Parents' Guide to The Walking Dead: No Man's Land

This adventure might appeal to fans of the show, but its dependence on paid progress ruins the experience. Fans of The Walking Dead know living through a zombie apocalypse is no joke; still, lots of people like to think they'd thrive under such conditions. If you're one of those cocky survivalists, now's your chance to prove you'd have the chops to rebuild civilization.

You're greeted by everyone's favorite redneck, Daryl Dixon, who helps you set up a fledgling community. Shortly thereafter, heroes such as Carl Grimes and Glen Rhee start trickling in and join you on missions designed to challenge your strategic skills. The different character classes (melee, ranged, and armored) can be mixed according to the mission, and the top-down, turn-based combat provides plenty of opportunity for cooperative effort and heroic rescues that feel very much like the show. Heroes can even be trained and upgraded, though the cost in resources is annoyingly high. It's emblematic of The Walking Dead: No Man's Land. Missions cost fuel, and you're given precious little of it. The same can be said of resource mission rewards. After five minutes or so, your options are to wait for hours or buy what you need. Publisher Next Games clearly expects you to buy something every day if you want to play, and, mind you, they don't take canned goods. So if you're not into high-pay free-to-play, you're in for progression that's as slow as a one-legged zombie.