Chernobylite is a new sci-fi survival horror game developed and published by ‘The Farm 51‘. Chernobylite is said to be coming out the 2021 on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5 and PC. There was a PC early access but we don’t care. Now Chernobylite is looking real different from others games but survival horror aren’t easy to do. Let’s take a look.
In the world of Chernobylite, it is the year 2016. Players control a man who 30 years ago use to work as a physicist at a Chernobylite nuclear facility. A catastrophe happened though and it effected 350000 people in 1986. Your girlfriend is one of those many people who is now gone. It’s now 30 years later from that event and what happened still haunts you. The game describes it as “the demons of the past.” So you now return to a placed called the ‘Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Now let’s get something out of the way. Chernobylite is also a survival horror game. So expect danger, strategy and combat. Chernobylite has an explorable world. Players can move at their pace and find many things. The world offers a non-linear story.
There are supernatural threats in Chernobylite and some have called them shadows. They will try to kill you but none of them look scary to us. They glow like neon lights. There are weapons like guns which off course are needed to fight back. Chernobylite is still a survival horror though, so ammo won’t be the most plentiful thing, so pick your fights wisely and when to run or hide.
The game states that they will constantly challenge you to: survive, play by your own rules and experience. Concerning experience, it’s up to the player and how you think. Whether you can stay calm, think things through and decide wisely. Remember it’s a horror game, so keep it together. Concerning Survive, player need to craft their weapons and gear in order to survive out here. It’s up to you to decide what happens out here. Concerning play by your own rules, there are challenges and new things everyday in the zone.
What’s interesting in Chernobylite is that there is other stalkers out in the zone as well. They are also out here surviving, in combat and got stuff to do. Possibly an objective of their own. You can either work with these stalkers and be allies or you can go against them and compete. The game warns you to never fully trust the other stalkers. Stating that they have an agenda of their own. Which is true. After all, they are in the zone for a reason.
Do not forget that Chernobylite is also a sci-fi game. There are many enemies trying to harm you and they are coming from an alternate reality. As you explore you’ll need t learn and future some stuff out. So players will need to collect data through “sophisticated environment and substance analyzing tools.” You will be holding the devices and collecting information. Learning and acquiring what you need to understand and settle what happened here. At least your girlfriend isn’t here… right?
We checked out some Chernobylite gameplay and it’s not looking impressive so far. Too standard for current game standards. Remember that it’s still in development and there was an early release. So we are expecting lots of improvements concerning animations, interaction, movement and more. We truly like the combination of science fiction and survival horror. There are devices to use. Chemicals and supernatural things can get investigated but there is loads of danger, including an humanoid glowy being who is hunting you.
Overall Chernobylite looks like it’s going to be a good game. The graphics are good. There’s clearly a big adventure going on here. Games like this aren’t easy to do. Hopefully there is actually lots of scares and very lethal enemies with limited ammo bringing a big sense of dread and feeling underpowered. The developers ‘The Farm 51’ have got something here. We at X35 Earthwalker would like this game to do well. Now Chernobylite may have supernatural danger and science but neither of those are accurate enough for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Stranded Deep is a new open world survival crafting game developed and published by ‘Beam Team Games‘. Stranded Deep is said to have came out the 21st of April 2020 on consoles. It came out on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It’s also out on PC. The really question is “how deep are we stranded here?” That’s what matters. Let’s take a look.
The story in Stranded Deep is your typical standard stranded story. You control a man who was on a plane. Something goes wrong and you end up stranded somewhere in the vast pacific ocean. You are alone. Yes, you are the lone survivor. Like the movie ‘Cast Away’. You start right from there. You get to a nearby emergency raft. The game then gives you control after some time has clearly passed due to it now being day. Then you can either raft away (if you think that’s wise) or head to the nearby island. Then the real game begins. Time to survive.
