Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie, RPG, Early Access

Developer: Zurvivor

Released: 24th June 2022

Price: £9.99

Buy on Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1645820/SurrounDead/

Surroundead has already found itself in the heart of many fans of the zombie survival genre, with its stylish Low-poly graphics and cosy base-building mechanics, it’s certainly earning its place in the genre. Later in this review, we will be asking the Developer of the game, Zurvivor, a few questions about the game and its development, but first, I want to talk about my experience so far playing surroundead.

My First Impressions 🧟

I picked it up during a 50% off sale for just £4.99 at the start of July. As usual with this genre, I was hesitant and fairly sceptical,

A lot of the games I have played before have felt, empty, unfinished or just abandoned by their creators before any real value is added, and unfulfilled promises seem to be the norm, with just a few games like State Of Decay 2 or Project Zomboid holding the Reigns, however when I started playing, the game gave me a feeling I hadn’t had in a long time, genuine excitement for what was already there.

It features a large map to explore, where you’ll find events like crashed helicopters or supply drops, and endless opportunities to settle down, and start building a home, unlike some games it doesn’t feel pointless, so at the end of a long day of exploring, full of sneaking around zombies, or even running away from bandits on the side of the road after having my truck shot up, I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride to place down a new chair, and store my backpack full of guns in my wardrobe, 

Controls & Gameplay 🕹️

The game handles very well, it doesn’t try to be different and introduce some obscure control system, it sticks with your standard aim to shoot, WASD system, and it works, I feel like I can control what im doing and im not let down, or eaten by not being able to turn quick enough, or panic pressing the wrong thing, right click to aim, left click to fire, R to swap out your magazine for one you’ve prepped full of Ammo, a system which feels more realistic then just picking up some bullets and firing them two seconds later, it just feels right for the genre, and its working well for the game.

Driving feels like steady and not unstable like with some titles, and the need to get fuel and keep your vehicle repaired through scavenging repair kits, or crafting them at your work bench is immersive, and makes things feel more vulnerable, as opposed to driving around in an indestructible fortress, you always have something to lose, and it makes you just that extra bit immersed in the experience.

Graphics 🧱

Now I will say I am partially biased towards low poly games, i’ve always really loved the style, I dont believe fancy textures are needed for a game to be good, I mean lets look at Valheim, a survival game that despite having a poly look, and low textures, it is truly beautiful at times, and this is exactly what i have found with Surroundead aswell, calm moments when leaving my abandoned office turned survival base for a loot run, I can see distant wind turbines spinning, making the world feel alive, the shadows casted over by the tree’s make the zombies feel eerie, like I am always being watched, combined with a nice audio system, this makes being run up on by an undead feel dangerous, and so I find myself on heightened alert a lot of the time,

Performance & Customization ⚙️

So far, I have yet to experience any real issues or bugs with the game’s performance, it loads quickly, even on my laptop, and runs smoothly without and frame rate issues, it doesn’t require anything fancy to run, making it even more ideal for those that may not have a gaming rig.

Frequent updates and patches to the game make me feel settled knowing anything I could experience, will likely be patched quickly, and I am very fond of how you can customise the games settings to change your experience, if you want weak zombies, for an easy going journey, you can, but at the same time if you want a challenging survival journey, with scarce loot, and rarely finding a vehicle, thats in the playbook aswell, it’s up to the player to decide how they want their experience to go, and playing around with these settings is a great way to start your playthrough.

What’s next for Surroundead? 🔮

Speaking of these updates, the game’s future is something to look forward to, the developer has put out a 5-phase plan for the game, where many things are planned to be added.

One that I am very excitedto see is a vehicle overhaul, and the buildup of a settlement system, one game thats doing cars very well at the moment in my opinion is Humanitz, where you have to find parts to repair the car before you can start driving it, Surroundead does do well with the fuel and repair system, but I think customizability, and car add ons would be huge for the game, and settlements are one of my favourite things about games like State of Decay 2, and Medieval Dynasty, where bringing a community to life feels so rewarding, and is so beneficial to late game progression, I hope Surroundead can build a unique, strong system in these areas, it would make the game a lot more standout from other games being worked on at the moment.

Summary ✏️

In summary, Surroundead is a great experience, despite still being early in its development journey, it’s clear the developer has found something that works, and the community so far seems to agree, with 90% of the over 8,000 reviews on Steam being positive, going forwards i think the game is going to have many exciting updates, and i think community feedback will be taken into high regard with its development, to understand why the game grabbed me, I reached out and spoke with Zurvivor, to ask some questions about his development journey, and this is how it went,

Interview 💬

Q: In your own words, what is Surroundead, and how would you describe it to someone who’s never seen it before?

“A customisable zombie survival experience, or if you want, don’t even enable zombies. The choice is yours, and I hope I can expand and improve upon that.”

Q: What inspired you to make Surroundead? Did you have any influence from certain games or movies?

“I started development when I was in the military in the evenings. Inspiration from State of Decay 2, Project Zomboid and Unturned.”

Q: What’s been the most rewarding or exciting moment in development so far – big or small?

“Fixing an issue after looking into it for 12 hours or days, and then learning something new I can use in future pieces.”

Q: What’s been the toughest part of bringing Surroundead life, and how did you push through it?

“The first weeks. I’d had other attempts at making video games, lasting days to weeks, and the same nearly happened with Surroundead. I nearly quit after 2-4 weeks ish of dev time, took a 1-week break and then committed to carrying on.”

Q: What’s your background in game dev? Was Surroundead your first major project, or are there others we should know about?

“Only a background in computers and previously game development was just a random hobby every now and again, until I actually stuck with Surroundead.”

Q: What upcoming feature or update are you most excited to share with players, and why?

“Quests. They just add so much more for the player to experience, and it’s something I’m always able to come back to and add to for some time.”

So with that said and done, its clear the Dev has done well with this project, and im glad its working so well for him, being a new developer can be so overwhelming and hectic, so the work thats being done is seriously impressive, and something that im sure will end up with a legendary title in this genre.

As a result, my final thoughts on the game is that for anyone who’s a fan of zombie survival, this will be an excellent addition to your library, with a standard price of £9.99, it’s great value for the amount of time you will end up spending exploring, and building your home, and for anyone interested in exploring the genre, its a brilliant starting point, with an easy to learn playstyle, where it beats games like project zomboid, where needing the wiki page open just becomes a natural part of your experience, 

Surroundead might still be early in its development, but it already earns its place among the greats in the zombie survival space. If you’ve been burned by abandoned games in the past, give this one a shot – you might just find your new digital home.

Badge: ✨ Inside Pick
Summary: A must-play indie for survival fans that balances freedom, tension, and creative vision.

Rating:Graphics: 4/5
Content: 3/5
Atmosphere: 5/5
Future Potential: 5/5
Overall: 4 out of 5

---