Terminus: Zombie Survivors Reviews

Great game

It's like turn-based DayZ but actually fun

You know how some games look fun when you watch other people play them, but then when you try them yourself, you're like, "meh". This is NOT one of those games. This is even MORE fun than watching other people play it.

With a rough production and an unremarkable price, the game gives no sense of progression from start to finish in a single round.

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 301: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) [i]Terminus: Zombie Survivors[/i] is a gritty, minimalist survival roguelike set in the aftermath of a zombie outbreak. It’s a game about choices, planning, and often dying cold, alone, and in the dark. It features complex, layered systems, a unique end-game, and a relentless tension that keeps each run feeling meaningful. 🥫 [b]Pros:[/b] [list] [*] Extremely replayable, with high-stakes planning baked into every decision. From which character you choose to where you begin your journey, each playthrough has radically different pacing and difficulty. Do you risk the long trek for a well-stocked gun store, or aim for a closer food market that might already be looted? Each run becomes a puzzle of priorities—ammo, meds, warmth, food, and time—all while the city crumbles around you. [*]Clear, intuitive UI that doesn’t waste your time. Menus are clean, inventory management is quick and easy to grasp, and the log messages give just enough flavor without overwhelming. For a game this complex under the hood, the interface does a great job making it all feel manageable. [*]Charming pixel art with surprisingly strong mood. The visuals are minimalist, but they do a lot with a little. Each tile and character sprite is expressive and functional, and there's a quiet, almost melancholy atmosphere to the city that sneaks up on you. [*] A satisfying endgame that gives your journey real payoff. Unlike many survival roguelikes that just end with death or “you made it,” [i]Terminus[/i] gives you a final act worth crawling toward. When you get the clue that Terminus is real and within reach, it becomes a race against the elements, time, and zombies. Reaching it feels earned, not scripted. The final gauntlet includes an all-out zombie assault, sneaking through tunnels, jumping over fences, etc. It's a scene straight out of [i] The Walking Dead.[/i] [*] Mechanics are simple, but surprisingly rich once you dig in. On the surface, it’s "just" turn-based and text-heavy, but there’s real complexity in managing inventory weight, resource scarcity, and travel efficiency. Movement itself is a resource, and walking too long without rest or shelter will absolutely kill you faster than the undead. Get too tired, and you'll just plop down and take a nap (I swear it always happens at the worst times). Recruit other survivors to be your allies or just your packmules. There's just a lot of [i]stuff[/i] going on. [*] Multiple unique characters and unlockable classes give the game some nice flavor. Whether you’re playing as some random dude or a SWAT officer, each character comes with specific perks and flaws. It’s not just about roleplaying; their loadouts and skills dramatically alter the route you’ll want to take to reach the terminus. [/list] 🗺️ [b]Cons:[/b] [list] [*] Little guidance, which can make the early learning curve steep and frustrating. There's a real trial-and-error element here that may frustrate players who want more immediate payoff. If you don’t enjoy poring over menus or slowly learning which items are essential, it might feel annoying rather than satisfying. [*] Runs can feel slow and samey if you're not in the mood. Once the novelty of “survive and reach the end” wears off, there’s not a huge amount of variety in the core loop. You’re doing the same basic thing each time, just with slightly different gear and characters. If you’re not invested in trying new builds or pushing for perfection, it can get repetitive. [/list]

I quite enjoy it! I'd like a bit more survival elements rather than just trying to escape though...

I like this game. First, each playthrough is 1-2 hours for me (by rushing to the Terminus), which is great because it is not too long. Second, to me this is a resource management game, which I like. When awake, you gain AP and HP (if the condition is right), but lose all other resources each turn (e.g., satiety, hydration). When asleep, you gain energy but lose most other resources. The map provides limited resources (e.g., food, water, weapon), but you have to spend resources (e.g., using AP to move, search, and kill zombies in the way) to earn them. The goal is to wisely spend the resources to reach an end goal. It would be great if a co-op mode can be added.

easy game play, reading books does take a bit of time but the skills are usefull

Turn based Project Zomboid. It's awesome. Play the demo ( if you can find it ) and you'll see it's got a good system. Does way more then you'd except of a slightly more then 600 mb game. Only substantial critique; at the time I purchased it was nearly $28 CAD. For me it was worth because I like these kinds of game ( *a lot* ) but I definitely recommend sampling the game first or waiting til it's on sale. At the time of writing this I haven't tried either of the released or planned DLC