Yes, players have some options. You can set your difficulty, gender so male or female, whether to use the existing world of generate a new one, whether to have permadeath or not and even decide whether your world has sharks and snakes or just make them passive (which is for babies and gaming wusses). Like why would you not have the enemies in the game. This isn’t Minecraft. Or is it? It’s good that you got options and can make some changes to the game. Options is always good.
This game literally reminds us of Raft. If you think about it like that, then you know what to expect and what to do. You run around, explore the place, find supplies, gather resources, fend off against threats and off course crafting and building. At this point you know what to expect. Not much to say. Gather your wood build a hammer, build the foundation for your base of operations.
There are threats in this game though and so they should be. Players, if they aren’t complete wusses and babies, will have sharks and snakes in their game. These two are threats and can end your life. Sharks have aways been a famous enemies concerning island and water survival games. If you fall in the water or didn’t see a shark but went into the water then you will get a nasty surprise. Survival games like this need an actual threat. What numerous island and other survival games fail at is not creating fear. When you are stranded with no help, surrounded by danger and all alone, the average person would be scared. Pikmin created fear and did it well for it’s colourful friendly style. Players made sure to get all their pikmin back to the onions or stay close before it turns night. These survival games don’t have that feeling. You see something you easily know how to handle it and then you quickly reach a point where nothing can stand up to you and there’s nothing to be afraid of. We believe that Stranded Deep will have the same issue.
We checked out some Stranded Deep gameplay and it’s what we thought it would be. It’s a like Raft but more graphically realistic, deeper and has more going on. There’s krakens or giant squid creature in the sea which is cool. We need more threats like that. You can build machines that can fly, collect trophies like in Terraria. We feel like there’s more emphasis on survival in Stranded deep though. It definitely has more detail too. Raft is still a fun game but Stranded Deep wants to be the biggest most serious island, water survival game. We like that you have to go underwater to explore and even search sunken ships and find goods. There’s a day and night cycle. You can hunt animals for food and even use spears or a spear gun.
Overall Stranded Deep looks like a very good game. We just really hope the threat level is turned up. It needs to feel like a survival game. The water has to be scary. It should make you never want to go in. The crafting looks cool with what you can eventually make. It looks good too. Like Sea of Thieves, the water looks amazing. The developers ‘Beam Team Games’ have done a great job with this game from what we can see so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to see more of what Stranded Deep has got. Now Stranded Deep may have creatures in the water but even those things know to obey… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Pathologic 2 is an open world survival thriller game developed by ‘Ice-Pick Lodge‘ and published by ‘tinyBuild‘. Pathologic is said to be coming out on the Xbox One the 12th of December 2019 and PlayStation 4 in 2020. It’s already out on PC though. This game is supposed to be centred around a certain plague that’s destroying society. Let’s take a look.
Pathologic 2 is open world, so expect a whole world. Basically everything is taking place in a town. This town isn’t normal at all. The town is being devastated by a deadly plague. This plague is more than just a disease. What’s worse is that the chief local healer is dead. The player must take his place. Now the developers make this perfectly clear that you can’t save everyone in Pathologic 2. You will be forced to make what’s called lose-lose choices in situations. You need to get to know the society and try to make some friends or allies if you want to call them that.
So you can play this in different ways. Either make some allies and be friends with the locals or you could either just look out for yourself and as they say, “carve out your own path”. When a plague is going on and people are dying with victims going crazy it’s normally better to have allies and people who can back you up.
Now there is some danger off course in Pathologic 2. You probably thinking, well obviously X35 Earthwalker, you guys mentioned the plague but there’s more though, the victims of of the plague have also got a problem with you and will make survival somewhat difficult, so you are facing both the victims of the plague and the plague itself. You don’t have forever though. Players have 12 days.
Like Sims you have to manage your hunger, thirst, tiredness etc. Pathologic 2 is all about survival. Off course at the start of the game, things will definitely be bearable but the game is designed to get harder and harder. Your body just get worse and worse and maybe an organ becomes more unstable than ever before.
