Thank you Vidiludi Games and Entertainment for sending us a review code!

Immune - True Survival was released in 2015 and has fluctuated in pricing and was free for a short while. The price tag is currently a mere 99 cents, but has been on sale for half as much. Like many free or inexpensive games, there are optional micro-transactions available to buy keys if you prefer not to earn them in-game. Keys are used to open chests containing cosmetic items.

When launching the game you’ll be prompted to select a server and then go through a tutorial that shows you the basic controls. There’s not much of a backstory but according to the game’s website, Immune takes place in an apocalyptic world after the outbreak of a devastating pandemic. In this barren world exists gasmask-clad humans who shoot zombies or survivors in the face without warning. Since the servers are empty, I wasn’t able to interact with live players, but you can attack and loot them or team up with them and take on the hordes of zombies/raiders.

No matter how friendly or aggressive you choose to be, your main objective is to survive in these barren wastelands. Like Minecraft, you can harvest wood from trees, meat from animals, and can craft various items including weapons and armor. The types of items you can craft get better in quality as you level up in the game. In the beginning you can craft simple wooden clubs and bandages but later on you can make guns and better armor as long as you have the experience and items on hand. There are some friendly outposts where you can buy food, materials, and most importantly, medicine. Leveling up is done by completing missions assigned at outposts, crafting items, or killing enemies. Some missions will have you rescuing people while others require you to assassinate them.

When fighting against giant spiders and zombies, you may become infected and have to take antibiotics before your health runs out. As long as you have a full stomach, your health will regenerate automatically. Cows, pigs, and sheep can be killed for food. You may want to stay away from the bulls since they put up a fight. Planting and harvesting potatoes and berries is possible if you prefer going vegan. Various beverages including alcoholic ones are available for consumption as well.

I have tried both a gamepad and keyboard/mouse controls and found both of them lacking. Killing easy prey like livestock is a challenge with the horrible controls. Cooking food isn’t explained very well and I had to go to the Steam community forums to figure out how to cook raw meat and potatoes. In order to cook food you have to throw it on the ground near a campfire and then wait a few moments. As I was waiting for my raw meat to cook, a feral dog/wolf came by and ate it. Though frustrating, the mutt did turn out to be a helpful companion and assisted me in taking down many zombies. Since the controls are so poor, I hit the dog on accident while attacking on numerous occasions. Sometimes it would retaliate and other times it would not.

When attacking you will see blood. As your character takes damage the screen will show blood splatters and go dimmer and dimmer until you die. In the event of your death, any items in your backpack (except for gold) will be left behind and can be reclaimed as long as another player doesn’t beat you to them. Since the servers were empty, that didn’t pose a problem for me. However, upon your demise, your character is randomly placed on the map and any active quests are cancelled out.

To cover long distances there are jeeps that can help you get around quickly. I did learn the hard way that a group of zombies will win against a vehicle so steer clear of them. I thought running them over Carmageddon style would be fun, but I was mistaken.

Overall, Immune is disappointing on many levels. Visually this game isn’t very impressive and the open world is very bland and outdated. The sound effects are decent but there isn’t any voice acting or background music to speak of. At least there are cricket noises to let you know how empty the world is. Perhaps this game would be more fun if there more people playing on the servers. If an empty survival world game sounds appealing to you, the price of entry is a mere 99 cents.