Good Day and Welcome to my new experimental series - The Ultimate Game Review!
In this Series, I share the very best reviews from our friends in the comment section of Steam. These Reviews left by myself and thousands of other users on the Steam Platform. Every Review is Credited to the Original Poster by their steam name from the Steam Gaming App. None or these reviews are taken from professional writers on blog sites, websites or articles. These are all just people like you and me and their thoughts after trying a game.
The reason I decided to do this was because most Gaming Reviews always seem so one sided, perhaps the Author has an agenda, perhaps they are predjeduce or a bigot. Who knows. With this series, I feel like Gamers, like you and I will get the absolute best experience possible when trying to determine whether the game is for you or not. The reason being, we will get to see the thoughts of not just 1 but many "Average Joes" like you and I and their thoughts after playing a game.
So please, sit back and Enjoy this Ultimate Game Review that I've compiled together for you!
Possibly one of the best examples of early-access done right, The Long Dark is a fantastic game that just keeps getting better and better.
The premise is simple. Your plane crashed; it's cold; the wolves are hungry; the bear is angry; no one is around to help; and you've got to do whatever it takes to survive.
What exactly does that mean? At first, it means following your standard survival game behaviors. Find shelter. Find food. Find water. Don't let the wildlife eat you as you scour the frozen waste for the things you need. But what separates The Long Dark from other survival games is that, ultimately, it also means learning the skills to procure those things for yourself. Want to eat next week? Better learn to hunt, because the cans of pork and beans you found in that gas station aren't going to last forever. Want to not die of exposure? Better learn to tell when a blizzard is coming, because it turns out building a fire in the middle of one is damned near impossible. Want to look like a rock star? Better learn to tan a deer hide and sew your own leather pants then--because remember, THERE'S NO ONE AROUND TO HELP.
In this game, you're facing off against Mother Nature one on one. And Mother Nature may be beautiful (and this game is unbelievably, strikingly beautiful), but Big Mama's also got fists like brick bats, one hell of a long reach, and she's currently undefeated. So settle in and get ready for a full twelve rounds, Champ. 'Cause you're in for a doozy.
Words can't describe how much i love this game. So i'll just give you the lowdown of my favorite playthrough (Of dozens of great ones)
Day 1:
Plane crashed somewhere in the woods near a frozen pond and a hunting blind. I found (much to my joy) two granola bars and a bottle of water. Walking through the cold, i picked up a few sticks and some lichen just in case i needed to start a fire. After about 5 minutes of walking i found an old logging camp with three trailer houses. I scavenged a promising amount of food, got some matches, and even found an out ski jacket to wear over my sweater. Exhausted, i spent the night.
Day 2:
I wake up rested and thirsty as hell. I pop open a soda and head out. It's early morning and freezing, but i need to find a suitable place to bunker down, and those little trailers werent it. Following the snow covered trail through the woods, i pass a forest overpass. It's a long hike up in freezing weather and deep snow so i decide against, moving further down the trail. Right as i start to wonder if i had made the wrong choice, i hit a small frozen lake full of Ice-fishing huts. I dot through them and find a good set of stuff before i decide to bunker down in one for a little rest. After a few failed attempts i get the fire in the furnace going. I hear the wind picking up outside, but thinking nothing of it. I lay out my bedroll by the fire for a few hours sleep.
I wake up to what i was sure to be my death.
That light pickup of wind was a precursor to a blizzard. A bad one. The little hut was shaking and creaking in the storm, the opening (there was no door) let in frigid air and snow, putting out my fire and freezing me to the core. I gather my things in a panic. The storm is so fierce it's picking up snow that had settled on the ground, whiting out everything. I culdn't see five feet in front of me. Knowing staying in the hut would be my end, i blindly push into the storm, assumingly towards some camping lodges i saw when i first arrived. The wind cut straight through my clothes and the snow soaked my jeans, shoes and socks. My body trembled uncontrollably as heat was quite literally ripped from my body. After a few minutes the ice of the lake gave way to snow and i was sure i was close to salvation. I keep walking forward, waiting to see a beautiful log cabin any second.
Then i walk straight into a rock wall.
Panicking and wondering how the hell i got so turned around, i follow the wall, hoping beyond hope to find something to keep me safe until the blizzard gave way. I wasn't going to die yet, not here. I willed myself on, even when i felt so tired from the powerful wind i was ready to just drop. Eventually the rock wall gaveway to a some kind of house. Nearly collasping from relief, i get inside and fall asleep immediately, no energy left for anything else.
Day 3:
Apparentely this used to be a park ranger station. It was obviously abandoned in haste, as plenty of things were still left over. The blizzard is still raging, but im safe inside, with a decent supply to last me a few days. I cut up some furniture for wood with the hatchet i found in the closet and get the fireplace roaring. A get some snow quickly from outside and boil it for water, then i eat a hardy meal of beef jerky and a candy bar. I stay up a bit to assess my gear. Somehow i don't have hypothermia, but my pants looks a little worse for wear. I pathc them up with cloth then call it a day, i'm still exhausted from yesterday.
