swings, get shot again, and rinse and repeat until you hopefully thin out the crowd or die trying. The problem is made even worse by enemies being able to shoot you from off-screen. When you’re already trying to keep track of walkers, melee enemies and your own positioning, suddenly taking a bullet from an enemy you can’t even see can feel less like a challenge and more like the game simply deciding that it’s your turn to get knocked over.
It’s a shame, because when you’re actually throwing punches, swinging swords and dealing with walkers and melee-focused enemies, the combat can be quite enjoyable. The firearms just have a tendency to disrupt that flow rather than complement it. Each level sees you searching for items, finding keys to progress, and breaking down barriers while a horde of walkers descends upon you. Most levels follow a fairly familiar pattern: find keys, break down barriers, fend off opponents, and repeat. Despite the relatively short runtime, I felt like I’d seen most of the mechanics on offer within the first handful of levels, which left the later stages feeling somewhat familiar. Some missions do attempt to mix things up with boss encounters. One fight sees you confronting Simon by quickly tossing the grenades he throws back at his vehicle, while another has you fighting Negan as you both contend with a horde of walkers. These moments can be a little more exciting, and I even managed to get Negan to take aggro from the walkers long enough for me to sneak in a cheeky medikit and survive the encounter. It’s these moments where the combat can be at its most enjoyable.
Unfortunately, I feel the biggest issue with The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is that there are some really odd design choices that consistently get in the way of that enjoyment. For example, every character shares the same experience pool. So I’ll level Rick up and improve his abilities, only to be forced to play as Michonne in the next level, who doesn’t have those same upgrades. It makes the character progression feel strangely disconnected from the way the game actually asks you to play. There’s also a particularly frustrating level where you’re followed by an invincible zombie while you have to break down a series of barriers. Because the zombie can’t be defeated, you’re essentially forced to take one or two swings at the barrier, lead the zombie away, run back, hit the barrier again, and repeat the process. It’s a simple idea, but in practice it feels more tedious than challenging.
The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is also entirely single-player, with no local or online co-op. That’s a real shame, because when you’re fighting walkers and melee-focused opponents, the combat can actually be quite fun. More importantly, having another player alongside you might have helped alleviate one of my biggest frustrations with the game. If those armed enemies had another target to shoot at, perhaps I’d have spent a little less time being repeatedly knocked over.
The world of Streets of Survival is brought to life with a really cool 2D/3D hybrid art style. Characters and effects are illustrated with gorgeous pixel art that’s incredibly well animated and surprisingly detailed. The likenesses of the actors have also been captured really well, giving these familiar characters plenty of personality even in pixel form. These characters then navigate low-poly 3D environments, and the combination works really well. I actually loved the art style on display here, and it reminded me of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World crossed with a bit of Double Dragon Gaiden. It’s a unique look that gives Streets of Survival an almost arcade-like charm, while still managing to make the world of The Walking Dead instantly recognisable. When it comes to performance, throughout my playthrough I didn’t encounter any noticeable framerate hitches or visual bugs.
For my survivors looking into accessibility, you can reduce the amount of screen shake, but outside of this, there are no other accessibility options available. As always, I recommend further research into finding out if The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival suits your accessibility needs. At just under $33 AUD, The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival will take roughly three hours to finish before unlocking a new character to play through. Fans of the franchise may get a bit more mileage out of that experience than I did, particularly if they want to revisit levels with the different characters.
The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is here for a good time, not a long one. Despite some frustrations with firearms, I still enjoyed my playthrough thanks to the gorgeous art style and satisfying side-scrolling action. It’s a shame there’s no option for a second player to join, as I feel that could have elevated the experience considerably. As it stands, Streets of Survival is a solid, if short, beat-’em-up that should have some extra appeal for The Walking Dead fans, while also offering enough satisfying zombie-smashing action for those who simply love a good beat-’em-up.
So, What’s it Like? The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is like the TV Show, crossed with Double Dragon Gaiden.
In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by the publisher, but this doesn’t influence my score.
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