Undying is an RPG, adventure, and action game developed by Vanimals for multiple platforms, including PC. In this emotional survival game, you play as Anling, whose task is to save Cody’s son during the outbreak of the epidemic and to ensure his survival through all kinds of training and make him survive after his mother turns into a zombie. This is our Undying launch review for PC.
First announced at E32019, and the official description for the game:
Infected by a zombie bite, Anling’s days are numbered. She must now fight to survive, not for herself but her young son, Cody. Ensure Cody’s survival in a zombie infested world by protecting him and teaching him valuable skills, at any cost.
You need to distribute resources in such a way as to slow the spread of infection in Anling’s body, and to prevent mother and son from dying of hunger or thirst. Search for resources, and ensure communication with other survivors, fend off a large number of zombies and survive.
Of course, there are many single-player zombie apocalypse games that focus on parents, and there are many Epidemic and zombie apocalypse games, and as soon as I saw this game I remembered “The Walking Dead” from Telltale Games, and The Last of Us which also affects family relationships, and shows the difficulties of life during such a situation.
However, Undying manages to stand out from the crowd by delivering a dark narrative that can only be realized in her particular genre.
Anling doesn’t have much time left to protect her son, which creates a high-level and fast-paced situation that won’t work in traditional long storytelling. Instead, the fraudulent structure forces players to make spontaneous decisions that can have unexpected consequences, giving each action a huge amount of personal weight.
The game begins in an alternate past because at the end of the summer of 1992, the world was swept by a zombie apocalypse. In the game, we play as a 30-year-old woman, an American of Chinese descent – Anling, who protects her 10-year-old son Cody from the horde of the living dead.
As you might guess, her days are limited and she seems to know how everything will end. Meanwhile, Anling is trying to find her husband – Jacob, who disappeared at dawn, and, by the way, is trying to teach little frightened Cody the art of survival from zero.
With every action we take, Cody’s experience will grow. Our son will observe our actions (for example, build or repair even fight with zombies) and learn. But sometimes it would be nice to allow him to act too so that he will learn independence faster and his level of experience will rise faster. At first, he will be a squeamish, frightened child, but as he continues to survive, he will gain the courage and resilience he needs to stand up for himself. However, even as he gets stronger, Cody is still a child.
The game has a huge potential for replaying because it has roguelike elements in it. Each playthrough will begin shortly after Anling is infected, so the effects of the virus are expected to worsen over time. Symptoms will appear day after day, forcing players to choose, since most of them also give some positive things, such as the fact that at home the character’s health will slowly regenerate, or + 10% to weapon damage, but fewer slots in the backpack.
Unlike other games of this genre, where the main thing is constant improvement, you will only get weaker with each run, which makes learning Cody even more important. During severe stress, the virus immediately takes control of Anling’s body, leaving Cody alone for a short time to fend for himself.
And don’t forget – always look for materials. You never know what a merchant will need, or what useful item you can make. The game has implemented a system of collecting useful items, where we can look for something useful in given places. Or we can pump gasoline from cars into cans so that we have fuel for the generator, which provides electricity. In the game, we will find canned food that does not spoil (in the game food can spoil), bottles with both clean and dirty water, and items needed for crafting. Unfortunately, we will have to open some things with a crowbar, which will break over time.
I have to say that this game is one of the best games I have played in recent times. Survival in the game was very lively due to what you can find, as well as the need to eat and sleep. Getting to know the city around you, including your home, is exciting and challenging as you hope to find something very valuable or useful.
The game received excellent reviews from critics and, more importantly, user reviews who also rated it excellent. You can check out the Undying Steam page to learn more.
This game was reviewed thanks to a code provided by PR.
This review was published in 2021 but our reviewer found no significant differences between then and now and stands by the review score originally awarded.
