The Long Dark Reviews
In the end, The Long Dark won me over through the same war of attrition it demanded of me during playing. What starts as an oppressive wilderness and battle of the elements eventually unfolds into a gratifying progression as I learned how to survive efficiently through trial and error. They say that adversity builds character, and if you can grow some thicker skin, there's a lot of character in The Long Dark to discover.
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.
The Long Dark, with its slow-paced survival focus and pensive atmosphere, isn’t going to appeal to everyone. For those looking for more of an action-oriented survival sim, I can’t recommend TLD. However, if rummaging around the quiet apocalypse while at the mercy of mother nature sounds like fun to you, you’ll probably have a good experience with this game.
The Long Dark is the perfect survival game for Canadian kids who grew up with frozen toes and winter camping.
And perhaps this reflection can really make us understand what The Long Dark is, in essence: the work of Hinterland Studio is the interactive and digital representation of an extraordinary ecosystem with a decisive cultural and historical value, which the authors wanted to allow everyone to explore, satisfying our playful and interactive needs, but obliging us in any case to live it in depth, with the dignity it deserves.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Long Dark is an onerous experience, but a memorably and powerfully atmospheric one. Its Survival mode stands out as something of a singular achievement on the Switch – and one we'd urge you to try if you don't mind freezing to death more than a few times before you've got a grip on how to last a couple of nights. It's difficult to call it outright fun given its sheer hostility, but it's certainly absorbing and at times downright terrifying game. Just like real life, nature is the real enemy.
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.
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.
Surviving is difficult and for every mistake you make you are going to be punished. The Long Dark shows this the right way with an exellent gameplay, although some technical issues can get in the way sometimes. The campaign mode has its problems, but since the game is based on episodes, it can be improved and the game's whole mystery encourages you to follow its story.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Long Dark is the perfect example of the kind of game you can make when you aren't rushed to release.
The Long Dark is a well cultivated survival game with an enthralling story mode heavily influenced by the early access survival mode which granted the game success back in 2014. The Long Dark beautifully pairs together intense survival an intriguing story resulting in an entrancing and addictive experience. With more content to come in future The Lone Dark is rewarding and enjoyable game, one that makes it worth struggling through those long cold nights.
The Long Dark is a satisfying experience of survival that is both realistic and has good game mechanics.
The Long Dark is a title that successfully uses the classic plot device of man vs. nature. With so much detail put into the gameplay, it can be easy to feel as cold as your player in this freezing Canadian wilderness. The endlessly entertaining survival mode lets you explore Great Bear Island to your heart's desire.
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 an amazing spectacle of narrative brilliance and survival. The twists and unexpected turns of the story are complemented by the survival mechanics that are challenging and thought provoking. The Survival Mode gives players a sandbox to play in, and allows them to play and survive how they see fit. With the story being released in episodic expansions, there's always a reason to come back and play.
After nearly three years surviving in alpha, The Long Dark has finally launched its long-awaited story mode, and it's worth playing
Despite some graphical concessions, The Long Dark on Nintendo Switch is an excellent port of a very good 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.
Deep, brutal, and hauntingly atmospheric, The Long Dark is a survival game done right.
If you want a challenging but enjoyable title, this is definitely it.