The Long Dark Review

The Long Dark is an atmospheric first-person survival experience brought to us by Hinterland Studio Inc! First released on August 1st, 2017 it was and still is met with a positive response from the community for being a strong and immersive survival experience in a sense that it offers a lot for the players and I couldn’t agree more! It is important to know that you shouldn’t expect this title to be similar to games such as Minecraft and 7 Days to Die since both of them mainly focus on base building. If it wasn’t for the commitment from the developers and the support from the fans, maybe this title wouldn’t have all the content that has been added over time!

Most of us have experienced the hype of a big title being released in the near future and for most people, the expectations are pretty high if you know that the company has earlier delivered a pretty strong title. Sometimes they deliver and sometimes they just don’t meet our expectations. This mostly applies to the bigger companies inside of the gaming industry, and it is why I feel like indie developers should have the spotlight more often! The reason for that is that they show creativity and hidden ideas that most people haven’t been able to think about yet. To put it simply, The Long Dark must be one of the best survival experiences I have ever played. It is also important to know that you shouldn’t be trying the actions made within the game since it isn’t good for your own safety.

The main modes you will focus on while playing The Long Dark will pretty much be the story and the sandbox mode. Both modes provide different difficulty experiences which will allow the player to try out and see if they enjoy it! It may or may not be obvious, but the story mode is filled with brilliant narration and the story is just amazing! What the difficulty settings do is that they make the overall experience harder when it comes to the practical part of the game. Instead of having the wildlife not attacking you if you don’t bother them in any way, you instead face off against more aggravated animals and they will run after you until you are done for! The story mode for me is a way to enjoy the game as well as using it as a tutorial before entering the sandbox mode. In order to get started, pick a starting location and then choose to be a male or female.

You will be put on a big map with resources and wildlife spread around pretty much everywhere on the map. Is your body suffering from low temperature due to the cold? If you stay too cold for a long time, you will get hypothermia. At the beginning, I would highly suggest looking around for rocks and branches, since they come handy in most cases. You will then have to find some food that will allow you to keep going! Things such as chocolate bars, canned food and drinks will take you a pretty long way. Then look for a place to rest or sleep in! You will be safe from any danger and you will be able to protect yourself against the wind and the cold since you will have walls and a roof along with a furnace that you will be able to use to cook food. Lighting is especially important in the dark since you can barely see anything during the nights when you are indoors! Will you be able to survive and for how long?

At the end of the day, The Long Dark really delivers in terms of gameplay and story. Everything from the material gathering and the crafting to the well-made soundtrack gives this game more life. It doesn’t really matter whether you are new to survival games, this title is still amazing, nonetheless! Art style is unique and there is so much to do! What more can you ask for in a survival game?

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.