We checked out some Pathologic 2 gameplay and it’s sort of what we expected. Fights in this game are short and vicious, you could fight people for their wallets or mug them. Some fights can cost you your life though. The one enemy you can’t really face is the plague itself. Remember that this plague is more than just a disease. Much more.
Overall Pathologic 2 just looks like another survival game based heavily around choices you make in a set period of time. We haven’t seen anything that has gotten us interested in this game though. Nothing stands out to us. We have seen from reviews that it must be good but a game must be more than just a good game for us. The developers have done a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to it being on consoles but others will. Now Pathologic may have a dangerous plague going around but even this plague has no effect on… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Frostpunk is a society survival game developed and published by ‘11 Bit Studios‘. It is said to be coming out within the third quarter of 2019 on the Xbox One and PS4. It’s already out on PC. Now this game is suppose to be a serious survival game with consequences concerning players decisions. Let’s take a look.
In Frostpunk, players will have to be responsible for the last city on earth. This city is set in the middle of a frozen wasteland area. The people have developed steam powered technology in order to counter the freezing cold. Players must build this city, expand and make sure to keep it a place where the community can survive. Do you think you can do that?
Off course Frostpunk isn’t as simple as now we have money so let’s build this tower and now we get energy so let’s expand. No! Frostpunk makes everything serious. Players will constantly need to make decisions. Decisions that seriously effect other things. Decisions that can be real difficult. Decisions that can even be cold (get it?). For example you could choose to enforce child labour. This will off course allow more work to be done and speed up processes etc but then children will be put to some seriously hard and maybe even dangerous work. What if someone gets hurt? So it’s about balancing your moral code with what needs to be done for survival. Is the lives of a few acceptable for the survival of many to you?
So that’s basically the game. Build your little place into a city eventually while keeping close eye and management of your supplies. Meeting the needs of the people, doing what’s right, creating laws, punishment for crimes control the propaganda and more. Now there is some more still. For example exploration of the outside world. You can’t just stay caged in for too long. So going outside to find new things, resources or even to just learn about what’s happening out there and the history of this frozen world of Frostpunk.
Yes we know Frostpunk is way more detailed than how we are explaining but we are just boiling it down. You must decide how much funding needs to go into the propaganda centre which creates and brings the news to people’s homes. Off course this can easily be corrupted. Watch out concerning the hope of the people and their content with life in the city. If people lose the will to live then it’s over for them and for you. If there’s no hope then what’s the point in carrying on working.
Even after you have made decisions things don’t end there concerning the matter. There are levels and even a progress tree that shows in what direction you can advance that project or decision in. You can see the impacts it will have but it’s up to players to see and think long term. There is even reaction moments too. As in a decision may have triggered something else or something happened during that project. For example, remember the child labour thing? Well a child could get injured while working. This off course will not be pleasing to parents. Do you then decide to continue with the child labour, restrict the child labour or completely abolish child labour? Think about it. Do you need the extra hands that badly?
There’s an endless mode where players can go on forever. Hence the name endless. Frostpunk received new game modes, maps mechanics etc. Do some exploration and you might just find some more people out there. Off course to survive in situations like this, man needs to develop new means and way of achieving and moving forward. So players need to develop technology. So automatons which are self powered, and really advanced infrastructure are all possible. Even airships which will make travelling much safer, easier and faster. Lots to learn and achieve in Frostpunk.
We checked out some gameplay and Frostpunk seems like how you would expect a city management to be like. Highlight and select sections and buildings, then check the requirements, then select from the options in the menu. See the stats and numbers of the city. People who play sims will probably feel quite comfortable here with how the management works. It’s not some a big action game with lots going on in your face. It’s something that gamers will have to see for themselves. So check out some gameplay videos. Trailers don’t really explain that much.
