I have the UK magazine 360 Gamer and I think they hit the nail on the head with their preview and I have to admit, the only reason why I still have a pre-order with Gamestop is to get the free Walker Ear necklace. I can see myself returning this game unopened and getting Bioshock Infinite or the Injustice game and wait for this game to do the steep Aliens Colonial Marines price drop and will get this when it is $19.99 or less in about a month.
The preview said this:
Activison's MO has been clear for years. It spends mega-millions on its cash cow, Call of Duty, making it the most spectacular game on the market. Then it spends the bare minimum making substandard games based on big-name licenses, pushing out second and third rate titles that sell solely on the strength of their brand. It is a mercenary strategy, tricking punters into paying for garbage, but it works, so more power to Kotick and Co. for getting away with it. But Activision has been selling snake oil so transparently for so long that, Call of Duty aside, it is rapidly becoming a publisher on par with THQ. In fact, its recent output aspires to THQ quality: Family Guy, Back to the Multiverse, 007 Legends, X-Men Destiny, Men in Black...and it looks like you can add The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct to that list of subpar products being shamelessly sold to the public. What we have on these pages are a few screens and captures from a build of the game Activision saw fit to release to the public. Sparse, linear environments. Bland, muddy textures. Outrageously oblivious AI. Hilarious, low-res zombies who apparently all wear plaid shirts. At first we feared that this would be a zombie COD-a-thon. Now we fear it's going to be as bad as Family Guy.