This past weekend I was at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 (which was both great and so tiring), and I got to check out Disruptor Beam’s upcoming The Walking Dead: March to War. Kristen Halloran, Producer at Disruptor Beam, and Mike Leoncavallo, Senior Game Designer of March to War, talked to me about their plans for the game and showed off various parts of the game. First of all, I have to say that the game has one of the most gorgeous maps I’ve seen on games of this genre. As you can see from the trailer below, the developers went with a map that fits perfectly with the comic book art and should make playing the game more visually rewarding.
Kristen Halloran pointed out that they’ve put a lot of resources into the map visuals, and they made sure they add enough variety so the map feels more like real locations rather than cookie-cutter, repetitive assets. Weather effects and day/night cycles also add to the atmosphere, and if you’re familiar with the real-life areas surrounding Washington D.C., you’ll get a kick out of seeing familiar locations looking all devastated.
In terms of gameplay, Mike Leoncavallo showed off how familiar faces from the comic books act as your council members that are essential to leading your survivors on missions. Each of them has unlockable skills that further boost your survivors. Speaking of the survivors, it was fun to see how Disruptor Beam tried to flesh them out by adding short, silly character descriptions. Early on in development, Disruptor Beam stated that it hoped to make you care about the various survivors you’ll be leading, and between the character descriptions and specialized skills, I think they’ve done a good job “humanizing" them.
The focus on taking on other players in a fight for domination—similar to the last two seasons of The Walking Dead TV show—should make for a fun experience that fits well with the IP, although I didn’t have a chance to check out how those raids will work. The battles for control over the landmarks (Pentagon, the White House) should also make for some fun moments. I liked seeing those landmarks looking all ripped apart and barricaded. And, to return to the visuals for a moment, the landmarks are very nicely drawn.
If these kinds of social games aren’t your thing or you don’t care much about The Walking Dead world, you won’t really care much about a game like The Walking Dead: March to War. If, however, you are into games of this genre, I think you’ll find a lot to like in March to War. The art is pretty cool, and Disruptor Beam is doing a good job bringing the popular IP to life. The game is currently in soft launch in the Philippines and should be coming out later this summer. In the meantime, head over to our forums to chat about the game.
