Unturned Review: Survival Of The Blockiest

Unturned is one of those games that is best with pals. Have a look at the screenshots, and Unturned, from Smartly Dressed Games, looks quite nice. Sure, it’s blocky, but that didn’t stop Minecraft from selling 37 copies of the game on the Amstrad 800, and it has as many as 200 players, sworn to its online community.

After spending a laughable amount of time with customisation options, I entered a game and was unimpressed. The animation of the character was clunky; they’d hover mid-air, and the speed at which this all happened was abysmal. Engaging in my first contact with a zombie, I was already dismissive of the game and thought I’d come back to it when in a different frame of mind.

Taking off the judgment goggles for a moment, I went back into Unturned, a little fresh-faced and allowed myself to die a few more times. Not for the sake of it, but purely because the movement wasn’t very responsive, and I was learning the ropes. Punching zombies with your bare hands isn’t as useful as a hammer.

This aimless wandering was only scratching the surface, as once you allow yourself to indulge a little, time begins to seem like a concept, and the hours start to clock up. What is it that makes this game indulgent? Freedom, choice, a minimalist approach, crafting and the fact that it’s a unique experience every single time.

Unturned is a survival game; there’s no question about it, but how you go about it is entirely up to you. Choose from an extensive range of classes from ninjas to nurses, each with their own suitable perks and apparel, and ‘charm’ if you’re a Roblox fan. I’m not, so I didn’t like the models at all. The scenery was lovely, though. Come see Germany, Hawaii and the kitchen of a Pizza Express. The last one is made up.

Each dedicated class has a list of skills that can be upgraded, such as my chosen special ops chap has a high sharpshooter stat, but the shared stats of cardio and dexterity are vital for survival and crafting. The surviving element translates into the real world as I was struggling to stay invested with the initial speed at which you move, frequently running out of stamina.

Does this port well over to the PS4? I haven’t played the Steam version, but if you take a look around on the store, you’ll see that Unturned is pretty high in the rankings. That might be because it’s free, with a token payment for the better servers, but take a look at the feedback and see how many are still playing it after all these years, and you might surmise that this game has something to offer.

The defining part of Unturned on the PS4 is the multiplayer aspect. Playing online is the key to enjoyment with this game, and I have to say that the servers for the PS4 were lacking the times I played this. I don’t believe this is cross-platform, and as it’s a new game, not surprised to see low numbers at first (I’d put money on it that the servers will boom in the coming weeks).

Based in the UK, I tried to connect with local servers, which were predominantly in Frankfurt, but zero players. Instead, I took flight across to the land of Hawaii during this pandemic and teamed up with three players. Unfortunately, the level was huge, and by the time I could find them, they’d left. Or maybe they saw me coming?

Then again, look at the figures on YouTube, and you’ll see that the most popular videos are often watched by a select demographic that may or may not be part of the TikTok fanbase. With all that in mind, and concluding that I’m an old git and out of touch with online gaming, given my position, Unturned is an interesting game and will be worth a look for Minecraft or Roblox fans. I do believe the latter is mostly mini-games, while Unturned is a bona fide survival game that is huge.

What it all boils down to is what I mentioned in the opener, that it’s down to who you play with. The PS4 servers weren’t exactly electrifying, but it’s early days. As a fan of playing solo or with friends locally, the lonesome option wasn’t so great, and I grew bored.

Don’t judge a book by its cover, as I did with Unturned. Get past the ugly character models and clunky animations, and there is a vast world out there to explore with plenty of things to collect, craft, and battle, with more than enough content for you to stream on the YouTubes if you’re that way inclined.