The Walking Dead: Onslaught had a rough debut when it launched late last month. The Steam version is hovering around a 5/10 user score average and I scored it a 2/5 in my review. Fortunately, Survios seems aware of the major issues and is working hard to remedy what they can.
In a massive update post, the developer outlines what it’s calling the Combat Rebalance Patch, which makes “significant changes” to the game’s combat system and zombie behavior.
One of the biggest issues at launch was the relative weakness of most firearms and other ranged weapons. The default starting knife was an instant one-hit kill if you stabbed the brain and didn’t even require much force, whereas guns would require multiple shots. There is no durability system in Onslaught, so there was little reason not to use the basic knife 90% of the time. That’s been changed quite dramatically.
According to the update, “all ranged weapons” now allow one-hit kills to the brain at close range, but less damage obviously to the jaw, neck, and below. There is also now damage drop off depending on distance, which can be improved at the workbench. Additionally, “all melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked” so that less damage is dealt to the non-brain areas of the head. Blades also get stuck in skulls requiring more force to pull them out and dead walkers will no longer automatically slip off onto the ground.
Other highlights include increased walker perception and aggression, higher damage from walkers, larger groups of walkers, and more. Progression is also eased so you’re not grinding for resources as much, plus a litany of other changes. You can read the full patch notes right here.
This still doesn’t address some of our key concerns from the review, such as the red misty fog indicated the “horde” approaching or the quality of other areas, but it’s a great start on quick notice less than a month after release.
Let us know what you think of these changes down in the comments below!
