Evaulation
Shipwrecked on a deserted island with just a few basic supplies to survive. This is a recipe for a prolonged adventure of exploration and survival. The game has a very nice atmosphere with beautiful graphics and a sense of loneliness and isolation. I got the sense of urgency to get moving and start foraging for supplies to insure my survival. I feel the game definitely conveyed the right atmosphere.
I was a bit frustrated by the initial difficulty in finding branches and grass. In a forest full of trees with branches, I would have expected this particular item to be quite common, but it turned out to be extremely rare for me. Thankfully, you can chop down trees to get branches so that turned out not to be a problem. However, although grass is everywhere, the particular kind of grass needed for making rope was hard to find. Although, after some time I started to figure out that certain places were more likely to have these materials and I could return to them and forage for more.
I found the game tips at startup very useful. However, while the tips are nice and do help figure some things out, it would have been great to make some of the tasks into quests. The guidance on the game page instructs the user what to do first, but if the game made them into quests then it would not only keep the player on track, but also give him small, measurable goals to feel a sense of accomplishment.
This game was a perfect marriage for SoulLink Spawner as just about everything needed to survive the wilderness was spawnable and the escalating waves of hostile animals brought an increasing level of threat. The more I built up my supplies and defenses, the more I would need them.
Overall, the game felt very complete and could be something to keep me busy for many hours trying to build up a proper defensible base and continuing to survive day after day as the nightmare increased. While this is a demo game made in a short time period, it is already a complete game. With more time and effort, this could become something even more. The developer has a talent for game creation and knows how to choose his tools well.
Bugs
- Footstep sounds sometimes play on their own and won't stop for a long time
- When the character dies, he just gets stuck in the ground. Needs a death animation.
- Some trees are hovering several feet above ground in a few areas
- Sound effect is out of sync with mining with pickaxe
General Criticisms
- Difficulty was a bit high and I think maybe if the challenge level was a little less than it would have been even more enjoyable.
- The addition of quests would have really engaged the player even more and help to keep him on track
- I did not hear the beach sounds as mentioned in the spawner usage, but maybe they occur only in some places?