Not Quite Dead: Open World Survival

Introduction

Not Quite Dead: Open World Survival, in Early Access from Voidecho Studio since 1 September 2026, sends players into a zombie-infested open world to loot, craft, build bases and survive, alone or with friends, backed by vehicles, boats and aircraft. Five days into Early Access it sits Mixed with English-speaking players — 58% positive across 157 reviews — and reading through a large slice of that sample surfaces two genuinely distinct stories running in parallel: a specific, widely repeated comparison to an existing survival game that a large share of reviewers treat as close to a clone, and a separate, more concrete set of survival-balance and technical problems that don't depend on resolving that comparison either way.

A widespread, disputed comparison

The single most repeated observation across this review's research is a direct comparison to an existing zombie survival game called Surroundead. Reviewers describe overlapping setting, systems and, in some specific accounts, reused visual assets, with several stating outright that they turned this game off to go play Surroundead instead, and one bluntly calling it "a copy of Surroundead but worse." This is a specific, named comparison repeated independently by a large number of reviewers rather than a vague genre resemblance. It is also directly disputed: at least one reviewer explicitly frames the negative review pattern as an unfair "review bombing" campaign, arguing that shared genre conventions and a broadly similar art style don't amount to copying. This review has not compared the two games' assets or systems directly and cannot resolve which framing is more accurate — what can be reported is that the comparison is unusually specific, named, and widespread for a Mixed-reception Early Access title, which on its own is worth flagging clearly to anyone considering a purchase.

Survival balance and hit detection that go beyond early rough edges

Separate from that dispute, this review found concrete, independently corroborated problems. Multiple reviewers report that food and water depletion is severe enough to cause repeated deaths even on easy difficulty and with perks specifically meant to ease survival pressure equipped — one reviewer states plainly they died "death after death" despite using both. Ranged combat draws its own specific complaint: several reviewers independently report unreliable hit detection, with more than one noting that firing from the hip lands more consistently than aiming down sights, a serious problem given some weapons deal roughly ten times more damage on a critical hit than a normal one. Enemies are also reported, by more than one reviewer, to occasionally fall through the map entirely, and vehicle handling — cars and helicopters specifically — is described as unresponsive or unpredictable by several independent reports.

A death loop with a serious data-loss risk

Beyond ordinary difficulty, this review found a specific, serious technical concern: one detailed reviewer reports that if the game crashes while a player is attempting to recover items from a previous death, the entire inventory can be permanently lost rather than merely delayed. Compounding this, separate reviewers report that the area around a death location becomes immediately swarmed with more zombies, and that respawn points can land a player more than a kilometre from where their lost items sit — turning a single death into a genuinely difficult, sometimes irrecoverable, setback rather than the manageable setback survival games in this genre typically aim for. A distinct weather-system complaint compounds this further: at least two independent reviewers report being killed by a sudden storm immediately upon spawning, with no realistic way to prepare or react in time.

Itemization that doesn't yet reward specialization

A smaller but specific design complaint concerns the weapon-upgrade system. Multiple reviewers report that dismantling any weapon — a knife, bow, pistol, rifle or SMG alike — yields the exact same generic "weapon parts," which are then spent on upgrades regardless of weapon category. One detailed review calls this one of the biggest structural problems in the current build, since it removes any real incentive to specialize in, or carefully manage, a particular weapon type rather than simply stockpiling an undifferentiated resource. Combined with a skill tree more than one reviewer separately calls thin or underwhelming in its current state, the itemization layer as a whole reads as underdeveloped relative to the base survival and building systems around it.

A developer reviewers trust, even when frustrated

Set against all of the above, one signal is unusually consistent and worth taking seriously: the developer's responsiveness draws specific, repeated praise across the sample, including from reviewers who otherwise list serious complaints. One reviewer who had already refunded the game says they repurchased it specifically because of how much the developer visibly cares about player feedback, calling it the best communication they've seen from a developer in ten years on Steam. Multiple other reviewers separately credit the team with actively listening to both praise and criticism this early in the game's life. For a rough Early Access launch with real, substantive problems, that's a meaningfully positive signal about the game's likely trajectory, even if it doesn't change the state of the build as it ships today.

Final Verdict

Not Quite Dead: Open World Survival has real potential its own reviewers keep pointing to — vehicles and aircraft rarely seen in this genre, a base-building and crafting foundation with room to grow, and a developer players trust to keep improving it. What holds this score down is that its current problems go beyond ordinary Early Access rawness: survival balance harsh enough to make even easy difficulty feel punishing, unreliable ranged combat, a death loop with a real risk of permanently losing an entire inventory, and an unusually widespread, specific — if disputed — comparison to an existing game in the same space. Worth watching for how quickly the actively engaged development team addresses these issues; not yet worth buying for players who want a comfortable, well-tuned survival experience today.