The Last Survivor
What happened here? Zombies, that's what. You're the only ones left with your head still on your shoulders. Will you sit back and wait to die, or will you rally a defense? Zombies aren't so tough.
Actually, yes they are.
So, what are we playing?
The Last Survivor is an online survival horror game for 1-5 players. You begin by choosing from 5 different survivors, each of which has a unique upgrade path as you go through the game. The starting area is known as "the refuge", which is made up of an enormous cathedral and its grounds in the midst of a city in the aftermath of a zombie apocolypse. It may seem safe at first, but the zombies know you're there, and while they may move slow, they are coming after you.
Zombies? I'm not afraid of zombies!
You should be! You can't stand and fight, because, quite frankly, you aren't good for killing more than 2 or so zombies without having to patch yourself up. Five against thousands, in this case, doesn't swing in your favor. You're smart enough to build barracades, but that requires supplies. Where are the supplies? Well, I think you can guess where.
Players are forced to leave the relative safety of the refuge in search of the only two real things of value in the map. Supplies, and survivors.
Supply and Demand? Damn you!
Supplies are used to build barracades and various other structures. Supplies are quite a bit hard to get, but are, ultimately, the only way you can hope to hold out until help arrives (help never arrives, btw). Supplies are also needed for repairing the gates.
My father used to tell me, "Son, shut the gate."
Oh, did I not mention the gates? Yeah, the city has been under siege for a long time, and in the process, some of the more powerful undead have been, fortunately, trapperd in a courtyard outside the refuge. Additionally, the front gate of the city that leads out into the country-side (where the rest of the zombies are) is securely barred, but also under attack. These won't hold out long without repair, though. So what are you going to do, build flimsy barracades to keep the zombies inside away from you, or repair the gate to keep the hordes out? Sounds like you need some help.
Help? I can help!
The other precious resource is survivors. Think you are the only one alive? Yeah right. People have locked themselves up pretty soundly all over the city, just waiting to be rescued. Rescue them and lead them back to the refuge, and they will assist you in your cause. Some of them can be armed (if you have a source of arms) and help defend the refuge. Others can heal mangled heroes as they pass through, and still others can help gather supplies.
But daddy, I don't wanna die!
Oh, you're going to die. Sorry. Turns out this little city isn't the only one with zombie problems. Oh, there might be some way to save yourselves somewhere out there, but its going to take teamwork and a whole lot of luck. Other than that, your goal is not so much to live as it is to out-live your fellow man.
Anything else?
How about a list?
- Every hero has a different strategy.
- Finding more survivors is, literally, the only way to survive.
- Survivors benefit all the players. What, you want loyalty?
- The Pope can keep the refuge safe for a short time, but even the pope has limits.
- Oh yeah, the zombies get stronger as you go along.
- Not all the zombies are interested in hunting you down. Most of them are content with standing in front of the places you REALLY need to go.
- Accomplish enough and you may gain enough experiance to actually take on zombies solo!
- Huge playing area, the city and its immediate surroundings. There's worse than zombies outside the walls.
- Bosses? Very yes. Some of them come along on their own, some of them wander the streets, and some of them pop out when they are least conveniant.
- Teamwork is paramount.
- Solo play is frikkin hard at first, but evens out later as you find you get all of the supplies.
- Building barracades takes almost 2 minutes when you try to do it yourself. Maybe you should get some help.
- Zombies dislike fire.
- Can you be a zombie if you die? Of course you can, imbecile. Who's going to kill the last survivor is everyone is dead? Dead guys, that's who.
Heroes: (Heroes are subject to change)
Jack Jackson
Jack Jackson is a grizzled, retired Marine. He's well-trained in swords, and is accustomed to wearing heavy armor. Now, if only he could find some. Jack is best suited to melee combat, and he does decent damage while being able to take a few hits himself. He can eventually be upgraded to deal out an occasional one-hit kill beheading, in addition to taking a stance that, while greatly lowering his movement speed, makes him completely invulnerable for a short time. Jack might be able to borrow some armor and a sword from the local garrison, so it may be wise to go check on the city guard. The buzz around town before the zombies came was that there were some of his fellow Marines camped out in the hills somewhere. Jack looked for them before it all went down, but if he can find them now, they may be able to spare some of his old, familiar gear.
John Johnson
John is the local blacksmith, and while he's been in the city for almost 10 years, nobody is quite certain where he got his start. He swings a hammer or an axe with skill that comes from a lifetime of daily use. Too bad he's not near his tools right now, eh? Like Jack, John belongs on the front lines since although he isn't well armored, his natural robustness gives him large amount of health, and the right weapon in his hands is deadly. He can be upgraded to attack faster and harder, to stun large groups of zombies, and being a bit of a tinker, he might just have some toys to come along for the ride. The first place John should look is the smithy, where he left his hammer. Everything else is still in his home/workshop - but what could he be hiding there?
Erik Erikson
Erik is a mountain man, through and through. He came to the city to settle down with his daughter a few years back, but hasn't lost his bulk, his grizzle, or his knack for hunting. He has, however, lost his rifle. While his shots don't do as much damage as a sword would, and he doesn't wear anything much heavier than leather (hurts his back, he says), his ability to stay at a distance (when he's properly armed) does wonders for staying alive. He can eventually be upgraded to make skilled headshots, litter the area with bear traps, and he's convince it may just be possible to shove a grenade down the barrel of a rifle.. The old hunter's lodge just outside the city may provide something he can throw with lethal accuracy, if the place hasn't been burned yet. Some goblins have set up a scrapyard in the old part of town, and may even have a dwarven fishing pole or two (guns, idiots) for him to use.
Erika Erikson
What Erik lacks in originality in naming children, he makes up for in the ability to produce beautiful daughters. Erika is a nurse at the local hospital, with a gentle touch and a gentle heart. That isn't to say she's harmless, mind you. Erika was taught to use a bow by her father, and prefers to stay in the back lines, tending to wounds as best as she can while catching zombies in the eye with arrows. Her ability to heal is invaluable in a time when medical supplies and magical healing potions are in severe short supply. She can be upgraded to heal much more efficiently, use her limited knowledge of the light to dispel the occasional undead with a blessed arrow, and to make a given area unpassable by the undead for a short period of time. She's not a priestess, so the cathedral offers little by way of supplies for her. It would probably be wise to find the hospital, stat. The Paladin who has been teaching her the ways of the light may also still be alive somewhere out there, and he might just have something that could help her.
Pete Peterson
A guy named Pete may not sound like the sort of fellow with a dark past, but this Pete has ties to satanic cults. He's been long since reformed, but still weilds the dark arts with some aptitude. Not that he has all of his regeants with him, of course. Pete prefers to keep to himself, which certainly doesn't involve standing around while zombies tear his flesh from his bones. His dark magic, fortunately, is quite effective against the dead. He can be upgraded fire bolts of darkness, the occasional death coil, and in the end he might just learn to pull skeletal minions from the re-dead corpses of the zombies he kills. The local witch may have some supplies for his spells, and he recalls hearing rumors of a bloodstained alter somewhere deep in the woods - perhaps he could derive some energy from there?