Overall Frostpunk seems like the kind of game that it serious like ‘Papers please‘, manageable like Sims but casual though. It’s one of those games that a certain audience of gamers would be into. The developers ’11 Bit studios’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will just have to hear what goes on with Frostpunk. Now Frostpunk may have a cold situation going on but it’s not as serious as… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Darkwood is a survival horror adventure game developed by ‘Acid Wizard Studio‘ and published by ‘Crunching Koalas‘. Its is coming out May 17th on the Xbox One, May 16th on Nintendo Switch and May 14th on PS4. It’s already out on PC but we don’t care. Now Darkwood is said to be quite the serious experience. Let’s take a look.
In Darkwood, players will have to explore, travel and survive in the unforgiving world of Darkwood. There is danger everywhere and survival isn’t guaranteed. The game basically starts with a doctor. He keeps going on and on about how this forest (that we are in) has trapped everyone and that the exits are gone. He also mentions how he failed to get rid of a certain plague. This doctor will stop at nothing to escape this place. Even if it means kidnapping a person and torturing them for information concerning the exit. Things are quite dark as you can see already. Oh and no, you cannot just simply chop down al the trees. They grow back faster than you can chop them all down.
Players will primarily control a character known as the stranger. Now Darkwood should remind some players of a certain game because of a certain in game mechanic. Minecraft. Why? Simply because during the day is the best time to explore the world and off course scavenge and find supplies. At night time it isn’t safe to go outside. Players must stay in doors and defend themselves and their hideout. Also like Minecraft, players will need to find the resources, lots of crafting, upgrading through a workbench and combat. There are different biomes too for players to explore and each one will have different supplies too. Use a stove to cook certain things too and believe us when we say the cooking is important as players can also get different skills that way.
So defending yourself is more than just a swinging a diamond sword. Players in Darkwood need to come up with strategies. You can lay traps and make sure they are good ones that can actually slow down or even stop whatever comes for you. Barricade those doors and the windows too because danger isn’t always just a dude with a knife you know. Some things in the woods are scarier and more dangerous than that. Ever seen a wolf standing on two feet with a long trench coat? Well we have and it’s not good at keep it’s saliva under control. No, we won’t explain more. It’s up to you if you want to trust a wolf man or not.
Now the game doesn’t end if you fail to survive the night but do your best to survive because there is something to gain, just as there is something close for dying. What you gain for surviving is reputation with the trader. Allowing you to get more expensive and new items. Now if you die, then you wake up in the morning without any bonuses at all. Worse, if you die while out during the day then you lose half of your inventory. Don’t worry though as you have a chance to get it back. Your lost stuff will be marked on the map, so you can collect it later. That’s just the easy mode though. If you play in the harder difficulties then expect worse consequences like losing lives and even permanent death.
It’s also one of those games where your decisions, actions and reactions shapes the storyline. It effects even the other characters in the game will get affected and their actions are different too. It’s all about progression though. There are multiple chapters to Darkwood and as you get further, the map changes too. The story here isn’t that simple at allemande players will need to think and take things into account during the whole duration of Darkwood.
We checked out some Darkwood gameplay and it’s not what we thought it would be. It’s not like Minecraft and certainly isn’t for children. The sounds are very well done. You can hear the footsteps, stepping on grass, the rain, noises in the woods, lightning strikes and more all for setting the atmosphere and getting players nervous. The visuals are good too. The woods, shadows are very well done but the characters themselves aren’t as good. The lighting is the best, especially when it comes to your flashlight, just don’t get scared of your own shadow. That’s right. Bet you forgot this is also a horror game. Things can be waiting in the dark for you… remember that. We like that you have to stay on guard and keep your eyes open pretty much always. The different characters and item management allows for multiple ways of doing things and getting different results. It’s top down so you may need to get closer to something to check it out and when you find a certain item, you have to decide if you’ll need it or not.. Check out gameplay for yourself to understand more.
Overall Darkwood seems like something that gamers will try for themselves and many will get really scared from playing. We checked this out and it’s gameplay was quite different. Darkwood is a interesting game but once again it’s a limited game audience type. It doesn’t seem like many gamers would get into this but the ones who do will run a mile with it. The developers ‘Acid wizard Studio’ did good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will just have to see how this goes with others. Now Darkwood might have some dangers in the night but those cannot scare… the ‘earth Walk!’
