Apart from all the nods and visual references to Half-Life, one thing that really caught my attention about Abiotic Factor, the co-op survival game that launched in full earlier this year, was the fact it was mostly set indoors. For the majority of the genre, you’re outside, scavenging roots, berries, and timber to guard yourself against the elements. But I like this twist, a survival game set inside a more confined, man-made environment. Taking cues from The Long Dark and the Fallout series, Permafrost relocates your battle to stay alive away from the forests and the flora, and to the ruins of cities.
In Permafrost, the entire planet has been frozen solid thanks to a cataclysmic weather event. A co-op survival game for up to four players, you also have, in the style of Fallout’s Dogmeat, a trusty canine companion who will help you find salvage and sound the alarm if he detects danger nearby.
Of course, you spend plenty of time outdoors, too, but a lot of the best loot is found in the derelict buildings and erstwhile homesteads of what was once humanity. I feel like I’m picking through the Boston of The Last of Us, or Resident Evil’s Raccoon City, except the temperature is below freezing and instead of zombies I’m under attack from brown bears.
Published by Toplitz, the label behind upcoming strategy game revenant Industry Giant 4.0, we’re still waiting on a release date for Permafrost, but we know it’s coming at some point in 2025. Between Soulmask, Rust, Sons of the Forest, The Long Dark, and more, there are a lot of survival games to choose from right now, but Permafrost seems to have a more distinctive direction.
You can still build your own dwellings, craft items, and set your own camps, but I like the idea of finding an empty old apartment block or, in true Dawn of the Dead style, an abandoned department store, and setting up home on the top floor. If you want to give it a shot, you can wishlist Permafrost right here.
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