Alright. I've played through to two endings already in [i]Terminus:Zombie Survivors[/i]. The Terminus and Fortified House endings. I'm currently in the middle of another run where I've cleared out the Marina and got a boat up and running, but I'm still chasing around the map searching for the requisite skill books in order to actually use said boat, which will then unlock another ending. That is proving easier said than done though, lol. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3533442568 So, this is definitely a game inspired by Project Zomboid and plenty of other zombie related games, movies, and shows besides. The devs have done an excellent job here in thinking through how their zombie apocalypse would look like and the different ways in which survivors will tackle the apocalypse. The goal here being that, in three of the endings, you are definitely trying to escape the city, while in the other three, you are instead looking for ways to stay in the city and indeed thrive here. As such, the map itself is very large, with 100+ locations including a few unique ones such as Terminus itself, the Marina, and the Military Base. The generic locations are houses, fire stations, police stations, grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies, libraries, tunnels, rail stations, parks, gun stores, gas stations, and I'm probably forgetting a few others. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3534100286 The gameplay is action point driven turn-based squares. Each location is unique for the purposes of determining how many squares are available on a local map. There are a lot of factors that affect how much AP you'll have on any given turn, but it boils down to how healthy and well rested you are or aren't. Everything, from movement to searching things to combat have different costs, and those costs are themselves affected by various things such as unlocked traits, your actual ability scores, and such. You always go first, then any survivors in the same area, then zombies. Rinse and repeat. Your primary goal in any of the six scenarios that can play out (as of now) is to accumulate books, weapons, food, clothing, water, medicine, tools, electronics, sleeping gear, and resources for crafting. You have meters for HP, AP, Satiety (hunger), Hydration, Energy, and Morale. Making sure you manage these is the core gameplay experience and everything has an effect on these, including the simple passage of time. If you ignore the latter four, you will start taking damage each turn. Well, except for Morale, which will give your survivor(s) Depression instead, which is a definite AP and accuracy killer. There is also at least one hidden meter: warmth/cold. Additionally, you also have an encumbrance meter, although finding and equipping various bags will reduce your encumbrance. And most of the available gear has a degradation meter, and most of those can be repaired. Some specific items can't though. You will initially choose from three survivor classes, but as you defeat the game and earn points, you unlock new survivor classes. Of all the classes, the most OP one is definitely the Student. Why? Because although you don't begin with as many ability points as a lot of classes, you do have the ability to read books super-fast, and books in this game are how you develop skills and abilities, and how you learn new skills. They're also how you learn new cooking and crafting recipes; and some are morale boosters. And finally, books also will show you where specific types of POIs are on the city map. Everything you do earns you experience points as well, and when you level up, you get to select one of three random skills or skill upgrades. All that said, all the classes are viable. It's just that none are as powerful as the Student can become, because, in addition to reading speed, it's the only class that can re-read books, and as such, it's also the only class that can max out every ability and skill. As a rule, at some point, you will want to find and repair a vehicle. Each uses gas, so gas stations are a must find as well. The city map itself uses a connected node system, and travelling between them has an AP cost. But using a vehicle basically eliminates that and replaces it with a gas cost instead. So, keeping your vehicle topped off and storing extra gas cans in the vehicle is definitely the way to go. You might find it advantageous to consider swapping vehicles and/or maintaining several. For one, some vehicles have a much lower cost to travel between nodes than others. Fire trucks, for example, have an outrageous fuel cost, whereas economy cars use barely any. But they also have limited storage. The most fuel-efficient cars might only hold up to 90# of gear, whereas a fire truck can hold a full 1000#. As with everything else in this game, you are really forced to make decisions with your vehicles. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3534100252 You will meet other survivors at various locations. Talking to them and building up the trust between you will allow you to recruit them. They then become fully playable (although you can choose to let AI run them instead if you want). Each also has its own profession, skills, and abilities. I've had a crew with five survivors, which was great, but three is probably the number to strive for. Whatever number you decide on, it increases your survivability while also increasing how much gear you can carry. I could keep on writing, but I'm running low on Steam's character limit at this point. In my opinion, this is an incredibly fun game. The city changes each run, so each new run is its own fairly unique experience, and this is definitely a game you could sink hundreds of hours into if you were so inclined. Definitely a must play if you enjoy zombie survival and/or turn-based strategy-oriented RPGs with some base-building elements mixed in. T:ZS really offers insane value even at full retail price, which is pretty low at $19.99. Worth a look for sure. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]