The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is a side-scrolling beat ’em up from Odaclick Game Studio, published by Trailmark Games, the publisher behind TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants. It launched on PC and consoles on September 18 at $19.99 and currently sits at Positive on Steam, though only across 23 reviews so far.
Our verdict: This arcade brawler delivers satisfying walker-smashing action with beloved characters and brutal combos that fans will absolutely love. The one big caveat is that you’ll be loving it alone.
All Out War, Four Survivors, and Lucille
The campaign draws on the All Out War storyline, the conflict with Negan’s Saviors. A player placed it around season 8 of the show. You’ll fight through familiar places, including the Sanctuary, Hilltop and Alexandria, along with walker-infested tunnels and hostile strongholds.
His magnum, and a fighting style built around the man who holds the group together.
The crossbow, naturally. Each survivor has unique stats and signature abilities.
The katana. Fast, clean and exactly what fans will want.
Lucille, waiting to be earned. “Little pig, little pig, let me in!”
The bosses lean hard into fan service: fan-favourite walkers like Winslow and the Well Walker, plus multi-phase fights against Negan and Simon. For viewers, recognising those moments is a big part of the appeal, and players who watch the AMC series say they’re enjoying it for exactly that reason.
The Length Is Right, and the Price Fits It
Streets of Survival is short. The most detailed review argued that’s a strength: “the length is just right for the genre,” and plenty of modern beat ’em ups feel bloated from padding out their hour count. They made the point bluntly: if you judge a game’s worth by how long the first run takes, “I cannot help you.”
At $19.99, they called it “very reasonably priced for the amount of content in it.” Multiple difficulty levels and an optional Easy Mode add some replay, along with 38 achievements that one player said look very achievable for a 100% completion.
No Co-Op in a Co-Op Genre
The Controls Need Work
The Chokepoint Problem
Here’s the most interesting criticism in the reviews, and it comes straight out of the game’s best ideas. Odaclick experimented with level structure, moving away from the flat corridors of traditional belt-scrollers. The trouble is that level geometry lets you funnel enemies into chokepoints and take them out one at a time.
As one reviewer put it, the threat of being surrounded is a core part of beat ’em ups, and the game has “no real answer” to that. In a Walking Dead game, where being swarmed is the whole horror of the thing, that matters more than usual. It’s the cost of the experimentation, and it’s fixable in future level design.
Other smaller notes: some players aren’t fans of stats and levelling trees in a brawler, the art isn’t especially detailed, and one player wished for more walker and character sounds and music closer to the show’s theme to sell the atmosphere.
Things to Know Going In
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good | The Bad | The Ugly |
|---|---|---|
| A Surprisingly Solid CoreNo jumping or grappling, but a simple, deliberate moveset built around crowd control, positioning and a free heavy finisher that you earn by staying aggressive. A player who expected a cash-in left surprised. | No D-Pad MovementSeveral players flagged it. In a side-scroller, stick-only movement costs precision, and one reviewer kept swinging while facing the wrong way. | Single-Player OnlyNo co-op of any kind in a genre built on it. Even players who recommend the game call it a missed opportunity, and one called it “inexcusable for a beat ’em up coming out in 2026.” |
| Fan Service Done ProperlyRick, Daryl, Michonne and an unlockable Negan with Lucille. The Sanctuary, Hilltop and Alexandria. Winslow, the Well Walker, Negan and Simon as bosses. Fans of the show are enjoying it for exactly that. | No Remapping and a DualSense Inventory IssueYou can’t rebind controls, and one player never managed to open their inventory because the listed touchpad button only paused the game. | Chokepoints Remove the ThreatLevel geometry lets you funnel enemies and pick them off one at a time. Being surrounded is what gives beat ’em ups their tension — and in a Walking Dead game, it’s the whole horror. |
| The Right Length for the PriceShort and tight rather than padded. The most detailed reviewer called it “very reasonably priced for the amount of content,” with multiple difficulties and an easy 100% achievement run. | Thin PresentationThe art isn’t the most detailed, and one player wanted more walker and character sounds, plus music closer to the show’s theme, to sell the atmosphere. | —Nothing else recurs. No crashes or performance problems appear in the reports we read. |
The Verdict
The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is better than it has any right to be, and more thoughtful than the average licensed brawler. Rather than dropping Rick and co into a generic beat ’em up, Odaclick reshaped the genre around the show: slower, more grounded, more about positioning than juggling. The core combat is solid, the length is honest, and the fan service is the good kind.
It also has real problems. Stick-only movement and no remapping make it harder to control than it should be. The level experimentation lets you cheese the crowds that should be the scariest part of a Walking Dead game. And the absence of co-op is hard to overlook in a genre that has been about playing with a friend for forty years.
The honest read: if you’re a Walking Dead fan who plays alone, this is a solid $20 weekend, and one that respects your time. If you were hoping to sit on the couch with a friend and clear the streets together, wait and see whether Odaclick adds co-op. Either way, play the demo first to see how the controls feel in your hands.
For more game reviews, check out our full reviews section.
