NEO Scavenger

This is game treats you like real life would if you found yourself out alone, in a hospital gown with no civilisation left... Harshly. Or neutrally fairly, since Nature has no favourites, except whoever survives. You have to survive by the very basics. Find clothes, find food, fight! Pretty much everything is out to kill you, even the weather. My biggest problem was freezing to death, I just couldn`t keep warm. I died several times. Finally, I found I could wear more clothes, make fires, find stuff to help make fires easier and how to eat. It`s all very logical. At one point I had a fire going (finally) some meat and a stick and I thought, "Now in real life I`d stick this meat on a stick and cook my piece of meat, will it work here?" And it did! It was nice to see a game actually work logically than by gamey logic. Now I have some decent shoes, several layers of clothes, a sharp spear, a rifle (but no bullets) and have survived several small fights... Fights are no pushovers by the way. Getting hurt is not good, even if you win. I like how this game forces you to think. My only criticisms is the lack of sound effects (rain is good), graphics and not being able to make my own character with his own name. Good game.

On day 3, I began suffering from poisoning, pain, diarrhoea, and severe thirst. I temporarily abandoned my cart to find water. On my return, a stranger was wielding my wrench and walking away with my cart, so I brutally murdered him. Shortly after, another stranger attacked me with the butt of a shotgun. I punched him to death, claimed his shotgun, and found he was wearing a right shoe that matched my left shoe, in brand and durability. I promptly put the shoe on and dropped dead from poisoning. All because I accidentally ate a small chunk of spoiled meat on day 1.

Just some experiences with my play throughs: The goal is to get decked out with combat armor and a combat shotgun, night vision, laptops for hacking, the works and then you are equipped to complete the game. Spoiler alert: I will admit I cheated once to understand the mechanics. The game deletes your shockwave flash save file if you die, but if you make a backup, you can technically reload a save. Now I play it raw. Death can still come for me at any time, especially if you get ganged up on by dogmen (werewolves I think), but I can usually survive enough to make it to the city and start getting real equipment. Also a spoiler - Myopia can be surgically fixed. I won't say how, but it is a good negative to take if you need another point to spend elsewhere when making your character. You can get a basic fix for the short term by carrying around a scope of some other optics. I usually start by getting the essentials to survive by looting nearby cities and towns, especially the ability to hold drinking water. Then visit the game show to get some additional essentials for later on to the village in the forest to learn who you are and I also use them to sell goods I crafted for money. Once you have money, head to the city to buy things you cannot buy anywhere else and then you are on your way!

The brutality of this game is less from it's difficulty, and more from it's relentless vision of the cost of survival. Offer to talk to the stranger? That's just enough time for them to blow your head off with a shotgun and eat your remains. You should have ducked for cover and beaten them to death with your crowbar once they ran out of ammo. What's it mean to be "good" in a world like that? Interesting question. The core gameplay is very hard, but death is mostly preventable. Over time you will learn what you need to look out for to survive. It's reasonable, in a real life scenario, that you might not find those things and you will die, which is sometimes what happens here. That may not sound fun to some, but if you like the idea of learning the system, and beating it, the game is mostly fair. Went to sleep without a noise trap and someone slit your throat? Whose fault is it but yours? The more you learn, the higher your chances, until you can get pretty far into the game on a consistent basis. The biggest flaw that drove me nuts was the story encounters. No matter how much you may master the rest of the game, choosing the wrong option in the narrative will kill you and throw away your progress. You can get good enough to where it doesn't take too long to get back to where you left off, but it's a design decision that mostly leads to frustration and resentment, the only reason it's not 5 stars for me. Hopefully they go in a different direction for future games. The game has its issues, another one is the UI. But the ambition on display is really inspiring, primarily the work of just one designer, Daniel Fedor. It's worth looking past the problems and recognizing the level of achievement. It can be a grind, but once you get into a rhythm of success, it's a lot of fun.

Survival Time: 20.42 hours. Final Moments: ** End Turn ** Player spied on plains. Player ate some berries. Player ate some berries. Player ate some berries. Not enough moves left this turn. ** End Turn ** Player has severe hypothermia. ** End Turn ** It is now Night Player is unable to see well in these conditions, making activity difficult. ** End Turn ** Player is resting. ** End Turn ** Resting... ** End Turn ** Resting... ** End Turn ** Resting... ** End Turn ** Resting... Player froze to death. Player froze to death. Player can see distant objects better than most people. Player is skilled in obscuring the trail they leave behind and tracking others. Player has a slow metabolism, and consumes food and water slower than most. However, Player also recovers slower from wounds and illness. Player is unburdened by what they're carrying. Player is well-rested. Player's hunger is sated. Player's thirst is slaked. Player is unable to see well in these conditions, making activity difficult. Player is skilled at hiding, and can conceal themselves better than most. Player is wearing the protective talisman. Player has a normal circulation of blood. Player is in minor pain, and some activities are affected. Player's immune system is healthy. Player is skilled in trapping and snares. Player is barefoot, and cannot travel as easily. Player examined the tracks in the cryo facility. Player is knowledgeable in plants. The boot near the car with the sleeping bag was found. The sleeping bag from the car was taken. Player discovered the bank account info at the cryo facility. Player is wearing a wrist strap from Gyges Cryo Facility. Player has painful blisters on their foot. Player is wearing a crude air filter. Player saw the glow in the east. Player has acted significantly more good than evil.