Sure, but if you put down your controller and do not actively do anything, the other survivors largely won't either. And that's the point I think, where everything revolves around you doing things. Nothing gets done without you actively doing it. You can't form a group of survivors to take on a mission without you. You have to lead that group of survivors on the mission. Again, correct me if I'm wrong.
Edit: This is just my take from that review, because it's something that bothered me about the first game. But carry on with the OT, I don't want to derail the thread by talking about what I wanted the game to be, rather than what the game is.