Customer Reviews

Survivor Ultimate Edition

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

You get 36 Survivors from the first 4 seasons. Only the top 9 are in the game, so if they made the jury they're in the game. This means no Lindsay, CB, Varner or Sarah. Too bad. You create a tribe of 8 members and pick one survivor to play as. You play through 1) A survival period, where you learn how the other members attitudes are towards you and get a small description of what happened that day in camp. You have no control over what happens that day in camp. It just says something like "Sean caught some fish and people are eating well at camp". This would boost others attitude toward Sean. Good idea but it's random. 2) A reward challenge, which they've included 24 minigames that you play to win a reward or immunity. These games can be a simple word search game, memorization game, questions about previous survivors, a video poker simulation, etc. These minigames are decent, but as you play more, they repeat the same minigames. That doesn't mean you'll always win, so it's not that bad that they repeat. 3) An immunity challenge, same as reward only for immunity. 4) Another survival period where you try to form alliances with others and view attitudes of other members towards each other. Just click on the person you want to target and then click on who you want to join in to vote off this person. You can be asked to join someone else in an alliance, but can only join if you haven't already started one of your own. I've yet to have someone agree to be in an alliance and vote differently. A little deception, people! That would have been nice. 5) Tribal Council. The best part of the game. Jeff Probst makes an appearance and says all his lines just like on TV. "It's time to vote, Tom you're up first". "I'll go tally the votes", etc. They show various people going to write their vote down, but you don't see what they write. Jeff pulls out each paper one by one, turns it around to reveal the vote. I really liked this part of the game until I discovered a pattern to the way votes are revealed. It takes a little suspense away once your on to it, but it's still fun to watch tribal council unfold. When someone is voted out Jeff puts out their fire and says "The tribe has spoken". Tribal Council is well done.

Finally, this PC game is a good Survivor simulation. The game is not perfect and needs improvement in some areas, but if you're a big fan and never miss an episode of the show (like me), you may want to spend the [X] and pick this game up.

I was one of the reviewers who slammed the first release of the Survivor computer game. Unbelievably boring challenges, tedious camp time that just didn't go anywhere, and apparent lack of alliances, it was a major disaster that didn't warrant more than two playings. I hesitated to purchase Survivor Ultimate, thinking that it would be just a re-release of the bad with new Survivors added.

Fortunately, this version is NOT a rehash of the first horrible game, but a big step forward in the right direction. You bascially jump from challenge to challenge, many of them truly fun and enjoyable. A couple of them I just didn't even understand, but did better in them upon repeat plays. My favorites are a tower game, a slot machine game, and a game based on minesweeper.

This game totally eliminates the ineffective camp time with an opportunity to form real alliances. These aliiances only last one episode, but at least you can form them which have impilcations at Tribal Council. Both times I've played, my character's popularity plunged, and I was at fault about what to do. However, my alliances saved me at Tribal Council, and I made it to the final Tribal council, winning one and losing one. Sure the people look fakey, but you have to give some leeway for a 20 dollar computer program!

Overall, I imagine I'm going to play this game repeatedly, but not all the time. It certainly is leagues better than the first release. If you are a Survivor fan, or shopping for one, this may be just the gift for you. See you at Tribal Council!

P.S. The realty game that's really held up, even after two YEARS of playing, is "The Weakest Link". I still whole heartedly recommend that program. I want a new release!

Infogrames made a major mistake last year when they released Survivor: The Interactive Game or Survivor: The Interactive Piece of [Junk]. This game was clearly rushed. It is about 20% complete. Plus, the Magic Lantern crew was obviously not up to the challenge of making this game. To start the tactic they used to hype it up was false advertisement! The "Fire and Rain" challenge isn't there and there is no night mode as shown in screenshots. The game's A.I is horrible. For Example, Elisabeth says "Bob is a horrible person" You say "Definitely. I think we should vote out Bob" Elisabeth says How can you think that! I hate you!" If you fom an "alliance" it doesn't matter. Your "allies" will just vote off the weakest person. The challenges are hte same thing over and over. It's just dumb. You have to go through hell to make it work too! The Marquesas version should have:

An imroved TC where Jeff asks questions, you give a reason for your vote and final words.

A more customizable tribe selection.

Create a character model for a custom Survivor.

If you make the Jury, vote at the finals.

Better A.I

Random merges, tribal swaps and injuries.

Weather effects!

More control in the Survival Period. You should be able to complete the task yourself.

Debug it!

More complex challenges.

A bigger camp map.

Better graphics

Have people approach YOU to talk. Talk in secret behind bushes and stuff.

More music from the show and challenges too.

Randomize the challenges.

Shelter building role.

In beginning you should have to hike or row to your camp and do the things they do on Survivor when they first get to camp.

Show rewards and make them matter.

