The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival Review

It’s hard to believe that the first series of The Walking Dead blossomed sixteen years ago. Since then, we have had many experiences using the cast in video games. If you’re familiar, then you’ll probably recall the popular Telltale series of games with some less popular spin-off games attempting to nestle in amongst them. The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival, developed by Odaclick Game Studio and published by Trialmark Games, releases on Xbox Series X/S on 18th September 2026. Featuring some of the iconic main characters such as Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Michonne and Negan, this is an all-new adventure in a totally different genre from the narrative experiences of the past.

If you’ve played games like Streets of Rage or any side-scrolling beat-em-up, then you’ll be instantly familiar with how this one handles. You’ll mostly be moving from left to right, working your way through levels, slaying off zombies and defeating bosses. What I did enjoy was that each character has their own range of weaponry. Daryl has his trusty crossbow alongside a knife, Rick possesses a Magnum and a hatchet, Michonne slashes down enemies with a sword, and finally Negan comes armed with a bat. Michonne was probably my favourite out of all characters since her sword seems to be the most effective and robust weapon in the game.

Michonne is the only character in the game who can’t collect additional weapons, whereas all of the others can. You can carry two guns at once and swap between them on the fly, and whilst it took me a little bit of time to get used to the aiming mechanic, it’s effective, and you can switch between who you want to fire at. I’d advise you to use your ammo wisely since it is scarce and you’ll then be limited to melee combat in potentially intense moments. The number of times I ran through my ammo and then got caught short was more than I’d have liked.

Dodging is possible, but it isn’t a feature that can be spammed, as there is a cooldown which can be improved with upgrades later through your journey. You need to be mindful with upgrades since sinking them all into one character may mean you struggle during the later levels, as you’ll play as some of the other cast. Upgrading costs knowledge, which is collected by discovering items and simple progression through the levels. That said, even when upgrading and getting faster cooldowns alongside stuff like the ability to hold more health packs and extended range on gunfire, I always found the combat quite clunky and robotic, and it can be quite easy to become overwhelmed.

Perhaps the strongest point of The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is the presentation of the game. The development team have done great work to capture the likeness of the characters and their own fighting style. The retro, pixel-art aesthetic is lush with some brilliant design on the environments you’ll pass through. The atmosphere does have that dark, gritty feel where any moment can feel like immediate claustrophobia. Music is atmospheric and matches the dark, dingy settings you’ll find yourself walking through. Whilst there are no voiced lines, sadly, I’d imagine the budget for that would be sky high, there are some lines of dialogue sprinkled throughout the story.

The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival was a nice little four-hour stint; it’s fairly short to run through. It comes with many bugbears, though, and I often grew frustrated at its clunkiness more than anything. I kept wishing it had the fluidity of games like Streets of Rage 4 or TMNT Shredder’s Revenge. The number of times I succumbed to death was due to the mechanics of the game rather than personal mistakes. There was also a huge missed opportunity for some kind of co-operative play here; it simply doesn’t exist in either local or online play. Perhaps that could be something the developers could add in at a later stage. For the amount of content you get in return, it is difficult to totally recommend at its price point of £24.99 for the base edition.

If you’re a huge fan of The Walking Dead franchise or simply adore side-scrolling beat-em-ups, you’ll likely enjoy it for what it is. If you want to extend the longevity and have a reason to replay, The Walker Pit is pretty good fun, but you can only access it with the Deluxe Edition or by purchasing the add-on, which makes it feel like part of the game is behind a paywall. If you fancy picking up a copy on Xbox Series X/S or simply to add to that all-important Xbox Play Anywhere library, you can grab a copy HERE.

Our score

7/10

Good

Xbox Nation Verdict