Days 5:
I'm stuck in the ranger hut for another full day. Finally, on Day 5 since my crash, the storm lets up to beautiful weather. I pack my things and head out, the Ranger station now depleted of useful things for me. I crunch along fresh now and a warm sun for a while, reminded of why i used to love skiing in New Mexico. After a while i find train tracks and few wrecked cars. It must of been carrying aid to somwhere becuase scattered amongst the snow i found antiseptic bottles, bandages, a bottle of painkillers and 3 flares. I rest for a bit and have a snack and a sip fo water, and move on. A little past 12ish i find what looks like an old hydrodam. Knowing there could be emergancy supplies and food inside, i make a beeline towards it and walk in, shutting the old iron door behind me.
The place is pitch black. I have to light one of my flares just to see. I look around for a bit, find a prybar and some other useful items including some workers old scarf (My new scarf now), and decide i'm going to spend the night here.
Wrong decision.
As i preparing to set my bedroll down i hear a growl behind. Spinning around, the light from my flare provides me a eerie and terrifying look down the nearby hallway, where a wolf is looking right back at me, growling dangerously. Slowly, i begin to back out towards the door, and he charges me. I panic and throw the flare at him, which seems to scare him long enough for me to fly out the door and across the snow as fast as my damn legs could carry me. I run into the train tunnel and slow to a walk, trying to catch my breath, thank god the weather was still nice. I come out the other end just as the sun begins to set, and find myself in a massive ravine.
After some hopping and skipping and a scary balancing act on a tree that feel across a 50 foot drop, i find a sheltered area behind a old train car and set up camp. I start a fire and give it enough wood to last the night. As i eat dinner i watch the sun set over the horizon. The light reflecting on far distant snow creates a beautiful allusion of fire, as if the horizon around me was burning briliantly. When it sets i am treated to freezing tempertures and a starry sky. I crawl into my bedroll and shut my eyes, hoping to god the weather treats me well.
Day 6:
I was lucky, i woke up to a light snow and nothing else. Hardly any wind. No wolves dragged me away last night so that was also a positive. Thanking my lucky stars i pack up and begin my journey west, to the coast. From there i planto keep heading down south to warmer weather. After traversing a particuarly large and rickety wooden train bridge (And almost falling to my death twice) i go through another tunnel and break out into the coastline.
It was a beautiful sight. The sun glowing over all that sea ice. I would have watched forever if i wasnt freezing. Crawling down the mountain, i find another small trailer house (For the train unloading crew, i presume) and rest there. It felt nice to be inside again after almost 2 days in the wilderness.
Day 7:
One week after my crash. Woo... Anyway, i woke up to howling this morning. More wolves. I headed further down the hill, another flare at the ready (I didnt even bother wielding an Axe, im not a swordsman). Sure enough, i run into one near the highway. It circles me before charging. I throw the flare at it and it runs away. Relieved, i walk over to pick up the flare when suddenly another wolf turns the corner, running after me full speed. I turned and ran like hell towards a cabin down the road. But right before i got to the door he grabbed my leg and i tried. In moments he was on top of me, ripping at the arm i threw up to defend my body. I hit him over and over until he finally let go, running away and barking angrily. Bleeding and hurt, i crawled into the cabin to treat my wounds, sure this was the end. I treated my wounds with antiseptic, bandged them up and took some painkillers. Then i slept.
I survived, and made my way to a cabin on a small island across the frozen bay. On my way, a white out struck. I couldn't see anything yet again. Walking slowly in hopes of not opening my wounds again. I pressed forward. Little did i know i had long past walked by the island, and was on thin ice.
As the whiteout cleared, I looked up. It was as if every star in the universe was looking down at me. Somewhere in my mind, as the cold enveloped me, i wondered if anyone was out there...
Then I fell through the ice.
The Survival Genre keeps growing on Steam and it has become a difficult decision to put our trust in a game, even worse if it's still being developed after years without knowing a release date. Perhaps we find a dedicated team who is working non-stop on their project, but then we ask ourselves, what do they offer us unlike the other hundred titles?
The Long Dark captivated me since the first time I saw it. The art style looked unique in the genre, and Early Access was going well, so I decided to give it a try.
The game starts with us selecting the mode we want to play (Sandbox is the only one currently available) and then we customize it by choosing the difficulty between: Pilgrim (Easy, meant for exploring and learning the basics), Voyageur (Medium, for intermediate players) and Stalker (Hard, for those who are well known of the game mecanics). Then we get to choose the Region, each one offers a different experience basing on the safe places and resources we can find. After we finished selecting all the options, the game starts.
We are alone without any idea where we might be, there's no map and we only have a few resources in our inventory. We start feeling cold as we walk trough the snow looking for a shelter... and then we wonder if anybody else survived from the plane accident.