Resident Evil 2 has been remade and is being developed by ‘Capcom‘. It’s coming out the 25th of January 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Now many have been saying how great Resident Evil 2, the original. We were never impressed with it but some gamers are looking out for this remake. Let’s take a look.
Now those who have played Resident Evil 1 and 2 you should know the deal about this game and how they function. It’s all about survival way more than combat. It isn’t a straight up gun fight. Many times players had to emphasise that running away from enemies is the best and smart thing to do. That reserves ammo, which is in short supply. So Resident Evil 2 should feel like how it use to… or does it?
Resident Evil 2 still revolves around Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. The main difference with all these reimagines and remakes is that graphics and visuals. Resident Evil 2 has improved graphics which means the zombies look more gross, more blood and splats more. The buildings and locations look very good. Fans will like what they did with the interior.
Controls and camera is one of the main things that were considered negatives for the originals. In this reimagine of Resident Evil 2 both have been improved greatly. The controls are tighter, more responsive and better. It should be easier now to fire and kill enemies. The camera is better too. There is now immersive camera angles too. This works well especially when you are being grabbed and attacked, you get to see the damage and blood.
Now it has been said that the Resident Evil 2 reimagined will have some new stuff like game modes which is basically mandatory for remakes like this. After all it is the same thing but improved graphics. There are also some changes to the story mode as well. Remakes need new features, new stuff and more to make it worth buying.
We checked out some gameplay and it’s what we thought it would be. The monsters do look very good though. Visuals are good too. The noises have been done very well. We haven’t seen anything to get us excited about Resident Evil 2 though. We can clearly see the improvements in control and camera from even short gameplays.
Overall Resident Evil 2 looks good and plays better but that’s pretty much about it. It’s more for the fans who have played the originals and want that old feeling back of how they first played the game. As we thought we aren’t impressed nor do we want to play it but off course there will be many gamers who do want to play it. The developers ‘Capcom’ have done an okay job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to Resident Evil 2 but will keep an ear out to hear how it does. Now Resident Evil 2 got remakes but one thing that doesn’t need a remake is… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Fade to Silence is a new survival RPG developed by ‘Black Forest Games‘ but published by ‘THQ Nordic‘. It has already come out as early access on the pc but it’s coming to Xbox One and PS4 2019. If you thought survival was harsh in the last game we wrote about (The Wild Eight) then wait until you see this. Let’s take a look.
In Fade to Silence players control Ash. He’s got his own issues but now has way more ever. Ash is tormented. We don’t know by what though. He’s a natural leader and is able to get very different groups of people to come together. Ash plans to build a sustainable base for I’m and the other survivors. Protection against the harsh environments. This will mean that players need management skills as there are others survivors who need to be found and watched over in a sense.
The Other survivors in Fade to Silence have strengths and skills of their own. No one is useless. For example Ryme known as ‘the sneak’ is as her name suggests very sneaky. Able to move silently, unnoticed and avoid detection. This should alert players that stealth will be needed at some points. Ezra (name from the Bible) is known as ‘the alchemist’. again you can guess why. it has been said that he’s spent decades working on his potions and perfecting them. Expect a wide range of effects incoming. Gani is called ‘the survivor’. She is calm, a thinker and has huge determination to reverse the planets current state. Offers wise advice and will open your eyes to your faults. So basically listen to her. Rhys, known as ‘the investigator’ is an interesting one. Always studying the corruption and learning for a way to use it as an advantage. His studies have caused some strange side effects. He’s either got special insight into the eclipse’s power or it’s damaged him. There are more characters so keep that in mind.
Now onto the danger in Fade to Silence. Since this is a post-apocalyptic frozen wasteland, expect a lack of food, resources, light and expect the freezing cold. Players must venture out into this dangerous area in search of resources, materials and more. Each venture is risky and can be your last. You can upgrade your equipment and weapons but that requires, more materials and items. Upgrading is quite important here. Now there is a bigger threat… a certain unexpected but constant event… a blizzard! if this blizzard catches you when you aren’t ready then it could end you. Everything is worse during a blizzard.
