Fargone

• Make enemies or allies with the dynamic faction system.
• Explore the dark and atmospheric lands of The Barrens.
• Defend yourself against a variety of undead monsters including bosses.
• Create your own safe corner of the world with the camping system or fortify existing locations.
• Scavenge, loot and craft to build up your survivor.
• RPG skill system (currently an early version due to be expanded soon).
• Dynamic weather and biome system. Each zone has a unique atmosphere and weather, from toxic rain in the Hazzard zone to the calming snow of the mountains.
• 100's of items to collect ranging from consumables, medicines, equipment, weapons and much more.
• Dynamic stats system; your character can become unwell, infected and even break bones.
  Take care of yourself or suffer the consequences!
• Long term support during and after the early access launch. Lots of planned content with regular updates coming soon!
• Coop coming quarter 2 of 2023

Basic survival-relevant stats- hunger, thirst, and sleep will impact overall health and max stamina. In addition, it's possible to break bones and become poisoned or infected. A buff & rebuff system is in the works- these can be triggered by not eating/drinking, being well rested, or being well nourished. All of this is under refinement and development.

Given the similarity in looks between it, SurrounDead, and DeadPoly - I'm not surprised to see the term asset flip being tossed around by the more vocal (and annoying) members of the survival gaming community. But take it with a grain of salt! As we discussed in episode 10 of the podcast, asset flip is a term that gets tossed around a ton. Frequently incorrectly, definitely rudely, and all by folks that probably couldn't develop squat.

So far, the game has been received as a bit of a blend between DayZ and STALKER. Given that it's early access, you can expect to find it light on features and possibly heavy on quirks and/or bugs, though the developer seems to be responsive on getting things fixed as folks report them. The NPCs, missions, and factions provide a solid foundation for developing a singleplayer experience, but co-op is set to come by the second quarter of 2023. It will be interesting to see how that gets handled.

The Discord is on par with most minor indie dev/game Discords: an excellent spot to hang out, provide feedback and network with the developer. I'm eternally confused as to why they have a role in white that completely blends in with the white background of Discord.

 I've never played STALKER, so I can't comment on much it resembles that title, but I will say that I can agree with it feeling like DayZ. It reminded me of a heavily toned-down and simplified The Long Dark. Structurally, I have some complaints. The font face (heavily used) is heavy on the eyes, especially on smaller text. Some UI elements don't make much sense and can be cleaned up, like the overly large hover boxes when browsing the goods at a vendor. Huge thumbs up for letting us skip the tutorial- more developers must include that. The sound effects for footsteps and wind are nice but heavily repetitive and a bit obnoxious after a while. I expect these structural issues to be addressed as the game development progresses. 

Movement felt like gliding, not walking, and the sprint bar was so permissive in movement that I just sprinted everywhere I needed to go and didn't feel like it impacted me negatively. The world feels barebones and separate from my character- seeing more impact or interaction would be nice. I also noticed many spots where the AI would phase through obstacles that I had to jump or walk around. As many have remarked, the AI needs work- though I did enjoy the dogs that spun in place like a corkscrew.

Despite all this, I felt invested and really enjoyed the few hours I played. I can see myself picking this back up frequently as development continues and checking in on the progress. I know a large content update is scheduled for April 17th, and I look forward to seeing how it enhances the game.

Website Changelog

• 4/2/23- Review edited
• 3/12/23- Changelog added.