The Walking Dead: Destinies launched last week with little fanfare and it didn’t take long for it to emerge as yet another worst game of 2023 contender from the same company that published this year's terrible King Kong game.
The Walking Dead: Destinies is developed by little-known Brazilian studio Flux Games and published by Minneapolis-based GameMill Entertainment. Last month GameMill published Skull Island: Rise of Kong, which went viral for its terrible visuals, gameplay, and cutscenes. IGN's Skull Island: Rise of Kong review awarded it a 3/10, calling it "a boring, buggy, totally unambitious game that isn't even interesting in its failures."
It later emerged that Chilean indie studio IguanaBee developed Rise of Kong within a strict one-year turnaround, and that the game was part of a “vicious cycle” of licensed titles published by GameMill.
The Walking Dead: Destinies, then, may have been developed under similar circumstances. IGN has asked GameMill for comment.
The Walking Dead: Destinies is a $49.99 third-person action adventure that retells the story of AMC’s The Walking Dead show, but lets players change the course of history. You can, for example, decide whether Rick or Shane leads the group. You can make an enemy of the Governor or recruit him to your cause. Whatever you pick, you’re meant to “live with the consequences”.
The reaction to The Walking Dead: Destinies aped that of Skull Island: Rise of Kong. The visuals are PS2-era, the gameplay itself is laughable, and its cutscenes are as static as they come. Here’s a snippet:
The Walking Dead Destinies… ¿quién dio luz verde a esto? ? pic.twitter.com/ML0HvLtgd2
— Lalo Chaps ? #MutantMayhem ? (@lalochaps_) November 17, 2023
An actual cutscene from The Walking Dead: Destinies. 2023 is the best year in gaming, I haven't laughed this hard at a game in a while. pic.twitter.com/NE3RG5uIzD
— DX (@DXFromYT) November 19, 2023
I NEED A COPY OF THE WALKING DEAD DESTINIES STAT ! pic.twitter.com/1XvDzuiHPY
— Neo64 (@Neonagi64) November 18, 2023
I refuse to believe The Walking Dead: Destinies is an actual game. I'm convinced it's an elaborate prank by the developers to see if anyone actually takes it seriously. pic.twitter.com/2aRxPk6s14
— GmanLives (@GmanLives) November 18, 2023
Daryl and Carol in #TheWalkingDead: Destinies… ? pic.twitter.com/1LfTFQQAvV
— The Walking Dead News (@TWDUniverseNews) November 17, 2023
The Walking Dead: Destinies launched last week on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. A PC version via Steam is due out December 1.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