If you though all of that was bad, then wait until you hear about the monsters. Games like this need to compete with the creativity and action of other games to gain interest so off course they will add dangerous natural monsters to spice things up. In Fade to Silence players will face different kinds of monsters. For example the Ripper is a melee enemy who always gets close to you to slash you up with it’s claws. It’s attacks are slow but deadly enough to kill you quick. Hellvines spawn from corrupted grounds and attack whatever comes within range. The Feeder strikes fear in survivors as it’s very durable and resilient. It has a long range tongue that can drag you in, right in front of it’s jaws. This enemy is powerful. The Stalker will follow players, waiting for the moment to strike. It’s attack is very fast and you must get close for the best chance to finish it off. There are many more monsters and they are a serious problem. We like that the developers have displayed a good amount of information concerning the game, characters and monsters. They are one of the few who did this right.
We checked out some gameplay. There is a lot of stuff to do in Fade to Silence. You can hunt animals and skin them, collect raw meat, which has to be cooked, even use their bones as material. Use a bow and arrow, blade or even branches to attack enemies. You can even travel around on a sleigh pulled by dogs which does look cool; however your dogs fear the corruption as well. They will not move into a corrupted area. They will actually just stop in their tracks. Survivors can assist you in defending a camp from a monster attack. Players must watch out for one monsters that may be a problem. It’s called the Inner voice. It will speak to you, give you ideas. Do not let it corrupt you.
Overall Fade to Silence seems like a good game. The graphics are very good and the sounds are good too. The environment looks quite realistic in many ways. The snow is done well too. The areas are clearly distinct from each other it’s clear what area you are in. The monsters look cool but we hope they are strong for the sake of difficulty. The developers ‘Black Forest Games’ have done a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what this game has to offer. Now Fade to Silence may be a serious survival game but it’s all calm when compared to the seriousness of… the ‘Earth Walk!’
The Wild Eight is a new survival adventure game developed by ‘HypeTrain Digital‘. It is already out, early access, on pc but when on console isn’t clear. so all we can say is keep an eye on The Wild Eight if you want to know. It will however be on Xbox One and PS4. This game emphasises on how intense the survival is. Let’s take a look.
In the world of The Wild Eight players control a group of survivors who were on plane that crashed in the Alaskan wilderness. So lots of snow, very cold and dangerous indeed. The Wild Eight makes it very clear that every second that passes you and the survivors come closer to death. But wait… there’s more… Some are wondering if the plane crash was an accident or all planned. This is because the area they crashed has military bunkers and abandoned government labs which would suggest some government secret experiments may have gone on here and off course, like every other government experiment plan, went wrong. What’s really going on? Or maybe we are getting paranoid.
So if you couldn’t tell by now that starving and the below zero temperature isn’t the worst things you’ll face here. Those military bunkers and government labs we mentioned earlier have dangers of their own. it has been said that inside are fatal surprises. The mechanics of this game in some ways reminds us of Metal gear Survive, which we enjoyed, in that the main things you’ll be doing is exploring, hunting and crafting. Exploring, because there are many places and to discover and things to see. Hunt, because everyone needs food and things to eat. Craft, because tools, equipment and weapons are all needed to survive. Did we say weapons?
Off course Alaska wouldn’t be Alaska without some animals around right? In The Wild Eight players may unfortunately come across some wolves who always hunt in packs. Wolves are vicious and if players under equipped or not careful can wipe you all out. Not scary enough for you? Well players can could be even more unfortunate to come across a bear! Bears are way worse than wolves and they will chase you down. If you see one, do not provoke it. We also have reason to believe there are worse things in the Alaskan wilderness. Monsters and supernatural beasts like werewolves. Check their website for yourself and see.
