YMMV / Survivalist

• Complete Monster: Felipe Espinoso. This guy was a drug kingpin before the apocalypse. He saw how good soldiers had it when he was growing up, and decided to make it a mission to become like them. He used exceptionally brutal methods to murder anyone who opposed him, oftentimes dipping them in acid and letting their carcases rot. The local law enforcement in Mexico was oftentimes too corrupt to resist him or didn't have the ability to, so the Churches took it into their own hands. This made him despise religious centers in general, to the point that he even began killing innocent priests and church-goers. Even when you finally meet him after killing almost the entirety of his military and fort, he's unrepentant about the things he's done, and doesn't seem to even care that his entire empire has been destroyed.
• Jerkass Woobie: Alice. The Reveal at the end of the game that they were a Living Infected all along is a huge Mind Screw and a big betrayal, but they didn't necessarily choose to become one. They were abducted against their will by FEMA for experimentation, after all.
• Nightmare Fuel: The 90s-style 3-D models may not look very advanced, but it definitely makes the appearance of the infected look a little unnerving... The way their pale, ashen faces curl into a feral snarl as they make inhuman shrieks and lunge at you at max speed is definitely a bit fear-inducing. This is made all the more horrifying by the fact that there's a FaceCam that gives you an up-close view of them as they rush at you... or a survivor you just happened to have roaming around, scavenging. Yep, that's right. It occurs at random whenever someone under your command but not under your control is in combat. And when it's not fort-defense, it happens with no warning whatsoever.
  • There are multiple tiers of infection, all Color-Coded for Your Convenience. The Green-strain infected are the weakest and their bite isn't as a big a threat, since it gives you a week to cure it. Blue-strain infected up the antie by only giving you a day to cure infection, as well as being generally tougher to take down. Red-Strain infected are where things get scary. They're very difficult to fight, especially in groups. And their bite turns you within minutes. It's such a big deal, that some survivors in other forts will happily give you any antigen they might have without any questions if you ask them while turning. But Wait, There's More! The White Strain infected are the strongest. They have loads of health. And their bite will turn you within seconds. And there's no antigen for these guys. It's Game Over for any survivor that gets bitten by them.
  • One of Felipe Espinoso's methods of killing people was dipping them in acid. He would then leave their rotting, dissolving carcasses hanging in the streets of small Mexican villages as a warning to any other residents who opposed him. After the Zombie Apocalypse, he has become The Emperor who runs a dictatorship under a strict hierarchy, where any sort of minor misdeed (Such as starting a fight or talking behind Felipe) will be severely punished. He also has no problems with murdering Trickstie Adam's husband and skinning his corpse for fresh meat solely for the purpose of proving Lou as infected. No wonder she went mad.
  • The very concept of the 'Invisible Strain'. The infected retain their physical appearance and their higher brain functions, but The Virus still damages the limbic system, resulting in Lack of Empathy and Ax-Crazy tendencies. This creates intelligent Elite Zombies who can almost perfectly imitate their former selves while secretly spreading the infection to others via bites.
  • In the first game, the Invisible Strain infectees only attack and infect people in scripted events. However, in the sequel, the game is randomized, and the infected actively try to spread the infection offscreen. This means the survivor you have been trying to befriend within the past in-game month can eventually get infected and abruptly turn on you with no warning whatsoever.
  • This one counts as Fridge Horror too, when you realize how dire the situation really is for the remaining survivors. While The Virus has apparently lost its ability to be transmitted through air from the initial strain, it has mutated no less than four times within the span of a single year, with each strain creating tougher and deadlier zombies than before. Furthermore, new strains require new antigens to cure, and the mutations make antigens harder to make and administer in time before the infection takes over a host completely. Clara has a point: Humanity is indeed on its last legs, and if a vaccine isn't created to defend against future strains, the Zombie Apocalypse might become Humanity's extinction event.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The revelation that Alice was a Living Infected all along is a huge Player Punch. To try and keep her satiated - and out of your knowledge, indulged - you essentially sparked a war that potentially resulted in at least 40 people dead, not even counting the people you kill in the FEMA raid. Keep in mind that this is all after a lot of Ship Tease between Alice and Joe. Also, if you pick the wrong dialog options Joe will immediately stop caring, and go on as if nothing had happened.
  • If you do a certain sidequest for Toby Reed, which involves giving him a photo of his late daughter, he's overcome with grief, and has a heart attack. His poor wife, Connie, is devastated when she sees this happen, and immediately flies into a fit of rage against whoever brought him the photo. She will gun down that person if they aren't caring/intimidating enough, too.
  • During the Los Ceros/Missing questline, you have to help one of two siblings - Elfego and Em Arcine - get into the inner circle of Los Ceros. This involves killing a few innocent people that have "wronged" Los Ceros in some way, too. People like a crazed sniper who simply wanted revenge, or a former associate of Felipe who just wanted to be left alone. And the worst part? The sibling who makes it into the inner circle is executed when word gets out about how they helped you learn about Lou Marchbanks. The surviving sibling decides to join up with you in retaliation and warn you and Fort Kohai of the eminent attack.