I’m a big fan of base-building and management games. I’d go so far as to say they’re one of my main comfort genres in gaming. So, when I had the opportunity to review Undead Inc., a title I had been looking forward to for months, I jumped at the chance. But does it live up to the hype? Here is our official Undead Inc. review!
Editor’s Note: The Guide Hall received a review copy of the game from the developer/publisher/PR for the purpose of this review. Their generosity does not impact our overall opinion or thoughts on the game!
The Good
First and foremost, let’s discuss the positives about Undead Inc. The setting, story, world design, and many of the gameplay mechanics, including research, business management, and base-building, all prove exceptionally interesting and fun. I typically shoot for a base-building game in which I design the structure myself, but it’s sometimes nice to sit back, plop down a room, and let the bots do all the work.
There are numerous rooms to select, and you likely can’t construct all of them in a single structure. It’s essential to plan accordingly and to think ahead as to what your strategy for each map will entail.
Your goal in Undead Inc. is to create a profitable pharmaceutical company, albeit one that experiments with dangerous bioweaponry underground for additional profit. It’s like you’re Umbrella Corp from Resident Evil, and that’s super exciting and enticing!
As you progress through the game’s various maps and story, learning the mechanics, earning a profit, and experimenting with different forms of weapons and diseases, you’ll find it’s a good bit of fun for a few hours. The time passes quickly, which is the hallmark of an entertaining game. But it requires work, so let’s dive into the negatives!
The Bad
Unfortunately, there are quite a few items in the cons column regarding Undead Inc. It’s a bit buggy occasionally; the tutorial severely lacks any substance, the dialogue is some of the strangest and most cringe I’ve witnessed, and there’s a distinct lack of content. You’ll run through the entire story relatively fast, even for a $20 game.
Perhaps my biggest gripe with Undead Inc., more so than the bugs or crashes, stems from the controls and the AI. They’re both unintuitive and broken. It’s so tricky to navigate with the camera, unselect workers, and quickly choose items from the menu. It’s just a pain.
As for the AI, sometimes they don’t listen to a single command I provide. For instance, your worker will refuse to follow your command when attempting to explore the underground to uncover additional building space for more nefarious research rooms. I had one worker run up and down the staircase from street level to the underground in a neverending loop. I had to restart the game to fix the problem, and even then, forcing him to uncover the buildable space barely functioned.
Final Verdict
Overall, while the game sits at ‘Mostly Negative’ on Steam, I don’t think that’s entirely fair or warranted. Yes, Undead Inc. features a few quirks, odd design choices, and the occasional bug or crash that causes headaches. It’s not an overly broken title, though. It does have redeeming qualities. A low ‘Mixed’ rating would make more sense, honestly.
That said, the developer likely would have benefitted highly from launching in Early Access.
There’s a fun concept buried underneath a bit too much jank. The tutorial requires reworking, the AI refuses to listen to commands half the time, and the odd hangup or crash can significantly break the flow of gameplay. I genuinely hope the studio can push out a few updates to redeem the game and its overall premise!