Familiar Grounds

Into the Dead is a series of zombie games developed and published by the New Zealand company PikPok. So far, these have been “infinite runner” games where the goal is simply to steer your character onward through progressively harsher conditions. I personally had a lot of fun with Into the Dead 2 when it released on the Nintendo Switch in 2019. In Our Darkest Days the run is not an infinite runner, rather it is a 2D side-scroller where the player controls a survivor in real-time. Supplies are gathered in scavenging missions as the group of survivors seek shelter and attempt to flee the fictional 1980 Walton City, Texas.
Danger lurks behind every door!

Just like any rogue-lite game, the fun comes from pushing your skills and your determination as far as you can go. That hit of satisfaction is enough to motivate the player to start run after run as momentum is built. 

Our Darkest Days dares to challenge that momentum with some of the most depressing conclusions to your protagonists. In this spin-off title, your run is terminated when all protagonists have died. Much like my time with Into the Dead 2, I’ve had a lot of fun with Darkest Days thanks to my high tolerance for the macabre. This is where the player base may be divided. 

A Multitude of Horrors

Violent horror is inherent to the zombie genre, so it is no surprise to see both zombie and man alike disemboweled or in varying states of de-construction. This alone may be enough horror to satisfy a horror enthusiast’s taste but violence is only scratching the surface. There are far more to consider.
Scarcity. Deeper systems of Hunger and Morale inject a heavy emphasis on tactics. Survivors are housed in a “Home Base” shelter that you can re-designate as you go. Home Base is where your survivors collectively spend their scavenged resources to craft weapons, medications, and cook food. A bedroom for Sleep is all you start with, and you will need to construct facilities to manage their needs. Sleep deprivation alone can completely debilitate a survivor, but they will each need to eat and properly de-stress between scavenging missions. 

Psychological horror is just as deadly as zombie violence. Sleep deprivation, food scarcity and grief all eat away at the morale of your survivors. Recruiting more survivors can cause a boom of positivity, but the flip side to that is the grief of loss. When morale crashes from sleep, hunger or grief the survivor will refuse to carry out any tasks. They are essentially doomed unless they can access the required facilities to counteract the issues. 

Let me tell you a story:

The 8 Day Run

My favourite run was going very well. I had been lucky enough to recruit two new survivors in the first days and everyone was getting along well. The new woman was particularly fond of cooking and the younger man was equipped with deeper pockets for better scavenging. My little group was growing and collecting resources from the relatively safer locations.
Suddenly tragedy struck as the new man was killed in action. Death came for him, ripping and tearing his flesh with the teeth of the undead.
On the same day, the woman I began the run with also succumbed to injuries during a mission. A zombie smashed down a door and the horde consumed her.
To say their deaths were taken badly would be a massive understatement. The materials they held were key to building a communal area at Home Base. The communal area is required to give the survivors a place to de-stress. It is absolutely key to fending off depression, PTSD, grief and low morale. But that is only the beginning of it.

The shock-grief of that day broke my foodie-woman. She lost all motivation to cook despite the lack of prepared meals. She also would not sleep, and eventually passed away from starvation a few days later. If only the communal section was completed, the two remaining could have comforted each other. Perhaps they could have made it.

This left a sole survivor.

My original survivor man had been through it all. He was the one to find the two stragglers. He was the one to move Home Base and repair the barricades every night. The de facto leader, he was now the last man standing.
Under his watch, the group had perished one by one.. And like a captain, he went down with the ship. His grief paralysing him, he refused to do anything. He wouldn’t even leave the shelter. He watched his only companion die an agonising death, then he simply gave up and joined the dead.

With that, my most successful run had concluded but I now have a firm understanding of Into the Dead: Our Darkest Darks. 

Our Toughest Days

Tactical considerations are the cornerstone of the game and what makes this a compelling experience. This game is VERY hard and that makes for a good roguelite. The Sleep, Hunger and Morale systems are core to this experience and indeed give each run a sense of meaning. Controlling these characters on dangerous missions and applying their loot to a growing community can quickly lead to forming a sentimental connection. Each of these survivors have unique quirks or bonuses and some may be painful to lose in the midst of a great run. 

That leads to my biggest complaint. 

This game is very hard, and that is quite okay! But it is not always fair.
The combat is very basic and easy to understand. My survivor is armed with a blunt weapon – a basic attack and I also have a dodge button. (I think)

I found it incredibly hard to use the dodge with any degree of success. I am not a stranger to precise input or frames of vulnerability or any of that Video Game 101 jargon. But this “dodge” is no good. I think the player is meant to strike twice, then dodge, repeat- but none of this felt right. Combat can be successful when a single zombie is engaged but the moment a fight kicks off, every zombie in ear-shot comes into the fray. It is incredibly annoying depending on the location, as some locations cater to stealth tactics. 

Conclusion

Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days as a roguelite, is mainly a 2D stealth game with tactical elements. It continues the series’ unique style of zombie slaying roguelite but with a much more thoughtful execution. This game is only launching into early access, but I can see already that Our Darkest Days has a lot of longevity planned. 

The roguelite loop and the stealth gameplay left a good first impression on me, but the aforementioned 8 Day Run sincerely blew me away! I had a lot of fun with this game and I am very excited to see the game grow along its path to full release.
I can understand if the horror subject matter is a little heavy for some gamers. Horror is subjective and Into the Dead explores more subtle methods in Our Darkest Days.
I recommend Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days to mature and patient fans of zombies and roguelites. The stealth is tough and the grim outcomes may not be for everyone, but it IS for us sick-o’s out there.