The Walking Dead: Destinies is an action-adventure game set in the world of AMC's The Walking Dead television series. Players begin as Rick Grimes in a hospital overrun by the dead and progress through key locations from the early seasons, including Atlanta, the Greene family farm, the prison, and Woodbury. The experience centers on third-person combat against walkers combined with narrative choices that allow players to deviate from the established story events.
Gameplay
Combat takes place in third-person perspective and mixes melee attacks with firearms. Available weapons include bats, katanas, revolvers, shotguns, and crossbows for handling groups of walkers. Resource management forms a core loop, requiring players to scavenge for weapons and ammunition while balancing limited supplies across the party.
Players assemble a roster of characters drawn from the series, such as Rick, Shane, Michonne, Carol, and Daryl. Each character brings distinct abilities that can be leveraged during encounters. Stealth sections allow quieter approaches to threats, while direct confrontations demand coordinated use of the group's skills. Defending camps and rescuing survivors add layers of tension, with a "broken state" mechanic that provides a final window for survival before overwhelming walker numbers end the attempt.
Story progression hinges on choice-driven moments. These decisions can save villains, eliminate heroes, or otherwise redirect the path through familiar events, creating alternate outcomes that players must then navigate.
Game Modes
The game operates exclusively as a single-player experience. There are no multiplayer components or additional modes beyond the main campaign structure. Progression follows a linear sequence of locations and events from the source material, interrupted by the branching choices that alter character fates and group composition.
Resource scavenging and party management occur throughout the single-player campaign. These systems encourage repeated playthroughs to explore different decision paths and their consequences on the surviving roster.
Story and Characters
The narrative covers events from the first four seasons of the television series. Players control up to 13 iconic figures across the journey, switching between them as the story advances. Choices made at critical junctures permanently affect which characters remain available and how events unfold at later locations.
Iconic set pieces from the show serve as backdrops for both combat and decision points. The focus remains on survival decisions rather than open-world exploration, keeping the experience tied to the reimagined timeline.
Is It Worth Playing?
Reception for The Walking Dead: Destinies has been overwhelmingly negative since its December 2023 release. Reviewers and players have highlighted technical issues, repetitive combat, and limited depth in the choice system as major drawbacks. The single-player campaign offers the core experience described in the premise, but execution falls short of expectations for fans of the source material or action-adventure titles.
Those seeking a faithful retelling with meaningful alterations to the established story may find the premise intriguing on paper. However, the documented reception suggests the game struggles to deliver satisfying gameplay or narrative payoffs. Potential buyers should consider the consistent reports of bugs and shallow mechanics before purchasing on PC.
