DaRmaZat Texas, August 1980. The small town of Walton is in utter chaos after a devastating zombie outbreak. The police force has been wiped out, the mayor quickly fled, and the town council seems to know more than they’re letting on. In the survival game Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days, developed by PikPok – known for the mobile titles in the same Into the Dead series – and published in collaboration with Boltray Games, you take command of a small group of survivors who decide to take matters into their own hands and try to carve out the best possible future. From a base camp, you’ll need to find fellow survivors to shack up with, gather resources, clear out parts of the city, and ultimately find a way out for anyone who manages to stay alive.
For those familiar with the State of Decay series, the comparison is easily made. However, in this game, everything unfolds from a 2.5D sidescrolling perspective, and for now, the gameplay has a more limited focus. That makes sense, as Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is currently only available in Early Access on Steam, and it will likely be a while before we see the final release. At present, players can dive into the Campaign mode, with Scenario Mode to be added at a later date.
The hope of Walton, or just barely escaping its despair
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days begins with selecting a duo of survivors, each with their own unique traits – specific strengths and weaknesses that influence gameplay and their odds of survival. Traits determine how efficiently they perform tasks, how well they manage stress, or how capable they are in combat. Naturally, they won’t stay alone for long. And even though the goal is clear, it’s anything but easy: at least one person must survive the outbreak, and that can only happen by escaping the city for good.
Walton is divided into districts, each with their own dangers but also featuring shelters – places where you can find life-saving supplies, tools, and as the name suggests, temporary refuge for your group. These shelters can only be used after clearing them of all infected. Meanwhile, you’ll also collect so-called Leads. These are clues that, once you’ve gathered enough of the same type, will unlock an Escape Plan. Successfully executing such a plan grants one of the game’s possible positive endings for your duo – or at least, whoever’s left of them.
Planning to survive
While it’s sometimes necessary, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days certainly isn’t about mindlessly slaughtering zombies. You must assign tasks to each survivor, and every action – whether it’s scavenging, repairing barricades, or crafting – costs them energy. Your characters will grow hungry, thirsty, exhausted, even depressed and deeply saddened, and these status effects naturally impact their performance. The core of the gameplay revolves around careful planning. Who does what, and when? Who goes out to gather resources, who strengthens the camp, and who badly needs a nap to recharge? Some actions, like eating or drinking, are handled directly from the inventory and take little time. But others, such as crafting, can span more than one cycle, so timing is crucial. Your shelter isn’t a permanent safe haven either – initial barricades keep zombies out for a while, but they deteriorate over time and need regular repairs.
The core of the gameplay revolves around careful planning.
The game follows a day-and-night cycle, and during each phase, you must decide what actions each character should take. Once you assign everyone their roles, you confirm your choices and move to the next part of the day. During daytime, you might reinforce your base or administer medical care, while nighttime allows for scavenging runs. These excursions are your chance to gather food, crafting materials, weapons, new Leads, or simply find shelter that brings your group closer to the city’s edge. They also give you opportunities to explore and uncover new Walton locations via binoculars scattered throughout the map.
Sneak or button-mash, to stay alive
During these runs, you navigate a side-scrolling environment with limited verticality and dimension – think stairs, ladders, open windows – while avoiding or silently dispatching the roaming undead. Some zombies are static background obstacles, while others react aggressively to the slightest sound or movement. With certain weapons like a knife or screwdriver, you can perform stealth kills, but these tools break quickly and are usually one-time-use. An axe is more suited for direct confrontation and lasts a bit longer, but since your survivor can’t swing it continuously, you’ll often need to dodge zombie claws and teeth by jumping back between hits.
Yes, combat still needs work. There aren’t many different animations yet, making fights feel a bit clunky overall. At this point, combat mostly boils down to button-mashing, alternating between attacking and dodging, until your enemy finally drops and needs a finishing kick to stay down. Fighting multiple zombies at once is practically a death wish. Luckily, you can distract enemies by throwing items like bottles. Some rooms are also locked and need to be opened with a lockpick – simply done with a button press, no mini-game involved.
Great sound, but immersion still lacking
Visually, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days looks decent, but performance can be spotty. There are occasional stutters, and enabling V-Sync surprisingly causes extra frame drops. What does shine is the sound design. The desperate groans of zombies, paired with the subtle or dramatic background music, immediately set the right post-apocalyptic mood.
More story and tension would help break the repetition.
The intro scene’s art style and voice acting are also impressive, and I’d love to see more such intermezzos. Unfortunately, narrative elements fall mostly silent after the opening, as there’s very little dialogue throughout the rest of the game. Just a bit more story and escalating tension, wrapped in imagery and sound, would help break the gameplay repetition and bring much-needed immersion. Additionally, the lack of manual saves makes it hard to experiment with other survivor duos or playstyles, though that might be addressed during Early Access.
Preliminary Thoughts
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a promising title that impresses with its clever blend of exploration, combat, survival, and base management. There’s already considerable depth in some mechanics, like how traits interact with in-game events, but other aspects still need work. Combat feels limited and stiff, the lack of narrative leaves the gameplay feeling a bit repetitive, and performance issues are noticeable. Still, the game succeeds in setting a strong, ominous tone, thanks to its well-crafted art direction and a setting with plenty of room for expansion.
Additional Information
Release Date: April 10, 2025 (Early Access)
Reviewed On: PC. Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency via BeyondGaming.
Developer: PikPok
Publisher: PikPok, Boltray Games
Official Website: https://www.intothedead.com
Relevant links: Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days on STEAM
