Dysentery For All

Oregon Trail was a classic game played by countless youths all over the world and was even the first video game many people experienced. Too bad it's absolute crap when you compare it to Organ Trail!

Organ Trail is a zombie survival game that came out as a mobile game in 2012 and was eventually greenlit by Steam users and released in 2013. I picked it up for cheap during one of the countless steam sales that have plagued my wallet and when I finally got around to playing it, I was surprised at how much fun it was and how much depth was in the game.

If you have played Oregon Trail before, there are a lot of similarities and the game is basically a homage to it; that and the Walking Dead series (take your pick: comic or show). When you start the game it gives you the option to name your party members—I usually named them after my friends to see how long me and my buddies could last in a theoretical zombie apocalypse—but if it's taught me anything they're all a bunch of filthy liars. I can't even remember how many times Adam has killed someone because he would get bitten and lie about it right to my digital face and then later on he'd turn and take someone down with him.

The game revolves around you and your fellow survivors piling into a station wagon and traveling across the U.S, collecting food, fuel, and other various supplies you need to survive in a hostile zombie wasteland. The game reminds me a lot of FTL because, as in FTL, random encounters will happen as you travel and give you the option to swap supplies with traders, or fight bandits/other survivors... Which brings me to the combat.

The combat is really fun. It uses a cover based system, so you spend a lot of time learning your opponent's movement patterns and then pick them off one by one.It really has a survival feel and with limited ammunition you really have to pick your battles and shots.

Every so often you'll reach a settlement. Settlements have merchants and bounty boards. You can fulfill bounties for cash and other necessary items as you pass through. They all vary in difficulty, so be sure you're ready, because you only have one life and when you die it's game over and you have to start right back at the beginning.

Overall, the game itself is solid. It's addictive as hell, has a ton of replay value and once you get the hang of it, you really start wanting to keep taking cracks at it, seeing the various outcomes and routs the game can take. The random encounters along the way really add depth to the game whether someone "turns" or dies from some disease or dysentery or is taken hostage by bandits and left to die.

This game is entirely worth your time and with a five dollar price tag it's worth every penny. Whether you're a fan of zombies or just survival games in general (the graphics make it literally playable on any pc out there). All in all, this is definitely a game any and every Steam gamer should have in his or her library.