The Ultimate Guide to Mastering The Walking Dead: Destinies' Intense Gameplay Stress System

According to game director Paulo Luis Santos, the allure of The Walking Dead: Destinies lies in its unique ability to allow players to determine the fate of characters. However, it is crucial that the actual gameplay aligns with the immersive storytelling experience to some extent. Santos explains that the combat in the game is inspired by the TV show, where players can easily confront a single walker and handle two without much difficulty. However, facing larger groups, particularly swarms, poses a significantly greater challenge.

In order to enhance the gameplay, The Walking Dead: Destinies incorporates a "stress system" designed to intensify the pressure and survival aspect of the game. This system mirrors one of the defining aspects of the TV show, where the audience could never be certain of any character's safety. The stress system effectively reinforces this concept, heightening the sense of uncertainty and vulnerability.

When Santos describes it, sustaining excessive damage in the game leads to an intense condition known as "Broken." Consequently, the character in Walking Dead: Destinies experiences a mental deterioration and undergoes significant changes in gameplay to ensure survival. However, if players manage to adapt to these changes, a renewed sense of resilience restores the gameplay to its normal state, albeit with a caveat.

"Moreover, this taxing ordeal leaves the character marked with a Scar, which mildly weakens them and can be remedied by engaging in other in-game actions. It's worth noting that Scars bear resemblance to the Malfunctions found in Returnal."

Players will have to wait for the release date of The Walking Dead: Destinies to find out exactly what Scars do, how many players can have them, and other related details. However, a helpful comparison can be made with Returnal. In Returnal, Malfunctions are acquired by interacting with Malignant objects. This can lead to various negative effects such as reduced weapon damage, longer cooldowns, distorted maps, increased damage from specific sources, and more. Malfunctions can be eliminated by defeating enemies, collecting certain items, using keys, or completing various tasks. This indicates that the stress system in The Walking Dead: Destinies raises the stakes, and although it may offer some benefits in certain situations, the resulting Scar can pose additional risks to the player. We are yet to discover the precise actions that trigger these Scars and gauge the actual level of stress that the system imparts.

However, it's satisfying to discover that The Walking Dead: Destinies stays true to the survival themes of the show, even though it is not classified as a survival game.

The highly anticipated release of The Walking Dead: Destinies is scheduled for November 14th and will be available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.