
What will happen if you combine post-apocalypse, open world, survival, fights from Dark Souls and the rescue of doggies? At least - an interesting concept. Only for its development, we need developers with straight arms, fire in the eyes and an awl at the fifth point. And who, hand on heart, would refer to such Black Forest Games, the authors of Arcania: Gothic 4?
Winter is near and food is far
Sometimes the great begins small. So the hero named Ash has neither a stake nor a yard at first - only a daughter to take care of. They are waking up in the middle of an icy desert: before the onset of permafrost, there was an American heartland here, as in the novels of Stephen King. Now cars and buses, collapsed walls and electricity poles are rotting under the snowdrifts. My father doesn't have many options: armed with a torch, he goes to the wasteland to get some supplies.
After the end of the world, any small thing is useful. I collected a few branches - that’s the fuel for the hearth, I chopped the wood by the fire - arrows are ready. You can fill the soup with a root dug out from under the crust or crush it into fibers and put a piece of iron to the pole - the ax is any better than a stick. Fragments of plastic, deer bone, and frost-resistant herbs will do. When Ash gets caught by the blizzard, you can quickly build a hut or find shelter.
QuoteIt would have remained Fade to Silence another simulator homeless, if not the creature with tentacles and voices in my head.
Fel spreads across the wasteland, hitting trees, animals and certain parts of the map - evil builds nests there. Monsters are walking in the snow, and Eclipse is patrolling the sky above. This is a huge lump of scrap metal, dropping down rusty cars. How to put such a "bomb" on the head - will not find it.
But where a big headache is caused by a demon that looks like a tattered garbage bag. Gad rejoices at every failure of the hero and mutters in his ear threats like "do not twitch, little bug, soon I will destroy all life." Although things are exactly the opposite: acquiring more durable clothes and improving weapons, Ash gradually clears the glacier from the creatures and their nests. And in the latter, he occasionally finds dogs - they can be grabbed with them and put into sleds.
QuoteMeeting other survivors, Ash invites them to his camp: should someone knock together utility rooms and extract resources while the leader rides a sled and sucks black snot from the next altar of darkness.
Each of the allies is endowed with talent. One is a woodworking specialist, the other is a born blacksmith, the third is a “you” with otherworldly forces. A specialist can make a high-level item, but at the same time build something useful. Where there was a dull wasteland recently, huts, workshops, a pen for dogs and a storehouse of supplies now rise. Do not forget about the walls either, as the monsters periodically attack the base. It is always nice to return to the house where you are waiting.
Mother, carry pills - grandfather survives again
Fade to Silence has all the makings of an interesting game. Here you and survival, and the battles, and the development of the base - separately, nothing seems to be new, but it intrigues together. However, the authors managed to spoil literally every aspect of their work. The idea with the allies could catch, but the execution failed. You meet, you say, you solve an unpretentious task - it's done, go and rivet the armor and knock the pick over the copper deposits. And the dialogues do not shine: the characters complain about the problems of the first world. Tragedies of the same caliber abound in Russian weddings and corporate parties.
The fictional universe lacks diversity. How great to get out of the forest and stumble upon the contaminated nasty ruins of the observatory or a ship stuck in a rock! And how a shame that such places one-two and obchelsya. One of the most interesting objects - that same trash Death Star - after about the tenth passage overhead begins to enrage. Because all she does is add trash falling from above on Ash's troubles. And almost always suddenly: for example, during a search of a trunk with loot. Pause for such actions for some reason are not provided.
QuoteBut hardcore: man loot - health is melting.
A similar trick is not averse to resorting to ordinary opponents. Just dived into the inventory menu, as the guard is activated and weighs the back of the head. Accustomed to this problem? Get another one - too generous hitboxes. The monster waved his hands a few meters from Ash, but the damage is still counted. Onions could be salvation ... if the quiver would not have to be replenished manually and thus giving odds to the mobile enemy. And that's the whole Fade to Silence. No matter what you get into it - whether it is a meditative journey, the extermination of the undead or the arrangement of the camp - at the end of the path there is nothing but frustration.
Even the atmosphere of a madhouse, without which you can’t imagine a bit steep post-apocalypse, the game does not create. And this is despite the really insane glitches: either the deer shot down will fall through the ground, the felled tree will soar into the sky, the daughter Ash will squat down and begin to ride around the camp, leaving furrows in the snow - just like a langolier devouring time.
Until the same food hunt and developers. If we compare the early version of their creation with the final, one change becomes noticeable: the resource price of actions and objects has grown. There is no way to fix the endurance system that paralyzes the hero after two strokes with a weapon, reveal the characters, or write a sane script. Where there, it is better to add more fuss and slow down the passage. Collecting firewood is so exciting.
QuoteFade to Silence is hard to enjoy. Better to go Metro: Exodus. Well, or Frostpunk, if you need a snow apocalypse with the construction of the base. There is a complete order with the entourage and drama, even though the genre is different. There is no acute shortage in the games about the end of the world, and they did not notice in the Black Forest Games.
Pros:
You can sit by the fire, hide from the snowstorm, fight for everything good, killdeer, build shackles, drive slaves to work, save dogs from hellish Satan and watch the hero leave traces in the snow.
Cons:
But to do this is pretty damn boring.
Output
PLATFORMS |
PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
DEVELOPER |
Black forest games |
PUBLISHER |
THQ Nordic |
LOCALIZATION |
interface and subtitles |
RELATED GAMES |
State of Decay, How to Survive, ELEX |
IS IT WORTH BUYING NOW? |
only fans of the format |
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.