The Long Dark Reviews
With a better, more involving path, this could have been really something. As it is, it's the glorious The Long Dark with a reason for surviving, and that definitely proves enough.
The Long Dark has finally taken the shape of a real product with the introduction of the Story mode that keeps you motivated to survive and never give up.
Deep, brutal, and hauntingly atmospheric, The Long Dark is a survival game done right.
If it sounds as if I'm overly frustrated with The Long Dark, it's because I am. The sheer number of times that it hints at being a special game that entirely dominates every single survival-based title that has come before it is staggering. But for every one of those times, there's another time where it's broken, bugged, or just plain poorly thought-out. If the development team patches up those bugs and tweaks things here and there, it's no exaggeration to say that this could be a must buy that reaches the top end of the scoresheet. The fact that it gets the score that it gets stands as testament as to just how enjoyable the game can be and often is in the face of a veritable snowstorm of issues and imperfections.
After nearly three years surviving in alpha, The Long Dark has finally launched its long-awaited story mode, and it's worth playing
The Long Dark is a strong survival title, possibly even the strongest of the entire genre. A beautiful, but dangerous Canadian wilderness provides the backdrop to a challenging, but largely satisfying fight for survival. While micromanaging every facet of your well-being while trying to survive might sound tedious in description, it actually ends up being fun, satisfying, and even tense. With three more episodes to come for this title's story mode, there's already tons of content to chow down on. Just watch out for the wolves.
Calling The Long dark a "survival game" is not enough. It is a thoughtful, moving experience about loneliness in the wilderness, how to respect nature in order to be respected by it. Easily one of the best, if not the best, in the genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
In all honesty, the Wintermute should have never been released in the state which it is in right now. And if you take it out of the equation, the Survival and Challenge Modes which also share flaws with the Story mode, are simply not worth the baffling $34.99 which the developers are asking for.
Many gamers will bounce off of The Long Dark – it is extremely difficult and makes you remember about very basic stuff. The final version of the game offers a mediocre story mode and features some boring repetitiveness but overall quality is great – fans of slow exploration and learning will love it.
Review in Polish | Read full review
The Long Dark is a shot in the arm for the survival game. The story mode is a decent addition, adding some mystique to the cold wilds, yet it currently doesn't trump the personal stories you create outside of it in survival mode, where joy, hope, dread, terror, and despair come in unpredictable waves. The game's harsh, grounded style will divide opinion, but it truly feels like a fresh perspective that incorporates the risks and rewards of survival and exploration.
I really, really, wanted to love The Long Dark, but a myriad of poor design choices and bugs teamed with a complete lack of instruction made it one of the most frustrating games I have ever played. You can pick some objects up, but not others, you can smash a crate to bits for firewood, but not a table, and none of this makes any sense. If you were freezing death, you'd burn the frigging table! Survival mode is by far the best way to experience the game offering some gorgeous views and real sense of achievement when you make things nice and cosy, it's just a shame that Story mode is so poorly thought out.
A good survival experience that could have been even better with a little more polish on its console versions.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A pleasingly complex and realistic survival simulator, accompanied by a story mode that so far fails to be anywhere near as compelling.
The wilderness is satisfyingly unforgiving. The world is fun to explore, but story mode offers a lackluster narrative
Bugs and a rough story weaken what is, at its core, a great survival game.
In a genre which is suffocating, The Long Dark stands out among the crowd as perhaps the best. Brutal, unforgiving survival wrapped up in a very plausible scenario where beauty kills.
With better job on technical aspects The Long Dark would be a pretty good game. As for now, it's better to wait for a sale and patches.
Review in Polish | Read full review
The Long Dark is a tense and harrowing experience both in Story and Survival modes.
The Long Dark is a satisfying experience of survival that is both realistic and has good game mechanics.
I would highly recommend giving The Long Dark a go, especially if you’re after something different and love the idea of a survival sim with an interesting story.