Drop videos.

Episode intro with your picture and name and music.

Make every survivor have a personality.

Make real alliances!

When your done have a VHS hookup so you can watch the episodes like the T.V show.

Choose a luxury item.

Episode Summary screen.

Better vote reading!

More animation. Ex: show Jeff tallying votes.

Early show Interviews.

Final episode shot in a studio.

Buy stuff with the a million dollars.

Make "special friendships."

Character voice acting.

Tribal loyalties.

Face expressions.

In the merge name the tribe yourself.

Sit out some challenges. Ex: Elisabeth pushing a rock up your hill!

Unlockable extras.

Tribal camp differences.

Not so much clicking.

More control.

Well even though it's still not quite as deep and intriguing as it could be, Infogrames has improved greatly upon a very lackluster game last released last year. I'll say up front I'm a huge Survivor fan, so this is a bias review. The average gamer will probably not enjoy this game, because it requires a familiarity with the show, concept and characters to appreciate it. Otherwise it's just a bunch of Shockwave-caliber mini-games tied in with a text-based war of politics.

The game is divided into three parts: challenges, survival and tribal council. To reflect the show, there are reward challenges as well as immunity. Games range from a minesweep-based puzzle game, memory games, jigsaw and sliding puzzles to tests of accuracy and shoot-em-ups. This doesn't exactly create a super dramatic gaming experience, but it does pass the time and keep you interested as you battle the other survivors. The only complaint here is that since the games are so simplistic, you will get bored as almost all of them last longer than they should. When you're soaring twenty points ahead of Colby who's in second place, it takes patience to keep it up for the last fifty-seven seconds when you know you've won...

Survival period is drastically changed from the last game. Rather than move around the camp and perform duties in a 3D setting, it is now entirely based on making alliances for the upcoming tribal council in a 2D interface. The game will reveal how everyone feels towards each other in the tribe with reasons behind their status as well. Each survivor has stats and skills which do affect their status in the tribe. Example, if you're very resourceful or a good cook, the other survivors will want you keep you around to help on the camp. If you're strong and smart, they'll want to keep you for the challenges. Basically, alliance-working allows you to seek out or be invited into alliances against a particular player. Most of the time this can result in unanimous votes if you play your cards right. This is where the average gamer will lose interest. If you know the characters and have a good imagination, you'll get into it. Otherwise it's just a bunch of pretty faces on a screen with no real depth.

Tribal council has a major overload, in that it's all presented in 3D. Not very GOOD graphics (Jeff Probst looks like a Planet of the Apes leftover), but you can tell who's who as they walk up to the podium and vote. The texture wrapping is just short of hideous, but for the time spent on the game, it works. You'll end up skipping past the scenes anyway once you're at Tribal Council for the third time and keep moving.

Major weaknesses of this game...

1) Don't be overjoyed when it says `players from all four seasons'. Only the final nine from each season are in the game. No Hunter, Gina, or Boston Rob. I understand their reasoning behind it (64 characters would be a bit much to handle), but some of your favorite characters may not have made the cut. Still, there's still a total of 36 playable characters.

2) No create-a-player. Since all the graphics with characters in Tribal Council are already rendered sequences. Not a big deal, you can basically choose a Survivor that matches your own skills.

3) You cannot choose your opposing tribe. So you won't even know who you swap/merge with, because you only see one player when you face off in challenges.

Major strengths of this game...

1) Replayability for hardcore Survivor fans. There's plenty of players to choose from and combinations to work with.

2) It stays fresh each `round' or `episode' just like the show. The challenges are given to you randomly to keep you on your toes. Alliances never carry over episodes and you never know who's going to go next. There IS a swap included. It's always on the fourth `episode', just like season 4. Shakes things up a bit.

This is a vast improvement upon the Survivor game released last year, with a healthier, safer approach. The games are mindless fun, just like any basic windows or internet game. Add the Survivor element to it, and it's a great way to pass the time for Survivor fans. But if you're without a passion for the show, or don't know the characters, then this isn't worth your money.

Survivor: Ultimate Edition is much better than the first Survivor PC game. This time, the challenges are actually fun, and they're all different. A lot of them are based on games you already know, like minesweeper. There's a few challenges that aren't the best, but most of them are fun. Also, if you need more practice with the challenges, there's an area where you can just practice the challenges, instead of playing the entire Survivor game. No more Survival period like in the last game either. Before you go to tribal council, you form alliances with people. These alliances only last one episode, which seems like a good thing to me. When making alliances, everyone gets three chances to offer alliances to people. Sometimes they will accept your alliance, and sometimes they won't. People will offer you alliances also, and people always vote with their alliances (at least from what I've experienced) The only parts that might get a little boring is when it's loading a challenge or tribal council preparation, but those usually last less than a minute. There's a lot of real footage from the show included between challenges and such, but you don't have to watch it. Remember how long tribal council lasted in the last game? This time you can skip over just about anything that you don't want to watch, so the game doesn't take nearly as long. It also gives you a chance to save the game after each challenge and tribal council, so if you want another chance, you can always not save it and go back and try again. Tribal council is the only time you see the actual Survivors walking around and moving, and they don't look exactly like the real Survivors, but you can still tell who it is. I don't know why you would buy it if you don't watch Survivor, but if you do, there are a few challenges where they ask you some questions about the show, so if you don't watch it, I wouldn't reccomend buying it.

