I Am Alive is a survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world. It follows an anonymous male protagonist one year after a cataclysmic worldwide disaster that wiped out most of human civilization and left the remaining cities in ruins. It takes place in the fictional American town of Haventon. The plot is disclosed through self-recorded video journals, as cut scenes between tasks. More information and bonuses can be obtained by assisting twenty survivors distributed throughout the city.
As he looks for his wife and children, the player leads the protagonist through a bleak metropolitan setting rife with perils and difficulties. A portion of the game is also devoted to assisting Mei, a little girl the protagonist must reunite with her mother. The game is played in the third person during exploration, and the character can run, jump, swing from pipes or use a grappling hook, slide, balance while crossing short homemade bridges, and climb. Much of the city is engulfed in a massive dust cloud, which can deplete stamina to death. The player has access to an inventory where they can store supplies, batteries, medications, equipment, and weapons. Ammo and health kits are limited, and the player is encouraged to save as much as possible. Most enemies are thugs who cruise the streets looking for an advantage in the surroundings.
When you use a ranged weapon, such as a gun, the game shifts to first-person mode and a gameplay element revolves around a bluffing mechanism linked to the limited ammo. The character can point his gun at him to scare off an opponent and go further away. Switching to a bow at a distance allows you to remove the enemy while conserving ammo, as arrows can be reused. Another method is to engage in melee fighting, such as with a knife. Many foes have only close combat weapons but outnumber the player; therefore, by swiftly switching between a knife and pulling the pistol to scare them off, ammo can be saved while killing the opponents one by one while the others are temporarily kept away due to the pulled gun. There are also combat battles in which different characters engage in a standoff. The player must then repeatedly press a button to push the opponent away.
There are two levels of difficulty. In Normal, the player has five retries with each save point before replaying the entire level. The second, Survivor, provides no retries with save points. There are also fewer resources and ammunition.
