How To Survive 2
How to Survive is a survival horror action role-playing video game developed by French studio. A sequel, How to Survive 2 was announced on August 28, 2015. It features enhanced graphics and an expanded home base camp and crafting. Jun 20, 2016 How To Survive 2 is a third-person, action/adventure with a new and improved crafting system, randomized environments and more quests than ever before. It is set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse and several years after the events of the first game. This indie title is a triumphant example of video game development done right.
| How to Survive | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Eko Software |
| Publisher(s) | 505 Games |
| Director(s) | Chris Shalendra |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U |
| Release | Microsoft Windows, Xbox Live Arcade October 23, 2013 PlayStation 3 Wii U
Xbox One October 29, 2014 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing, survival horror, survival |
| Mode(s) | Single-player and multiplayer |
How to Survive is a survival horroraction role-playing video game developed by French studio Eko Software and published by 505 Games. It was released on October 23, 2013 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 and it was released in June 2014 for the Nintendo eShop.
Gameplay[edit]
How to Survive is played from a top-down perspective. There are two game modes, story and challenge, and both can be played with up to two players. Challenge mode puts the player(s) on one side of the island, and they must get to the other side, where their getaway vehicle awaits. The player's mission is to gather materials, craft weapons, and make it off the island without dying. Neither challenge or story are timed, and therefore, the player can take as long as they want.
Plot[edit]
Players play as one of three survivors - the all rounded Kenji, the fast, arczar Abbie or the brawling Jack - shipwrecked on one of four zombie-infested islands that form an archipelago. After finding food for another wounded survivor, Andrew (who has already suffered a zombie bite), the survivor meets a one-legged old man named Ramon who owns a boat that can be used to travel between the islands. Together, they hatch a plan to escape the archipelago using a beached seaplane, with Andrew as the pilot. Ramon sends the survivor to fetch materials to repair the plane.
The survivor soon meets Kovac, a mysterious man in full armor who has made the islands his personal hunting ground. A self-proclaimed master survivor, Kovac is using his extensive field experience to write a zombie survival guide ('Kovac's Rules'), and gladly assumes a mentor role, helping the survivor with valuable advice and tools throughout the course of the game.
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On the search, the survivor meets a woman named Carol whose young daughter, Emily, got separated from her. The survivor locates Emily, stranded on a cliffside, but is unable to save her from falling into the sea and getting swept away; Carol is devastated by the news. The plane is repaired, but Ramon realizes Andrew is (obviously) in no condition to pilot it and sends the survivor in search of someone who can.
The survivor meets a senile old woman, Martha, who is missing her companion Enzo (who turns out to be a cat). After retrieving Enzo, the survivor learns from her of a drunken former airplane pilot named Sanchez who lives nearby. Sanchez turns out to be a drug smuggler who lost all his cargo when his plane crashed, and the survivor is forced to comb the entire archipelago for his scattered packages to secure his cooperation.
Along the way, the survivor finds Emily alive, but imprisoned, and frees her, reuniting her with Carol. The girl claims she was taken prisoner by a strange man whose face she never saw; her testimony, added to Carol's accusation of the same man being responsible for guiding the ship she was on onto the reefs, makes it evident that Kovac is not all he seems after all.
The survivor eventually gathers Sanchez, Carol, and Emily by the repaired seaplane. Sanchez wants to leave at once, but the survivor insists they fetch Ramon as well. However, not far from the plane the survivor is instead confronted by Kovac, who shows his true colors, claiming he does not want the survivor to leave as they have 'not finished their training'. He then sets the survivor a 'final exam' by attracting a massive zombie horde, which will have to be fought off while the plane starts up. Finally, after a grueling battle, the survivor manages to escape back to the plane, and it takes off with Kovac calling through a loudspeaker for the survivor to 'come back'.
The game ends with Kovac causing another shipwreck by misguiding a ship over the radio, just as he did with the player's in the beginning. He then calls an accomplice, stating that a 'new shipment of recruits' has arrived, and the accomplice answers with 'Copy, amigo. I'm in position. Ready to play another round?'. It is then seen that the accomplice is none other than the old cripple, Ramon.
