🪓🩸🏥 A Way To Be Dead | PC | Review | Early Access | "Find 4 Friends Before You Buy This!" 🪓🩸🏥 @CraniaGames #GameDev #IndieGames

Turkish game devs Crania games bring us a grim-looking asymmetrical multiplayer game that is currently available in Early Access and runs in good ol’ Unreal Engine 4. 

A Way To Be Dead is actually set in the universe of the team’s previous 2017 game, Roots of Insanity https://store.steampowered.com/app/598440/Roots_of_Insanity/ which garnered some good Steam reviews and was also set in a chilling, skin-crawling hospital.

When it comes down to it let's just say this right upfront. A Way To Be Dead is a game that will live or die by its player count. Unfortunately, it’s a situation whereby you may struggle to get a an online game on regular occasions and that could ultimately be the death of this early access game that leans in on the Dead By Daylight formula but just can’t deliver on it at the moment.

Way to be Dead is an asymmetrical multiplayer (4 vs 1) game where a deranged doctor is on the hunt for a group of victims who are trying to escape from a zombie-infested hospital.

The atmosphere feels good when you are dropped into the hospital map and the overall feeling of foreboding hits home straight away as you begin the hunt for weapons as a survivor. You get that Manhunt / early Resident Evil games feel of helplessness and perilous fear.

You are tasked with hiding from whoever is playing as the doctor and basically escaping the hospital by finding the key on one of the fallen bodies that litter the map, it’s a pretty simple concept that could work really well if the lobbies were busy or maybe if there were bot options for games whereby the lobbies are not busy.

The game is obviously in its early access phase and a certain amount of leeway can be given for games in EA especially when the game only costs a fiver but it’s really hard to evaluate a game whereby it’s so tough to get a game on.

If you do purchase this game you will immediately feel the lack of tutorial and that is filled by the gameplay tips page which might not be immediately obvious when you first launch the game and get stuck into the gameplay (assuming you can find 4 other willing people to play with!)

Right, I’m off to eat some hearts and crawl down a sewer grate.