Survivalist

This title had so much promise, but ultimately has failed to deliver on the promise or hype over the years. It is most certainly not a bad game, but it will never be a great like Zombie Panic!: Source. Pros: The graphics and map designs are between excellent and outstanding. The game modes are solid, though with few populated servers (more on that in a moment), those that require more than one player really aren't an option. The weapon selection is pretty good when compared to similar offerings. The characters available are pretty good and some are from the much beloved ZP:S. The player controlled zombies are, thankfully, not nerfed and you can actually win as a zed. The overall atmosphere is dark, spooky, and what you'd like to see in a zombie game. Cons: There are a handful of outstanding glitches that can be annoying for some players. The melee system is passable, but can't hold a candle to other zombie titles. Game updates have been painfully slow and scheduled updates have been missed repeatedly. There is no way to remove trolls and griefers from a server (e.g., vote kick), so you either have to endure their antics, or simply disconnect. The developers have stated this will be addressed in a future update, but as of this writing, it has not. Which brings me to the community: it is nearly dead already. In the last few months, the number of populated servers tends to hover around six, give or take one or two depending upon the hour. There are many hundreds of completely empty servers. The populated servers are playing the same old maps that have been played to death since late 2013. Some are keeping hope alive that the much awaited updates will revitalize the game, but I, frankly, doubt it will matter at this point. It may have earlier in the year. As they are both zombie games, Source-based and released around the same time, there is a lot of comparisons to No More Room in Hell thrown around. While not an entirely fair comparison as their gaming mechanics are a bit difference, they are similar enough. NMRiH, with a few exceptions, is the better title, is receiving more frequent updates, and it is available completely free. In conclusion, this isn't a bad game, but it isn't a great one either. If you are a hardcore Zombie Panic! fan, you likely already own it. If you really like the zombie FPS genre, I'd say pick it up as the price of admission is worth a few hours of fun. If you are a more casual gamer, however, you might want to skip this one as you'll likely be disappointed. With only a handful of populated servers, unchecked griefing in some, **** glitches, and a sluggish update cycle, it probably isn't enough bang for your buck.