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The Next Big Survival Game on Mobile?

169K View2022-08-10

I think I should start with a note that I've never seen a survival game project as ambitious for mobile devices as Project EVO. It's probably the first mobile game that I've played which felt more like playing not just a simplified mini version of DAY Z, but more like a full survival game experience just ported on a small screen. I can easily see the appeal of this game being ported on PC and Console in the near future as well, but first, let's focus on mobile.

In terms of graphics, the game looks great. And not only because it's being made in Unread Engine 5, but the overall art direction and detailed environment manage to capture that feeling of post-apocalyptic, zombie infested world almost perfectly. Fans of big titles in this genre like RUST will be able to easily appreciate the world that the developer built here. The animations and movement are spot on for the most part except for some zombie encounters that still look a bit janky.

But there was one thing that really bugged me with how the game looks. Just why all the recent third-person survival and battle royale games on mobile look kinda samey? The UI, items, buildings, and even character models are all very similar. If nobody told me what game it was and I looked at it, I would assume that it's just a new survival mode in PUBG Mobile with updated graphics. I mean even the text font they use here is almost exactly the same.

Just add a circle in the center and it will look like another BR map. Amirite?

Okay, now let's talk about the gameplay part, which is actually pretty straightforward in Project EVO. Here we have a "by the book" crafting system, humanity's go-to resources to collect, and of course the building system for building your dream shelter. Everything works as you'd expect it to work if you played any survival game before. I enjoyed the building part a bit more than exploring, but that's just my preferred way of playing these type of games. A small detail that I liked here is the fact that you can directly lock your door with a 4-digit code (even though it's just a wooden door lol). But hey, at least it feels a bit safer right from the beginning.

Also, for traversing the terrain you can ride an actual HORSE here (which was also a bit OP btw). The controls and animations for it felt surprisingly good, except for the occasional bugs here and there. But that's totally understandable for an early alpha build that we had here.

*yeehaw

The encounters with zombies and AI were pretty intense and the game instantly lets you know that mastering the combat mechanics is crucial. It took me some time to learn the ropes of dodging and attacking while also keeping an eye on my vitals. Trust me, it's super easy to die in this game. I've only encountered a couple of other players and they all looked a bit clueless so I didn't really get to that PVP experience during the playtest. But I do expect it to be one of the main end game activities and as the developer mentioned, it will also be a level playing field for everyone. Hopefully they will stand with their promise on this one.

Overall, except for the occasional bugs and some balancing issues I pretty much enjoyed my time in the alpha test for Project EVO and I'm definitely gonna keep my eye on the further development of this game. At least at its core this game has something special to offer and there is definitely some potential for it to be the next big survival game on mobile.