Sometimes you just don’t want to play the games that are already in your library. Sometimes, you scour the digital universe for a new game to explore while anticipating the release of a game you’ve been waiting for, for what seems an eternity. That was me this week, looking for decent, free-to-play games. Through my search, I came across LifeAfter, a free-to-play, survival MMORPG from NetEase.

Lifeafter was initially released in China in December 2018 for iOS and Android and worldwide in February 2019 and on PC in July 2020. I’m kicking myself for not hearing about it then. But better late than never, right?

What is LifeAfter About?

LifeAfter’s premise isn’t very original, but it is a favorite: a devastating virus brought the world to its knees, destroying governments and major institutions, and turning those infected into zombies. And when night falls, the infected wreak havoc. Your character’s story begins when your character and their dog are at home and a horde of infected break into your apartment complex you are suddenly rescued by a man searching for two girls to escort back to their encampment, Hope 101. As he leads you to your rendezvous point, you encounter more infected and learn to use basic weapons and scavenge. Once you reach Hope 101, your fight for the survival of humanity really begins. And yes, your dog comes with you and will be your companion.

One thing that sets LifeAfter apart from most other survival RPGs is the focus on relying on the community to survive. Think Fallout 4 settlements but with other players, helping each other with farming, gathering resources, and defenses, patrolling the perimeter, as well as missions. Discover different areas to scavenge for supplies—from foraging in the wilderness to exploring abandoned mines or dilapidated college campuses. While out in the world, you will encounter other players, but you never know who a friend or foe is.

LifeAfter Gameplay

While combat itself is pretty straightforward, many aspects of the game that are necessary for survival require unlocking to advance. Practically everything relies on upgrading your manor. Your manor is your home.

Character Creation

Character creation and customization aren’t really anything to write home about. It’s not fantastic, but it’s also not too bad, either. I love character creation and customization and especially love being able to create characters with my skin tone or darker. LifeAfter does a pretty decent job of allowing darker skin tones, but there isn’t much variety and it’s not just the darker skin tones that lack variety, so it doesn’t feel like a slight. I was able to create a super cute survivor so I’m pretty content with that.

Upgrading Your Manor

Housing is a major component of survival in LifeAfter. After being rescued and taken to Hope 101, you are given a place to stay in the Development Zone – your manor, though you have to fix it up by upgrading it. Complete missions and tasks to upgrade your manor, which unlock different abilities and tools that are a part of your manor. Your manor is completely customizable, provided you unlock all the necessities, like flooring, roofs, walls, garden area, and tools. Then, you have to farm for the materials to build—and building costs a lot of materials.

You can also join a camp, LifeAfter’s version of a guild, and have the option of staying in a manor or apartment in your camp’s community. Apartments are also customizable and can come fully furnished. Players can earn pieces of furniture and materials for building and crafting furniture, and seeds to plant in their garden from completing missions and daily tasks.

Crafting and Repairing

There are three modes of crafting: portable crafting, crafting in the camp center, and crafting in the manor. Basic tools and weapons can be crafted via portable crafting or at home while more advanced weapons must be crafted at home.

Repairing weapons and armor in LifeAfter is quite easy once you figure out how. To repair normal weapons that you can actually craft, sleep in a bed, and log out. On PC, you will go to a bed you can sleep in, press and hold F to choose the bottom option, and repair. Check your friends’ and campmates’ residences for a bed that has at least a Durability Recover rate of at least 50. Repairing your weapon and armor’s durability will log you out of the game, so make sure you are ready to log out. Players recommend carrying at least three weapons and an ammo box while questing.

You can also repair your weapons and armor by opening your bag, clicking on your weapon, and clicking repair. You need a considerable amount of repair materials called nanoplastic to repair just one piece of gear, however.

To repair special weapons—weapons you cannot craft yourself—use delicate repair.

Missions and Combat

Some missions are pretty straightforward, and some are just confusing—at least they are a bit confusing to someone who only played the game for four days. In the beginning, many, if not most of your missions come from the Survival Manual. As you upgrade your manor, gear, and weapons, more passageways open higher-level areas with area missions. The map will usually have recommended areas for you to explore and quest in. Luckily, there’s a mentor/apprentice program where you can match with someone who can show you the ropes of the game and complete missions together.

The Mall and Pay to Win in LifeAfter

Unfortunately, there is a pay-to-win aspect of the game where you can purchase materials and schematics for weapons and armor. Fortunately, those same schematics and materials can be acquired in-game, but it takes a lot of time and effort. The P2W features are not necessary and therefore don’t really affect gameplay.

In addition to formulas and materials, you can buy some of the cutest skins I’ve ever seen in a game as well as furniture and decorations for your home. While there are several types of currency, they’re not as out of control as other games, which makes purchasing different items in-game much easier.

All in all, LifeAfter is fun, but I think it’s more fun with other people. The quests are very simple to complete. The concept of LifeAfter isn’t exactly original but there are aspects of the game that do make it feel new. For example, I like the idea of having a community camp to take care of together with other camp members. LifeAfter is a great free-to-play MMORPG for when you have nothing else to play. And that’s not a bad thing. There’s a lot more to the game that I haven’t even touched on. But it looks like I’ll be playing LifeAfter quite a bit and I will update this review. For now, 7/10 would recommend.