There are eight characters to choose from and each has their own strengths. For example William has 10% more defence and 5% more protection from the cold. Jeffrey has 50% more durability for all items he crafts. Vivian has a 5% increased chance for critical damage on enemies but 10% if she strikes from behind, she also gathers 20% more wood and stone. Robin has 5% increased attack speed, 5% increased range damage and 10% increased stamina recovery speed. Off course this is only four of the eight characters, so discover and learn the rest for yourself.
We checked out some The Wild Eight gameplay and it’s not exactly what we thought it would be but still interesting. There are crafting recipes, multiple animals like warthogs too, axes are needed for chopping trees, a day and night cycle, torches and light sources which light up the area nicely, basically quite a lot going on. There is signs of progression as well as in at one point you must run from bears and then later on you can face them and kill them. The movement animations could have been better though. We also like that they took temperature into consideration as in without warmth your character will die.
Overall The Wild Eight seems like a good game. Definitely very deep. The story is good, the crafting is good, the graphics are good for it’s style, the effects like torch light glow are good. They should have explained the difficulty regarding playing with friends and solo. We hope the military bunkers and government labs are exciting. The developers ‘HypeTrain Digital’ did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are keeping an ear out for The Wild Eight. The Wild Eight may have government secrets but even thats weak when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Conan Exiles is a new open world survival game developed by ‘Funcom‘. It’s coming out the 8th of May on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. A number of eyes are on this survival game. Let’s take a look.
Now many have grown up hearing about Conan the destroyer, whether the character or film. It was quite an interesting world with it’s creatures, people, magical abilities and items. Now here is Conan Exiles. This open world survival takes place in a barbaric wasteland. Sp straight away we know survival is going to be a problem because wastelands tend to not have much around. In this game players control their own character in an attempt to survive, fight and build in this deadly world. So to some extent this is like Minecraft but more brutal.
Now this wasteland isn’t empty. There are many secrets dark ones and many ancient ruins of ancient civilisations. This world is in fact quite rich with many things to do and explore. You start with literally nothing but the end game is the exact opposite. Players could end up with large fortresses and literal cities. Yes, character progress in Conan Exiles goes that far. This game is actually quite merciless. The stuff you do here are truly barbaric. For starters you can torture bandits (and other bad guys) until they submit and become your slave by tying them to the wheel of pain. You can even sacrifice the still beating hearts of your enemies to your god on very dirty and bloody altars (about as pagan as it gets). This is some dark stuff but in the fictional world of gaming… we like it.
Charge into full on wars, battle monsters and dangerous creatures alike, harvest materials and gear up to traverse the barbaric wastelands. Survival here isn’t just simply eating and drinking. Nope. There are dangerous weather conditions to deal with like a scouring sandstorms. Conan Exiles has some real secrets going on and one them is a serious problem. Players must protect their characters minds from being corrupted which will lead to insanity. If you want epic though then check this out… you can summon the avatar of your characters god and watch them completely destroy your enemies before you. Now that’s incredibly scary.
Everything is explorable from those ancient looking runes all the way to the sand dunes over there (pay attention). While exploring, do not forget to harvest materials which can be used for crafting weapons, items and more like armour, clothes and equipment . Use those materials also for the building of your home, then camp, them, base, then fortress, then kingdom. Some ruins are more dark and scary than others, that’s probably because they hold secrets to what happened to the civilisations before you, what lead to their end and more dark secrets and good knowledge. Oh and those gods we mentioned earlier that you can summon… yeah we can control them directly!
Those bad guys that you can capture and torture aren’t just for entertainment. You can put them to hard work. Get them to be your army for when you attack other places or you can make their job crafting and other useful stuff. The battles are serious business. You can destroy the place and actually see structures crumble due to explosive or great force. The developers claim that we can see heads rolling and limbs flying which would be real cool actually. We hope they pull it off well. Conan Exiles is also has the option of multiplayer. You can play alone locally if you want or take the survival to another level dealing with real players in the same server or like Minecraft have your own world and invite some friends over where you have complete control and so can stop people from stealing from you.
