The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
The good news – Norman Reedus eventually got a good starring role in video games thanks to Death Stranding. The bad news – he, along with Michael Rooker, had to suffer through The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, reprising their roles as Daryl and Merle Dixon from AMC’s TV series. Serving as a, shocker, prequel to the show, Survival Instinct saw the brothers battling zombies and foraging for supplies en route to Atlanta. Along with managing ammo and food, the duo would encounter other people who had as much impact on the plot as creator Robert Kirkman did on development (read: very little).
Pretty much everything about the experience screamed “blatant cash-grab” with subpar visuals, awful controls and repetitive environments. An action-oriented title with substance was very much doable – see The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – but Survival Instinct made it look like a nearly insurmountable task.
