The Unliving (PC) Early Access Preview

Early in the days of Xbox 360 and PS3, there was a game by the name of Overlord. It was unique in the sense that you could control a large number of minions to do your bidding in battle. It was a blast, is fondly regarded, and is nostalgic for tons of gamers as not many other games have given this type of gameplay a try. It’s time to revisit this novel concept in The Unliving, a recent title that finally revisits this premise. Does it stick the landing?

Where Overlord let you control freaky minions, The Unliving is all about taking control of the undead. This zombie army is under your direct control with the right mouse button, as you navigate the Necromancer with a case of amnesia but a sense of purpose. Every enemy you quell is available to summon, once you clear them all out. Their health bars are refilled, but decay at a slow-and-steady pace to encourage you to traverse the map with haste.

Fighting the living resistance in The Unliving is a cakewalk as you typically outnumber them in every encounter. There’s even some strategy to implement to ensure your quantity of zombies never falls too short. For example, as outlined in the tutorial video, instead of pushing a bevy of the undead straight into battle, you can hold down the right mouse button and encircle your foes to overwhelm them in a more timely manner and grow your army to massive numbers.

The Necromancer in The Unliving is far from invincible, however. Only a few hits from enemies is enough to get a game over screen. In typical roguelite fashion though, you’re able to utilize some of your resources to unlock more powerups, spells, and more to ensure you make it just a bit farther in subsequent playthroughs. There are NPCs to interact with that provide some background/lore as they knew you before you forgot everything, and you can interact with them as the story progresses and you unlock more and more.

The difficulty in The Unliving is certainly a point of contention. Roguelikes are designed to be tough as nails so you can keep learning, evolving, and coming back to make more progress the more you play. Unfortunately, you’ll hit brick walls with the nigh-impossible bosses and some special enemies that have entirely too much health in comparison to your 6 or so hits before death. It feels pointless to keep playing a game when you can’t make it past a point and feel the need to grind for hours to overcome it.

The Unliving is going to need some serious fine-tuning before it gets into the same Roguelike discussion as Vampire Survivors, Rogue Legacy 2, or Hades. The foundation is there, but I need to feel a better sense of balance between enemy difficulty and quantity. I want to feel the same amount of challenge in a horde of fodder as I do with one particularly-tough baddie. There could be something great to come, so if you’re an Overlord fan or a Roguelike junkie, keep an eye on The Unliving.

A review copy of The Unliving was provided by Team17 for this review.