Reception[edit]
How to Survive received mixed reviews upon release.[1]
Sequel[edit]
How To Survive - Third Person Standalone was announced on June 4, 2015. It is an expansion pack in which players play the game in a third-person perspective, as opposed to the top-down perspective of the original How to Survive.[2] A sequel, How to Survive 2 was announced on August 28, 2015. It features enhanced graphics and an expanded home base camp and crafting system. It was set in New Orleans and it was released on Steam's early access in October 2015.[3]
References[edit]
- ^'How to Survive for PC reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^Martinez, Marco (June 4, 2015). 'How To Survive - Third Person Standalone Announcement Trailer'. GameSpot. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^Hillier, Brenna (August 28, 2015). 'How to Survive 2 adds four-player co-op, headed to Early Access in October'. VG247. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
External links[edit]
The isometric zombie co-op game is back with a sequel. How to Survive 2 takes place fifteen years after the events of the first game in which a zombie outbreak ravaged the tropical Los Ricos archipelago, but is it worth learning to survive all over again?
Amidst the backdrop of a global pandemic, the action is shifted to Louisiana where the mysterious Kovac is once again recruiting survivors to fight the undead hordes. Will you (and up to three friends) have what it takes to overcome his challenges? If you played the first How to Survive, you'll already be up to speed with how much of H2S2 works. You're tasked with scouring the landscape for food, water and crafting materials while simultaneously defeating countless shambling enemies. Superficially, How to Survive 2 shares a lot in common with its predecessor. It has retained its quirky style of humour and presentation, brings back many of the same enemies, and even recycles a lot of the music and sound effects. However, developers Eko Software also attempted to add some new features to expand on the formula.
The main change concerns how you're assigned missions. How to Survive 2 ditches the open-world style of the original in favour of a large central hub area in which all of your quest-givers reside. Once you select a mission from the available list, you're transported to a new area. Then, you teleport back when you're done. There are lots of these missions available. However, many of them are very similar to one another. Essentially, you are always sent out to collect a set amount of resources, speak to someone, or kill a certain number of enemies, then come back. Of course, there is some variation as most missions are at least dressed up as something unique such as having to herd zombie pigs into a barn or collect Christmas presents left by Kovac's adoring fans.
Unfortunately, it can often be difficult to find some of your objectives in these large areas thus leaving you running around aimlessly for long stretches of time. This is exacerbated by an awkward inventory interface that clearly wasn't designed for consoles and the absence of a pause button even when playing on your own offline. As your thirst and hunger meters go down constantly and you can be attacked by zombies at any time while on a mission, this means you could likely die if you have to go answer the phone in real life during play. It's a truly bizarre omission.
A much more welcome change is the addition of base building which adds a whole new expansive element to the gameplay. After doing the introductory quests, you're able to construct a variety of buildings in the hub area such as an armoury, kitchen and foundry. As you gain XP, you can level up your base which allows you to upgrade your constructions as well as add defensive walls and traps. Occasionally, your camp will be attacked meaning you'll have to think strategically where to erect your defences. This gives you a whole other aspect to focus on rather than just running around completing missions.
While base building is definitely a positive inclusion, it also means that you'll need a large amount of materials to keep upgrading and repairing your camp. This usually entails having to redo certain missions in order to get the requisite items which can quickly turn the game into little more than a constant grind for resources. In the original, you had a clear objective: to escape the archipelago. Here, your only apparent goal seems to be to earn the requisite XP to level up enough to be allowed to do the next mission on the roster or upgrade your building to its next stage without any end target in sight. If that's okay with you then you'll get a good amount of time out of H2S2 as there are a lot of quests to complete and hundreds of upgrades to acquire and craft for your character and base camp. Just be aware that a lot of it will feel like doing the same things over and over again.
How to Survive 2 expands on the ideas of its predecessor with mixed results. On one hand, its enlarged scope and addition of base building adds longevity to the experience but on the other, its missions frequently feel monotonous and grindy. However, if you don't mind a fair bit of repetition then there is still a lot of game here to keep you busy.
- + Loads of crafting and upgrade options
- + Base building adds depth and is a welcome expansion to the core gameplay
- + Lots of missions
- - Missions can be repetitive and grindy
- - Interface isn't well designed for consoles
- - No pause button