So, all in all:
Pros:
*You can skip over most things
*Alliances only last one episode
*No Survival Period
*Fun challenges
*Save after every challenge/tribal council
*Practice area for challenges

Cons:
*A few bad challenges
*Graphics aren't GREAT at tribal council

So, I do reccomend this game to anyone who is a Survivor fan.

I had reviewed the first "Survivor: The Interactive Game". I got it from the library and I thought that it was ok. I didn't like the survival periods. But now, to "Survivor: Ultimate". This is such a big improvment since the last game! At tribal council, the graphics are much better. And instead of a video of Jeff snuffing a torch, he actually does it!! Although, it is somewhat like the first game. It DOES repeat challenges, not always in the same order. But still. And they actually say in the manual that your alliances keep for one episode. And the alliances actually keep! If you are in the final four, if two people have a set person, that person that they planned to vote off, votes for him/herself! But overall, this is a HUGE improvment since the last game. I just wish they had one with Rupert in it! Hopefully then, he wouldn't get voted off.

Ok I got the first edition of Survivor The Interactive Game a while back. After a while it got to boring. So I'm giving Infogrames a second chance. Here are somethings that should have included and this game will be a sweet game.

Start with Jeff with 16 castaways and have them hike or boat to the island

Have camps from all 4 seasons.

Have castaways from all four season

Build shelter search for food make fire get water (etc.)

Actually make aliances and talk to the castaways

Have computer AI so you can choose what your able to say free of anything

If you win a reward challege have the rewards arounde camp or visit the place you are at

Have immunity necklace

Actually be like the TV show

Offical buffs from show

All castaways outfits

Have immunity necklaces

Be able to be in the jury and see them when they appear in tribal council

Have sweet graphic detail so like on the men you can see mustaches and beards grow

Random challeges

Switches and random things so you never know what's going ot happen

Go get tree mail

Choose texture and things for custom Survivor and luxary item

Have castaways luxary items

Be able to bring tribemates on challeges

Assign parts on challeges

A run back of what happened on show when over

Have right Survivor personalities

Actually form alliances

Have a ton of challeges so you hardly ever repeat challeges.

Not a lot of clicking

These things and somethings the person before suggested will make this game awesome. Infogrames you have about 7 weeks to make this game awesome don't let me down.

This game is a blast to play compared to Survivor: The Interactive Game (the first Survivor PC game.) You actually get to form alliances on this one and the challenges are a blast to play!!! You get to form your own dream tribe and watch it bloom -- or plummet!

The bad point about this game is that only winners & jury members appear in the game. That's too bad, because I wanted to play or see characters such as Clarence or Rob, but since they didn't make the jury, they didn't make this game.

And at the low price, it will definitely be worth your money to get this game based on the hit game show. Get it, you won't regret you did!!!

The game itself has improved a lot from last time. The graphics and challenges are great and fun. In addition, this time you can actually make REAL alliances. However, the challenges take very very long time to load. For me, each challenge takes about 20 minutes to load and some even take 45 minutes. But overall, it's a fantastic game to play!

I just got this game on thursday evening, and have been playing it any chance i have had....the things that I noticed about this game as opposed to the previous one are:

Pros:
-no dull "survival period" which lasted over 3 minutes each time
-alliances mean a lot more in this game
-the graphics were pretty well done
-Of the challenges presented, no two are the same
-Quicker gameplay

Cons:
-Votes are NOT in dramatic order e.g. if elisabeth received three votes, and alicia got 5, the first three were for elisabeth, and the last 5 were for alicia
-seemingly impossible for there to be a tie vote
-even though the challenges are fun, they do of course become repetitive, however, fortunately, because most aren't trivia based, there is still a challenge to them
-inability to choose from all the contestants...i find it hard to believe that boston rob (s4), michael, jeff, mad dog (s2), clarence, lindsey (s3) were not in the game, and non-fan favourites such as kim johnson, jenna, nick, zoe etc. were in the game
-when a full game is played, contestant always plays AI of the contestants from survivor: marquesas

I believe at this time those are the thoughts that I have regarding this game...it still is a fun game to play, and has improved from the previous one significantly....for 25 bones, I think it is worth the buy...

Mikester