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2019 Will you be my cat forever?

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Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut (PlayStation Vita)

Developed/Published by: Superflat Games Released: 24/09/2013 Completed: 28/01/2022 Completion: Saw every ending. Trophies / Achievements: 95%

Well, I got the Vita out for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, so I might as well play something good on it–although I’m now aware that there’s a remastered version of this coming out too? Sigh.

That said. Lone Survivor is an interesting entry in the survival horror genre as a rare side-scroller and one with a heavy emphasis on actual survival with a hero that needs to eat, sleep and maintain his sanity. It is, however, all a bit obscured (all information is hidden–no status bars for you!) to join a story that is… well, let’s say here that I completed this game all five times and I still have no idea what was going on. It’s heavily influenced by David Lynch–though it never manages to ride that fine line of intrigue to be satisfying–and is probably the weakest thing about it.

It’s a bit weird, really, because the game is generally very straightforward–to be honest, it feels like layering on the hidden information and baffling story was just a way to make the game feel deeper than it is. There are some nicely designed, small maps to explore (well paced to never overwhelm the player with too many options, although the connections between 2D rooms can often be confusing) enemies are dealt with neatly (shoot them, hide from them, or blind them with flares) and the puzzles are simple (if you pick something up, there’s basically only one thing to do with it.) However, keeping your hero alive by choosing what to eat has a Yakuza-esque roleplay charm to it–it’s very rewarding when you’re finally able to make him some coffee, and heartbreaking when you realize you’re going to have to resort to eating “ground meat” to keep him going.

It’s a shame, really, that Lone Survivor layers on five endings that require you play the game with a laser focus on that aspect–everything you do affects your character’s mental health, meaning that you not only have to do things basically exactly right to get the worst/best endings, in both situations I had to grind mental health by robotically doing good/bad things for a while once you’re at the end of the game. And, as a reminder, this is to get endings that don’t really clear anything up (and have unskippable credits! Why!)

Thing is though… the game does tell you to turn off trophy pop-ups and to pretty much ignore this aspect and just play it, and you know what? I agree. I think if you play this once through and just play it the way you want to play it you’ll have a great time. There’s no reason to 100% this.

Will I ever play it again? There’s no reason to 100% this… but I’m depressingly annoyed that I didn’t because I made a choice to eat a tin of beans (as it was all I had for my hero to eat) at one point locking me out of one trophy without basically replaying the game. I shall not be doing that.

Final Thought: As annoying as decisions like unskippable credits are, I have to give props for some peerless visuals. The filter doesn’t make it feel like a retro game at all, instead something quite unique, and the limited animation is used to excellent effect. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a cat in this who is just perfect and honestly the highlight of the entire thing.

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Mashup of Sun by Yūutsu (憂鬱) and Miami by Jasper Byrne from Hotline Miami.

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Lone Survivor: The Directors Cut

Developer: Jasper Bryne Publisher: Superflat Games Rrp: £11.39 (Steam) and £11.69 (Gog.com)  Released: 24th April 2012 Available on: Gog.com and Steam Played Using: Keyboard Approximate game length: 4 to 5 hours per playthrough How long has it been? Days? Weeks? You're not sure anymore, what you are sure of is that the world outside isn't safe. Things wander the halls that were once human but now... who knows what they are now. But what little food you had is rapidly dwindling, eventually you have to venture out into the murky black. Survival horror games seem to have all but disappeared, it's actually a bit strange how that happened really. Resident Evil had its supporters as did Silent Hill, and there were plenty of other titles that, while they didn't have the budget of their larger cousins, still were good in their own right like Fatal Frame. And then they all just vanished, sure they weren't major money spinners but they weren't flops by any stretch of the imagination. Thankfully the independent games scene is more than happy to pick up the pieces and keep the survival horror genre alive. Lone Survivor is one such title that takes the idea of survival horror and really runs with it.

The first thing to keep in mind about Lone Survivor is that there is more than one way to progress in this game and that the choices you make will change the events that occur and the ending you receive (of which I believe there are five but I only managed to get three). It's clear that the developer has a very firm grasp on what makes a good horror. Sure you can go the 'rivers of blood' route, but one of the most effective ways to build up horror and tension is to take something mundane, twist it slightly and build up from there. This instils into the player a sense of unease that can be hard to shake, something that this game does that to great effect, especially with its backgrounds (which are hand-painted).

Sound also plays a very important role in building up the sense of dread, discordant noises occur around you (especially if you're using headphones as the game suggests) and the noise that occurs when the monsters are nearby... I dislike that noise. Not because it's scary but because it feels uncomfortable to listen to. What makes this game different from most other survival horrors is that the survival element of it is actually quite strong. Your protagonist will ask for food and sleep, denying him these won't kill him but the longer he goes without it the more his mental health with suffer which affects his perception.

While the game handles the horror aspect well I have to say I'm not a fan of its control scheme. It's entirely controlled through the keyboard with no controller support. Ordinarily this wouldn't be such an issue for me but I found the key placement to be quite awkward, specifically the controls surrounding interacting with the environment. Yeah, this game is definitely worth the price of admission. I really like the fact that you can't quite be sure that the protagonist is the good guy and there is a constant question of how much of this is really happening. If you're looking for a good survival horror with a bit of a twist then this might just scratch that itch. If this appeals to you perhaps try; The Silent Hill Series The Evil Within Lisa

[tinysamm]

The combat in Lone Survivor is intentionally difficult to carry out, with only ranged attacks possible while the player has access to ammunition, a scarce item throughout the game’s world. In addition, the player character is immobile while shooting and reloading, making attacks of any kind very risky. In order to work around this, hiding from enemies in crawlspaces and indents in the game world is crucial to advancement, but more than that, it’s crucial to allowing the player to keep enough of their hard-earned ammunition for when they face a situation where they are unable to escape.