Fade to Silence Reviews
I may be veering towards the negative in my opinion of Fade to Silence but it’s a game that has potential to a a good addition to the genre.
Fade to Silence still needs work. It has a solid foundation of survival and crafting mechanics, coupled with great visuals, but is let down by an incoherent story, awful combat, and the glitches that go with it.
Fade to Silence’s strong premise is marred by clumsy execution, poor writing, and painfully slowed pacing.
Fade to Silence is nothing if not interesting, which helps keep the game afloat even with several short- and long-term issues. From a studio that has never done this sort of thing and comprised of just a few dozen developers, it’s clear its downfall is its own ambition as virtually all of Fade to Silence’s many systems need refinement. A lack of good tutorials will scare off genre newcomers, while half-baked elements like poor combat and controls will upset the veterans too. Still, the story drips out irresistibly and base-building is deep and engaging, which makes surviving the storm of problems worthwhile. Black Forest Games bit off more than they could chew with Fade to Silence, but they deserve some credit for taking the bite.
Fade to Silence is a satisfying survival experience at heart but the poor combat system and its various technical issues overshadow what can be enjoyed.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Fade to Silence does leave its mark on the survival genre, namely the terrific use of a dynamic weather system. However, everything else in the game is slightly cumbersome, from combat to item management. With player inventory being limited, your only option is to transfer items to your stash at the camp. However, the only options are to place items one at a time, or everything you happen to be carrying. There isn’t any way to transfer individual stacks of items. The game needs a better introduction to many of the game’s mechanics, especially when playing on the harder difficulty that can leave you with starting over with nothing, outside of the permanent unlocks.
Stunning visuals and survival mechanics shine in Fade to Silence. Unfortunately, companion management, bugs, crashes, and uninspiring combat lead to an experience that you just want to fade away.
THQ Nordic and Black Forest Studio deliver an interesting survival proposal, with some unique elements such as the cold environment, the mushing and the inner voice that guides and tortures us throughout the whole game. But its mechanics are not polished, and we found several technical problems while we played the 1.02 version.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
An ambitious undertaking combining elements of survival, horror, and city building games, Fade to Silence might have been a hit if only they squashed the bugs and made a more cohesive story.
Fade To Silence isn't a bad game really, it has some neat ideas. The winter landscape feels brutal, it drips with Lovecraft flair and I enjoy the base building and sieges. The cleansing and freeze mechanic work well and assuming you don't get tangled up on the terrain, the sled dog transport is neat. Some of its mechanics just work against itself. It would have been better as a sandbox, tossing away its linear nature. The time gating, lack of randomness and permadeath just don't work well in those circumstances. It is still worth experiencing though, especially if you like Lovecraft stuff, pick it up on sale.
Fade To Silence is a good survival game, but it can leave a bad taste in our mouths due to the numerous bugs with the sleigh and a little worked combat system.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite being in Early Access stage for more than a year, THQ Nordic has once again published a title that obviously needed more development time, and as a result is suffering from several technical issues. Fade to Silence is yet another survival game with not enough new ideas, but it might still be fun for fans of the genre due to some of its features and gameplay mechanics.
Review in Persian | Read full review
There is a decent survival gameplay loop at the core of Fade to Silence. It's just that everything that emanates from that core is either cheaply cropped from another game or poorly executed in this one. I just kept coming back to this feeling I was playing disjointed parts of these other games, not a unified experience of this one.
Lackluster combat and poorly explained mechanics aside undermine the fact that Fade to Silence is an often decently crafted survival sandbox effort that neatly dovetails Lovecraftian themes into its design to often surprising effect.
A game with interesting ideas but a bad realization that makes this game fun for a while, but boring in the long run. Also it's ugly and unpolished.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It demonstrates qualities that could appeal to lovers of the tough and intransigent challenge
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, while there are some performance issues and the graphical quality for the style isn’t as high as it could have been, Fade to Silence is on my list for top games of 2019. Maybe it won’t win any awards, but it’s blend of styles into a survival setting were simply fantastic and it’s an experience that will keep me coming back to it for a while to come.
Clunky at times, Fade to Silence excels in one major area: creating a sense of community, of prospering in face of peril. It makes you worry about its characters and do your best to keep them safe. A more positive take on a post-apocalyptic world.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Fade to Silence‘s strengths definitely outweigh its weaknesses, though. Its unique setting makes you want to go out and discover its secrets. Its camp building elements reward you for seeking out other survivors and building bonds with them.
All in all, Fade to Silence has been an enjoyable experience for me. It's got the resource management and camp building that I seem to be drawn to and challenging but not Soulsbourne level enemies to tackle. The glitches are easily fixed with patches (knock on wood that they are in the pipeline), and there's a decently sized map to explore with hidden passages and caverns to loot.