Being a huge Survivor fan, I was chomping at the bit to try this game. Instead of endless hours of fun as I had anticipated, I was rewarded with pain and frustration from a game that really has no great strongpoint to offset its' weaknesses. My first attempt at the game ended in my character being voted off FIRST. I should have stopped there.

For those unfamiliar with the TV series, your objective is to be the last "survivor" of 16. The 16 are broken into two tribes; until there are 7 weeks to go when the remaining people merge into ONE tribe. In your tribe, you must make yourself useful (hunting, fishing, water gathering, etc), make friends and alliances, and win as many challenges as you can. The challenges are for rewards (matches, food, etc) or THE challenges which determine which of two tribes loses a member that week by voting in a "Tribal Council". If your team loses the immunity challenge for the week, one of you must be voted off. This continues until there are only two survivors to choose from. Then, seven of the last survivors voted off get to return-- to decide who wins the million dollars and gets declared the Ultimate Survivor.

The game has the same premise. You may choose from: Full- playing all 13 weeks of a show; Half- just the last 7 weeks after the remaining survivors merge into one tribe; Short- Just the last 3 episodes. I preferred to play the full 13 weeks, as that is the most challenging. You don't want to start 3/4 through Quake, do you?? 

The key to the show, and game, is to make alliances. This is done by talking and plotting with fellow (trusted) tribe members. As the game begins, you select a task to do. Gathering water, food, firewood makes you useful and keeps you valuable. While doing these tasks (done by the game itself... relax), you must chat with as many tribe mates as possible-- making your alliances. 

The chatting is poor. You click on a character and begin a dialog that is pre-selected. The speaking options are the same, and not much variation. You click on the question you want to ask, then they reply. You click again, and they reply. You can offer such stunning banter as: "What do you miss most?". That would be answered by riveting replies like: "Chocolate". It's all to make small talk, but it gets old quick. You have a time limit to do your talking and form your core of friends. Then, it's off to a challenge.

The challenges are poor. They can be mental, or physical, but neither easy to figure out or execute. The controls are terrible for doing anything. If it is a "reward" challenge, you can take home such luxuries as a box of matches. If it is a immunity challenge, your tribe is trying to keep from being one member short the next time out. 

Once at tribal council, you see if your chit chat pays off. After my initial try at the game, I found the key to survival and did well. The tribal council tries to reproduce the drama and tension of the TV show, but falls short because there is nothing to look at or ponder. Your character goes to the voting table and you select what name you elect to leave the tribe. Then, sit back as Cyber Jeff Probst reads the votes. Once the "tribe has spoken", it's back to the camp for another grueling attempt to play the game. 

The graphics are so poor it is hard to be gentle. The grounds and water surfaces look like radioactive slurry. The characters and objects (like a fish trap) are the only things identifiable as being from Earth. You can change the perspective of the game, but that doesn't help anything. It has loads of real video clips from the CBS series. That's the best I can say about the video quality. Even there, it was jerky and choppy on my system.

The sounds were equally as disappointing. The water sounds were like three small buckets pouring water into each other.... over and over and over. There is music from the show, but that isn't original. There is usually some subtle music in the background, but nothing to make you "fee" the game any better.

The gameplay was frustrating. The challenges were too difficult due to shortcomings in the ability execute tasks. The controls were terrible, and the instructions were limited. There is a maze challenge that is down right mind boggling... and not in a good way. How about being sent down a river in a boat shooting arrows at targets-- without knowing what the heck you're supposed to aiming at, or how many targets you get to attempt?  shot my whole quiver of arrows then had to float for minutes waiting for the challenge to end. Walking around camp is useless. You select a job to do, but don't really have to do it. The character goes on auto-pilot while you just try and chat with people to get alliances stronger. What's the point?

I am not sure where this game wanted to go. It did not seem to have a direction or strong point. It is not a great puzzle game, nor strategy game. It is loaded with video clips, which is the most I can say about it. I was really disappointed with this effort. Such a riveting series, only to be reduced to a messy, confusing game that challenges your patience more than ability or guile. This game is not worthy of its' name. The tribe has spoken, and the word is NO. 

Install: Easy
No problems with this installation. It took a while, but nothing difficult.

Gameplay: 5
The gameplay is poor. It does not matter whether it is playing, planning or plotting....  it handles like a one wheeled motorcycle.

Graphics: 6
Very poor graphics. The grounds and environments were surreal and strange. The survivors were "Sim-like", without the detail.  

Sound: 6
Weak sounds. The music was fine, but the sound effects were repetitive and annoying.

Difficulty: 8
The challenges are unfairly difficult and messy. They take too long, and seldom fair.  

Concept: 7 
Much room for improvement. 

Multiplayer: NA
Did not attempt. Can be played over a LAN. 

Overall: 6.5
This is a very poorly done game. It has no redeeming qualities to outweigh the pains it involved. The graphics, sound and play were all sub par for the potential that existed.