We checked out some gameplay and we can say that Conan Exiles is looking real awesome. You can hunt normal animals like elephants for ivory (poor creatures) as an example but there are some things out there that can only be killed in specific ways like silver arrows or weapons. Some you must hunt alone in the dark, at night. That’s cool. This game definitely reminds us of ARK: Survival Evolved. So what do you do if your on a online server and another player summons and sends a god avatar after your base? Well… the short answer is run for your life (women and children last!).
Overall this sounds like an epic game. The graphics are very good. The sounds and effects like lighting for caves and ruins is excellent. The avatar of gods are massive and powerful but leave the summoner vulnerable which gives players defending hope and a chance to end it. Weapons come in variety and purposes. Battles are fast and strategic. There is a lot going for this game and it has caught our attention. The developers ‘Funcom’ did a fantastic job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are looking forward to Conan Exiles. A avatar of a god may be huge but it still isn’t big enough for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
State of Decay 2 is the latest installment in the State of Decay franchise. It’s being developed by ‘Undead Labs‘ and published by ‘Microsoft Studios‘. It’s coming out in 2018 on the Xbox One and Windows 10. It will also be a ‘Xbox Play Anywhere’ game allowing more flexibility. Zombie survivals are risky games. Let’s take a look.
State of Decay 2 has put quite a bit of emphasis on team work. Even stating that “Nobody survives alone” which is a huge statement. We at X35 Earthwalker know of some who can easily survive alone but let’s see why. Basically the story is that somehow the dead has risen once again in America. As always the military, for some reason, couldn’t stop the zombies and now civilisation has fallen. Human is pretty much close to extinction. our question is “Is humanity nearly extinct all around the world or just America?”
Players must survive, find other survivors and build a community and work together. Start of with nothing off course but over time create a kitchen area, a place to eat, vegetable patches and areas to grow crops and before you know it, it’s a safe haven from all the evil zombies. This is where the whole multiplayer gameplay comes in. State of decay 2 is all about interacting and working together (hopefully) with other players to survive. Off course you could just go with three of your friends. That’s right, it’s also 4 player co-op. Games like this are always better with 4 player co-op and we are glad to see this here.
Now even though there is a lot of team work, each character has their own story in a way. They are different. Different moods, attitudes, goals and different level of determination for those goals. Your own skills that players must develop. Even your own decisions get remembered by the game. Your moral code, your ideas, your ways of survival will have big impact on your story. We honestly here this a lot in games like this but what game really creates effect consequences for this mechanic. it’s a big challenge and we hope it works very well here.
If you haven’t guessed it by now, yes it’s an open world game. Make all the choices you want but resource management is key. Everything is entered around your base. Build watch towers, work shops, infirmaries and more depending on what your goals and strategies are. You may be more combat ready or resource focused.
We checked out some State of Decay 2 gameplay and it has left us on the fence. It sort of reminds us of sims in some ways. The zombies themselves do look interesting. There are standard zombies, big belly zombies that explode and let out some strange fluids, large hulking fat zombies that charge you to try and rip you apart and more. The gameplay it self just doesn’t look all that interesting. Especially how the characters run (a bit bland). The sim like base building does look cool and creates ideas already as to what you would want to do (well the creative have anyway). Just that so far we haven’t seen anything that makes us want to jump on it right now. The open world, multiplayer, co-op action side of the game is what’s really cool right now and makes us want to see how that works. Will players have the option to betray and attack others? Will that in return just lead to a war community game? Many questions.
Overall this is a very cool game. The concept is not new but definitely works here. The graphics are top level with 4K graphics and Xbox one X enhanced. The graphics do look very nice and the attention to details is high as well. The aiming and battle all seems smooth and flows nicely. It’s clear a lot of work went into this game. The developers ‘Undead Labs’ did a excellent job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an eye out to see how things go. Now working together is key but no matter the level of team work it really ain’t enough to beat… the ‘Earth Walk!’