There are definite signs of very early access in the game - you can't map your keyboard so you have to use the wasd keys, there are pauses when you enter new areas, there isn't much in the way of letting you know what the heck you're supposed to do, and there's no real Menu to save, load, or quit. The inventory system is a work in progress. I just picked up everything. Empty bottle? Sure. Chopped wood. Yep. Well, since you're in a blizzard in Canada, you probably know what you're going to do with the wood. But no real rhyme or reason. There seems to be an engaging story in here somewhere. I know it's a mystery of some sort. Everybody has left hastily. You even pass one truck on the road that honks at you as it races by. I don't know if you could hit it purposely or not as the game sort of forces you to stay on the road. There are invisible barriers to keep you from off-roading, which basically told me, ok I guess I'm going to need this truck. Driving mechanics otherwise are pretty good. There is a nice feel to the old pickup you drive. Among the nice add ons are windshield wipers, which give that squeegee sound. The Narrator sounds like he hasn't practiced his lines all that much. They sound like he just read them off a cue card, but they're not too distracting. Sometimes, they're rather humorous. When I first saw this game, I related it to The Long Dark, which I love. There are some similarities most notably the brutal Canadian north winter. But not much else, now that I've put some time into it. I see lots of potential here, so I'm looking forward to what the developers end up doing. There's a mystery that you will need to solve, and I think there's a little something supernatural going on too. At one point, you see ghosts of the past reenacting their last moments. It looks like it could be good. At GOG's sale price going out the gate, it's not a bad way to spend some time driving around and searching abandoned houses.
It tells you something when the badges you acquire in The Long Dark are how many days you've survived. What a game. When I saw GOG added this, I was like, wow sweet, I gotta grab it! Oh wait, I've had it on Steam for a year. It's that good. Graphics are smooth and almost make you feel like you're in a living painting. The animals are aggressive toward you, but aren't supernatural, so if you hide behind a rock and wait, it will wander away. In my Steam version, I'm at about 100 days, but there have been many, many times where I sat there watching my bleeding, frozen body struggling during a blizzard to make it to the door of a cabin, or even the mouth of a cave, and said to myself...ok, this is it. It was a good ride. Be it by pure luck or sheer will, I survived. The weather system in the game is incredible. You sigh with relief when you wake up in the morning and you actually see the sun shining. Great, I can go hunting today! While indoors, you can still hear the icy wind howling outside, taunting you, daring you to just open the door. When you're lucky enough to find gun, you jump for joy. When you actually find enough bullets for it to make any kind of difference, you jump even higher. I once broke down a bench in order to make some wood for a fire and lo and behold, there behind the bench on the floor was a single bullet. Hooray! The game doesn't hold your hand. At all. You have to WANT to survive, or you're just either frozen, starving, or some wolf's lunch. But, it gives you all the tools you need to survive. If you skin a deer for its hide, you can make some boots or pants. You can make a coat out of the wolf's hide. Mittens from the cute little bunnies. Story mode is on its way and it looks like it's going to be a good one, but in the meantime, sandbox mode is incredible. If you want a truly immersive game that draws you in and makes you really care about your character's life, then this is it. It really sucks when you die.
