Undying. Hmm, odd title for a game that was already dead before it even got out of the gate.
This demo was an exercise in nostalgia, but I got older and titles like these haven’t aged well. The badly scripted dialogue is dry. The story is flat. The gameplay is tedious and repetitive.
I really wanted to like this though. I really did. It all began as a heartbreaking tale about a mother who was bitten and infected. Knowing that her days are numbered, it was a race against time to get her small son to safety before he becomes a light snack for his “undying” mother. What had become clear mere minutes into the demo though was that this title was really all about resource management, and not story focused at all.
Even when handling resource management, it leaves much to be desired. Undying, comes across as an attempt to be a puzzle game by crafting the right items to access the next area with the requirement to return home to do so frequently. This is an example of how the gameplay completely ignores the focus of the story. A story about a race against time–instead you perpetually return to your starting place.
What happened to the boy? Doesn’t he need saving? I am confused. As far as the asthetic, I enjoyed the style. The faceless characters were a good design choice. Luckily this was only a demo, because the only time I felt I was racing against was the time I needed to get finished with it so that I could write this review.
2 out of 5 stars
