We analyze The Survivalists on PC, a survival sandbox where a multitude of enigmas, surprises, threats and many adventures await us.
With the recent release of The Survivalists we wanted to delve into its pixel art universe and enjoy the new title set in the universe of The Escapists. The developer Team17 has wanted to bet on this new project, a video game of survival, adventure, combat and with an online cooperative that will undoubtedly give dozens of hours of gameplay. We will put ourselves in the shoes of a castaway and live an experience on an unexplored island, evading each enemy and expanding our experience to another level with the help of some monkeys.
Without an established history, but with an ending
As is usually the case with most titles similar to The Survivalists, we will not have a defined story that marks the beginning and the end of our journey, but will allow us to play with greater freedom. In addition, we will have the option to create our character through an editor in the menu within the game, and in this way change certain elements of the face and colors of our clothes. The video game will take us to a lost island, which is created in a procedural way making each of our games different. It will be composed of a series of elements, different biomes and a large number of resources that we will have to take into account in order to survive. Once we achieve the necessary conditions, our adventure will end and we can escape.
Our universe is still special and will maintain that essence of survival so that everything seems more real. To do this, it includes a day and night cycle that will be relevant to our walks on the island. Don’t just focus on this, and we will have to take into account that every certain number of days the red moon will appear to reset all the elements that we have destroyed, enemies that we have eliminated and dungeons that we have cleaned. However, our resistance within the island will depend on two key elements: life and hunger, thanks to the fact that energy regenerates itself. We will feed ourselves by collecting fruits, getting meat from eliminated animals and creating our own recipes in a cauldron, so we will always have to carry some type of food with us if we want to stay alive.
Discovering the secrets of our new home will allow us to learn more about our surroundings and the habitat that we have to be prepared for. Each biome that we find will be a new challenge to overcome: forests, deserts, lava, these will be the areas that we can visit. Among our objectives on the island is also to overcome those missions that a mysterious stranger entrusts us and that we will find on the shore in a kind of bottle. And no, we are not alone, The Survivalists presents a rather overwhelming catalog of wild animals, such as wild boars, tigers or sharks, which we will have to face as soon as we cross their path. But be careful, if we really want to be safe, we’d better build our own shelter and protect it, since we could suffer some assault from invading enemies. Enemy camps are not as far away as they seem and they probably don’t like our presence much.
Create, create and create
We will have to create our own camp and turn it into a home with all the objects we have, in addition to that it will be essential to build a bed to be able to save the game. The secret to being able to survive lies in making the most of all the resources that surround us, but above all knowing where to get them and how to reach them. Each biome explained above will be made up of a series of totally different materials that will allow us to alert ourselves when we really need any of them. What we are looking for may be a challenge for us and it may be in the many temples that are scattered throughout the island.
However, getting this loot may not be entirely easy and we will have to prepare for intense combat. Now, if what we are looking for are more special and complicated objects to find, we will have the opportunity to visit a store that will move randomly throughout the map and that will vary the objects for sale. The Survivalists presents a very curious and striking farming and crafting system, which will help us to create those objects that we need. Try to combine elements to create different recipes structured in trees, that is, these will be unlocked as we make the previous recipe. A way to encourage ourselves to get our entire palette of recipes and move forward faster in this adventure.
Create, create and create, this is how our journey will be, we will not stop at any time building new components, but above all, farming. As is often the case in this type of genre, farming is usually somewhat expensive and sometimes a bit tedious, but this does not happen in The Survivalists. They will not require us to have a great experience within our adventure to be able to expand our knowledge or improve our skills, on the contrary, we will be free to do and undo as we please, as well as travel from one place to another without major problem. The construction mode helps us to have a preview of where to place each object and in this way get an idea of how it would look. However, when we give our character the order to create, he focuses on it and we are not given the option to cancel it, so if an enemy comes and we are in full swing, we will have to pray for our lives.
With the help of an army of monkeys
The essential and so characteristic element of this new Team17 project is undoubtedly the gameplay with the monkeys. Throughout the island we will find these adorable primates hungry or captured by enemies, which we can tame and in this way make them our companions. And you will ask yourself, for what? Well, their presence includes a wide variety of functions that they can perform, as long as they learn through the training we carry out. In this way, building, fighting or even farming will not be as tedious as it is proposed, since we can call on all of them to help us out. Each of them has a personalized menu, there we will know if it has an equipped object, the actions learned and its level.
We will have a specially developed submenu for their control, where we can choose to be followed, trained and send them an object so that they can help us with the tasks. It’s simple, if they don’t have a sword they won’t be able to attack. This submenu is intended to be intuitive, but at first it is somewhat complex and at levels that are not easily understood. We can make use of these actions not only with a monkey, but with more than ten, being able to choose which ones if we send the order and which ones not. But this is when the complex part comes, since when calling them they are all presented in a group, one on top of the other, without hardly appreciating them and it becomes difficult to send an order individually.
The essence of multiplayer
There is no doubt that the multiplayer mode gives another essence and a much more attractive gameplay to this survival video game. Since the experience can be for a single player, we recommend and advise you to share your island with one or more other players, since this mode will give us the opportunity for up to four people both locally and online. We can complete adventures together, get loot and share it, we will exchange our belongings and of course, help us survive while we explore this island. Thanks to this The Survivalists will provide us with hours and hours of replayability that in company is undoubtedly a very remarkable facet.
It should be noted that the evolution of our character will not be lost or the objects that we carry in our inventory if we go to a friend’s island, even the monkeys that we have obtained may also accompany us. The reverse is exactly the same. In this way we can create new games and continue with the same character that we created from the beginning.
A world full of life and sound
The style of this game is clearly the same as The Escapists, Team17’s previous work, with a fine-tuning in its playability and fluidity, and a high level of details. It clearly has a splendid visual section with the characteristics that a pixel art can offer you, with clear and defined objects, and very well seen characters. There is no doubt that it has been worked up to the last point of its entire graphic, being able to enjoy within a very original island along with a most detailed appearance. With an isometric view we can enjoy all this visual section without any problem. As for the sound section, we are facing a soundtrack that performs very well, with sounds of electronic notes and synthesizer, in addition to accompanying us throughout our adventure. This one becomes the protagonist in the combats, since it increases in volume when having an encounter with an enemy and decreases when all are eliminated.
CONCLUSION
The Survivalists is a video game that we can enjoy much more in the company of our friends than alone. With an acceptable difficulty according to our preparation and equipment, but without a doubt we will have to be careful not to run into an enemy. In addition, they have implemented a very complete crafting system that allows us to see the objects that we can create even if we have not done so yet. The monkey system is quite original and without a doubt it is very curious, but it shows a lack of control and an interface that apparently becomes a little difficult to understand. In short, it is a very addictive and entertaining game, without a doubt a very complete and fun bet towards the survival genre that you cannot miss the opportunity to try it.
THE BEST
- The crafting system.
- The multiplayer mode gives you a lot of life and fun.
- The feeling of survival that I sometimes demand of you.
WORST
- The monkey interface and its lack of control.
- No explanation of the different modes of the game.
- Not being able to cancel the build action.
Good
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, has quality and does not present serious flaws, although it is missing elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
