What do you get when you cross Minecraft, the ever popular building and crafting game, with the zombie genre? 7 Days to Die from TellTale Games’ new publishing arm.

The game is an open-world sandbox game that drops you right in, and gives you the freedom to survive in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world as you see fit. You’ll need to scavenge, hunt, craft, and put together all the basic items you need to make it through the day…and the night, when the zombies become vicious and relentless.

On paper, this is a fantastic idea. Combining two popular genres into a mash up seems like a win, win. However, as fun as 7 Days To Die is, it still has a long way to go before becoming a great game.

Let’s start with the innovation. I really love how this game is all about survival. Your first play through will be slow and tedious, because you need to learn how to do everything, but after that, the sky is the limit. To be fair, their instruction system could have used a bit of an overhaul, but once you get the hang of it, it is a ton of fun.

The zombies look fantastic, but compared to the other visuals, the two styles seem to clash. Minecraft-like backgrounds and locations don’t go hand in hand with the zombies, and it almost seems like two different games.

Poor sound management is a big problem, with things being delayed, or just not seeming to fit. Sometimes a gunshot is like a whisper, other times, it is a booming noise. Walking is always off, making it seem like you are being followed, when in fact, you are not. It is just strange.

Most things look identical, so when searching for supplies, you need to rely on information boxes to determine what is what. The pile of what seems to be cow poo may actually be a bird’s nest.

When the game works correctly, it is a blast. Fighting zombies, crafting items, and so on really does help you feel like you are in-game and fighting to survive. However, this is all held back by poor graphics, missing sounds, and terrible performance issues.

The game seems more like an alpha build than anything else, and unfortunately, we may be stuck with it. It’s fun when it works, but I would hold off until a more robust version of it becomes available.