Zombie-themed games are a constant in the gaming ecosystem but many struggle to stand out with a unique style and experience. The new Early Access title Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days from developer PikPok is a refreshing and challenging take on the zombie survival genre. Set in the 1980s, it kept me coming back again and again despite repeated deaths and failures.

The game is focused on a southern town called Walton that has had a mysterious disaster leading to an outbreak of zombies. This has decimated the population and left the town dangerous to navigate as small pockets of survivors try to find a way out. It is easiest described as a 2.5D side-scrolling strategic shelter survival game with location scavenging and combat action

Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days always starts with a choice of a pair of survivors to start the scenario with. These people tend to have differing skills that will add certain benefits to the run, whether it is an iron stomach, larger backpack or better moral recovery, every little bit helps.

Then the game starts in earnest with the pair in a boarded up location with very little supplies, the key task is to scavenge nearby locales to find necessary supplies and amore secured hideout. There is a day and night cycle and each survivor can be assigned a task during each of these allowing base improvement and scavenging to happen simultaneously.

This parallel action is essential as many perils await those left alive from hunger and faltering barricades to depression and injuries hurting their chance for survival. As locations are scavenged more locations get unveiled and precious weapons, food and building supplies are found as well as new survivors to join the base.

These newcomers will have their own skills and at times deficiencies and can be put to work crafting new stations, resting, cooking, scavenging or shoring up the defenses. Each location discovered has a threat meter as well as an approximate level of supplies across a few categories.

The tougher locales will generally have some great weapons and supplies, but many more undead to deal with. Exploring each site is a cat and mouse exercise in stealth, weapon management and knowing when to leave even if barely any supplies are gathered.

There are always zombies in the areas, some are huddled in the distance, ready to pounce if loud noises happen, others wander in the way and need to be dispatched. If snuck up on most can be dispatched with an instant kill, if discovered they brutally attack head on and attract others to join and swarm the survivor.

As the game is set around that particular run, once all the survivors are dead, and they will die a lot, the game ends and a new run has to be started. I would have liked to see a little roguelike style added to the mix with old bases able to be visited and restored on future runs, but as it stands once everyone is dead a new generated run is the only option.

It can get quite tense as a creaking and ravaged building is explored with constant noise and gurgles all around and one false move can have a zombie or three charge in. The combat system is fairly simple with various weapons with different damage potential, some are brittle and others can be used many times before breaking.

Guns are discoverable at tougher locations and can be crafted with advanced stations, but will attract every nearby zombie so should be a last resort weapon. Sneaking up and taking out the buggers in one go is the best method by far and each weapon has a different kill animation that is really gruesome and satisfying to see.

Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a complex, tough and fascinating game that is greatly enhanced by the fantastic art style and truly cool early 80’s vibes. Every building, zombie, survivor and location looks fantastic and is laid out in an incredibly believable way as they are explored.

The audio is subtle but also greatly enhances the experience. From haunting background music to the shrieks and gurgles of the undead the cues heard add to the tension and immersiveness of the game in a fantastic way.

While Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is an Early Access release I did find that the game was already incredibly polished and plays quite well with a lot to discover. There are mysterious markers pointing to other factions and survivors as well as a plan that gets established to escape the quarantine zone.

The developer has published a lengthy roadmap with regular planned updates enhancing the game until the 1.0 release after 12-18 months in early Access. The planned additions sound very interesting and will add a lot more depth to the already enjoyable experience. Well worth checking out and I still play daily trying to discover everything Walton has to offer as I gather survivors and build up my base.

Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days will enter Steam Early Access on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 and we were provided a Steam code by the Publisher for review purposes.