It’s tricky to imagine freezing your bollocks off right now, at the end of Planet Earth’s hottest three months on record. But raise your hand in front of your face, and think about the snowy squalls that’ll prevent you from seeing it. Which’ll be just as well, because your fingers will have come off, leaving frostbitten stumps behind.
That’s your future in The Long Dark, the first-person survival sim from Far Cry 3 narrative director Raphael van Lierop. It’ll be released in Early Access sandbox mode once Autumn comes.
The finished game will be an episode adventure that makes use of van Lierop’s narrative talents and experience of the Canadian backcountry. But for its first release, The Long Dark will be a simple sandbox about surviving as a stranded pilot in a post-technology wilderness.
“Nobody wants to play the story content while it’s still in development,” developers Hinterland told Eurogamer. “Not only would this introduce massive spoilers, but it would also ensure your first experience was not your best experience of the game’s story content, and we wouldn’t be satisfied with that.”
Instead, Hinterland will hold back the story mode until after The Long Dark’s first episodes are complete. In the meantime you can pre-order the game for $19.99, and watch this trailer. Go on, do:
What’s your current favourite dying-alone simulator? There are plenty on Steam.