Hello and welcome to the dark world of... Infection!

The year is 2011, and a terrible infection has spread across the United States, this was a sort of flu that was also highly contagious. Hospitals were overrun with infected patients and the epidemic brought to the collapse of the US since also plants and animabls began to perish.
But the situations became even worse since there is no cure, and the infected became more and more aggressive and hostile towards other people, starting a series of mindless murders that destroyed the country from the inside.
This sounds like the plot of "28 Days Later" (or "Crossed" if you read comics, even if the infected of Infection aren't so intelligent/autodestructive), and the adventure starts... four weeks later! (close enough!)


The infected may be former humans or animals, and there is some variety of them (even if I'd have liked a much more varied bestiary, sorry!)

In this adventure we play as Jonathan, a man who was happily married to Natalya, and now he's running from the infects with Michelle on the streets of Anchor Point, Alaska. No, wait, there is no intrigue here, Jonathan killed Natalya but because she was infected, and he later met this girl. Unfortunately Michelle hasn't a great impact in the story, even if she is a useful companion, and so is the non-infected-dog (that she will call Lucky) that will soon be the third party member of the team of fugitives. Besides these three the only real characters that are met are some other survivors, like Kessler, that seems to be the protagonist of another game set in the same world. In the end the story is centered on the escape from the city and on Jonathan, thanks to some dialogues and flashbacks. It's the classical survival horror story (I never mentioned the word "zombies" because there are no real zombies, anyway it's close enough to many zombie stories but with more intelligent opponents, since for example the infected cops can still use guns!).

Now, the gameplay: the game is clearly a survival horror so the typical rpgmaker system is changed thanks to some gritty features. First there are no random encounters, but enemies are visible and avoidable, but once combat start it's impossible to run away (but at least once killed they stay dead!). Second, it's impossible to heal during combat but only after or before... except if you use a First Aid Kit, but this is an exception to the rule since they are extremely rare unlike foor and other healing items.
The characters have sills that cost no MP so they can use them as much as they want, but they are just an adrenaline attack buff and a break free move to escape from grapples. Later molotov bombs and even a gun becomes available but most of the time the characters will equip different melee weapons and clothing that can improve their stats. There are also magazines that can improve permanently their skills, but do not expect to grind, an mind that also enemies will be stronger in later parts (so spare the bullets for them!). But here's some good news for you: there are no save points since you can save anytime and anywhere! Cool!


Minigame time! I had to pick a lock and solve a minigame to do this! Success, of course!

Also... but you probably guessed this... no money! Yes, obviously you cannot buy items and consumables in the stores (not there is any) but Jonathan and Michelle are forced to loot and search for them. Besides combat and exploration there is also a lockpick minigame (pretty easy) and some sections that differs from the normal gameplay, but nothing really new or special. Anyway it helps breaking the monotony of the lack of variety, after all the story is simple and linear, there are no different routes or options and the enemies are just the infected (I mean see how Resident Evil started as a zombie movie and then introduced an incredible bestiary of weird monsters!).

Graphically the game is interesting: there are no vibrant colors (like in other rpgmaker games), on the contrary all is in gray color tones, there is fog and maps are competently made, even if the city looks a bit generic, but the setting is bleak and dark, so it really enforces the atmosphere of a postapocalyptic world. Monsters are taken from the Shin Megami Tensei games, and that was a good choice since they are simple but realistic (I mean unlike the usual chibi zombies or cartoony monsters, it's a pity that the charsets do not use a similar style). The game includes also facesets but unfortunately they have no different expressions, so they do not look so necessary, but it's ok. Music is atmospheric and used sparingly, there are also sounds that are reserved for the right moments, so I think this was appropriate due to the genre and atmosphere that was created.


We're near the end of the game, but I see something shining there! Every resource will help!


Final Verdict
Uhm strangely this game has some similitude with the recent pandemic situation... anyway luckily it's not so tragic. Yes, this is a bleak game, do not expect humor or funny situations. It's a classical, no wait, very classical survival horror adventure game that leaves a lot unexplained but present an immersive simple escape scenario.
It's funny noting that the developer has made several similar games: Dystopian Zombies, Resident Evil : Road to Raccoon City AND of course the cancelled prequel Infection : Kessler's Run, that is still available and I may try sooner or later.
In the end this is not a perfect game but a solid one, competently made with some neat features (for example I like how guns aren't treated like weapons but like accessories, so you can still use melee weapons an shoot without needing to access the inventory). Well done, that's a classic survival rpgmaker game!