NEO Scavenger

This game could actually have a decent reputation if the dev from Blue Bottle Games, would have held up to their promise. This game is coded in adobe flash. It has memory leaks that require shutting the game down and opening it back up. I was told by the dev himself that he didn't finish re-coding the game in to the unity engine because "I didn't feel like it." He doesn't feel like holding up his promise. The recoding was going to deal with the amount of bugs and balance issues this game still has from it's initial build. There is mod support, (Unity would have fixed that), the memory leaks in the game are specific to Adobe. (again Unity) To top it off, he loves that the "mod community" has helped unscrew his game. The community is 99% gone now for this title, because, mainly, the dev didn't care to try themselves. Extra icing, he did recode it to release on android. When i asked about the promise he broke and the possibility to get an android version (as i was among the first to support this game) he said he would look into it, but afterwards whined about he wasn't making any money on it in the first place so, NO! Update it and give people a decent engine to run it in and who knows how well it may have taken off. I do not recommend this game until the dev gives his promise a completion.

This game is.. a mixed bag. A lot of the playtime comes from just figuring out what works and what doesn't, and how to avoid death. Certain traits are astronomically better then others. Trapping is the best starting trait in the game, solving the issues of finding heat, and of finding food. It also has some completely busted uses in the mid to late game. My major issue is that when you start mastering the game, it quickly shows how shallow it really is. Loot is unreliable, so don't bet on finding ammo, cause the 2 places that sell things to you have very limited stock, and refresh daily. So expect to wait weeks finding the specific thing you really need. god forbid you need a shopping cart wheel or a specific phone cracker. There are no unique or randomy generated special locations. And there less then ten locations total. The entire north of the map is completely barren. And when you do get an event, you better be in fear, because the devs aren't afraid of dishiing out instant deaths. Your experience doesn't matter, your gear doesn't matter, those slavers will always beat you up. Those cultists will always notice you. That kid will probably give you hepatitis C, even if you were wearing 2 layers of sweaters, gloves, and a gas mask.. The game hasn't been updated in a long while, so don't expect stuff to get fixed. The real moment when I noticed this game was held together by duct tape was when I shot a police drone in the LUNGS. This wasn't some dystopian Mechinator bullshit, the creator just never bothered to change the vitals when they turned the sniper NPCs into drones. While you're figuring things out, it's fun. Once you're competent, dramatically less so. There's practically no real late game. Nothing to buy to, nothing that can really kill you unless a dogman mauls you in your sleep. The worst part? Your options are incredibly limited. Eventually, every run feels the same as the last.

Do you enjoy drugs? Do you enjoy beating other crackheads with a stick over the best bench in a park? Do you enjoy stealing another man's squirrel, then beating him to death with it, once he protests? Do you enjoy dueling in crackhead chariots (aka shopping carts)? Then this game is perfect for you. This game is a simulator of everyday London in the far-flung future of 2008, after the NHS budget cuts and other austerity measures, left London barely functioning. So, not much different than today.

I liked the surival mechanics, the looting and the crafting. Although the combat seems simplistic, it actually requires tactical thinking and decision making. There are encounters with characters you can speak to and places where you can trade valuable loot. All in all it's better than most early access survival games. I only have one problem with it. I was 3 hours into a run where I made lots of money and had pretty good gear. And then I died simply for selecting the wrong option in one of the story quests. There was no battle, no chance to survive, no indication as to what was the right thing to do. Simply a line of text saying I've been killed. And since it's perma death I need to start over and lose my 3 hours progress and gear. I don't think I'll be playing it anymore because of that.

It's not every game where you are humbled by lack of footwear. After a few hours of searching, and a few items to my name my blistered feet had slowed me almost to a crawl. I survived a full 24 hours, anew record. I start again, and armed with my previous knowledge I lasted almost 2 days. Seems I shouldn't of ate those mushrooms. But I was so hungry. Next time it's diarhea. Next its a looter with a rock to the face, now a pack of feral dogs. I slept where I could be seen. A wolf man dog thing mauled me. Infection, and cholera. Starvation and Hypothermia. I over heat stroked. I died, I died I died. I love it. I can't stop. There are some bugs(not insects, haven't been killed by bees yet) Had an issue when I couldn't use the scavenging button. Some resources in the wrong place. This is a great game if you like survival. If you like rpg,s it is very light on the interaction so far. If you love both then you will love this game. It's a harsh mistress, but a damn rewarding one. One of the best moments was when I made a splint. A splint! Fixed that broken arm right up. There are multiple skills to choose from, and certain faults. The random map and loot adds tons of replayability. I bought it after playing the demo for 30 minutes. Give the demo a try, if you love it, you'll love the game more. And remember, boil that water, and cook that meat. Cholera is a bad way to go!