In The Long Dark we need to take care of four main needs: Hunger, Thirst, Sleep and our body Temperature. But here's a new addition to the formula: Calories. These are bound to our needs and it will be constantly changing. We regain them by eating and lose them by sleeping, just like real life. They also decrease faster if we are out in the cold, and every action that we perform will cost us calories, such as running or destroying a furniture to obtain wood.
But that's not all, there is also a tab where we can check the current temperature and how it affects us, the percentage of Windchill, and bonus we get against cold depending on the clothes that we are wearing, among others. And then we have the Condition/Affliction tabs, and they will change if we get hurt or ill, from food poisoning or hyphotermia to name a few.
In terms of Gameplay, there's always a sense of vulnerability when we are out in the open, and not just from the weather. Wildlife is a very important aspect in The Long Dark and it affects both Combat and Crafting. Pack of Wolves and Bears are going to haunt us if they get to see us. If we were lucky enough to find a rifle or a bow and we succesfully defend ourselves, the player gets food and fur, which can be crafted in clothes or even a bedroll.
Also, the animals can interact with themselves and the player can use this in his own advantage. Wolves get terrified when there's a bear nearby, for example.
There is a lot more to know about the Combat and the gameplay itself, but I'm not going to spoil the experience. I want to talk about what The Long Dark creates around the player. The atmosphere is the best part of the game and something that shouldn't be left behind but get improved in Early Access. Both characters have their own voice with a decent voice acting and they often make a comment while they are performing and action or are in need of something.
But what really shines about The Long Dark it's the Sound and the details.
The game also has Music but it only appears in certain moments (And it does it very well). At first I didn't like this decision, but it really helps creating the atmosphere. Also, the sound of our surroundings is really important in the game.
Finding a place to spend the night and hearing the wind crashing against the windows, starving in the middle of nowhere, hearing Wolves nearby when a few hours ago we fell from a cliff and we still couldn't get patched up, or lighting a Storm Lantern that shows to us a corpse in the ground. This is what the game is all about, our personal experiences with it and the constant feel of desolation and loneliness.
The Long Dark also provides the player with a tab that includes all Stats per day. How long we managed to survived, the locations we came across, the calories we burned and the percentage of how much we have explored. It also has a Notes section, and the player is allowed to write anything in it. It's a great detail for keeping track of details and locations we want to explore next, or just for writing our every day story.
What are the plans for the future?
The Story Mode will be launched in Spring, and it's going to offer around 3 to 4 hours of Storyline. The remaining episodes will be released over the course of 2016. We will get to play as the bush pilot Will Mackenzie, and Dr. Astrid Greenwood, alternating between them and experiencing the story from their own perspectives. This content is going to be free for Kickstarter backers and players who supported the game during Early Access.
This is probably the best survival game ever made! Because it's so different from all the others, where you have to fight hordes of zombies, monsters or cannibalistic mutants. In this game the only enemy, you're facing is nature itself. Although it is an alpha-game and you only can play "Mystery Lake" in the sandbox-mode so far, it's still the best game I've seen for long. Also the graphics style very is different, but very beautiful, looks just like an oil painting.
You're a lone survivor in the northern canadian wilderness and have to stand against the elements. Explore the (damn cold) area of Mystery Lake, find shelters and loot anything useful, you can find. But be aware of the hungry wolves scouting around as well as "Fluffy" , who resides in the dam. Try to use the found goods as best you can and try to stay alive as long as possible.
As mentioned, it's alpha, BUT I can't understand people, who give this game a negative rating, just because It's alpha. Most of them say, they enjoyed the game, but it needs work. But when it's fun, why then the negative rating???
In my 42 hours of playing, I had lots of fun so far, especially in my first try, when I met "Fluffy" right at the start in the dam, he bit me twice, got me down to 4% condition, I walked to camp office, froze me down to 1%, got to camp office, entered and died right in front of the potbelly stove after only 6 hours survival time.
The next tries went way better, made 16 (!) hours in 2nd try and 37 (!!) hours in 3rd, but best one is my current run, in which I am currently at day 91, but with no more ammo.
At the beginning, the most fun is, when you explore everything, find new places and loot anything you can carry, then you develop you own way of playing, make it better the further you get, of course make mistakes, but nevertheless it is huge fun. All the mistakes, that you make, will help you doing better next time and this is even more fun. Then, after maybe 20-30 days, you have a routine in the game, because you can't explore anything new and your days only contain hunting, cooking, melting/boiling water, eating, drinking, sleeping and foraging wood, maybe repairing, if you're lucky.
But even this is kinda fun, cause you are just trying to survive as long as you can with less and less goods. You see the end coming and asking yourself: "How much further can I go? Will I live to see the next day?"
As I said, even though it's an alpha build, it's a huge fun to play this game and I can't wait for new updates, that'll make this game even better!
Survival at it's best. The people have shown us that this isn't a title to miss if you're a fan of the survival genre.
From my own experience, i was shown time and time again that a game can tell a million stories in a million different ways. The outcome is always different. Grab it if you can!
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Lots of Time and Effort goes into these Reviews, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoy putting these together!
