According to Wikipedia, an impact winter is “a hypothesized period of prolonged cold weather due to the impact of a large asteroid or comet on the Earth’s surface” – and that’s the premise behind Impact Winter (PC: Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year), a survival game from developer Mojo Bones and published by Bandai Namco.
Players control Jacob Solomon, one of four survivors eeking out an existence in an abandoned church after an asteroid has hit earth, plunging it into perpetual wintry conditions. The group’s robot companion, Ako-Light intercepts a radio transmission indicating that help will arrive in 30 days. You have to explore the game world, searching for supplies to help you survive until help arrives.
The game really does an excellent job of a bleak existence as the result of a cataclysmic event. Jacob’s fellow survivors – Christophe, Blane, Wendy and Maggie – can be given tasks to complete while Jacob goes out and searches abandoned house for supplies and equipment that will help speed up how long it takes for help to arrive. Tasks can be things like repairing the church to upgrade its resilience in the harsh weather or making equipment that help in the search for better supplies. In the game’s early stages, Jacob will also has to make sure that the fire in the church, which provides heat and cooking facilities for the group, is constantly fueled.
Part of the charm (is it charm?) about Impact Winter is that there’s a real sense of urgency in trying to find supplies then get back to the church to get stuff done. Every time Jacob or the other survivors achieve a milestone, XP points are earned and time is taken off how long it will take for help to arrive, allowing more skills/roles to be assigned to the characters. There’s also a real sense of hopelessness at times with Impact Winter as during one expedition I had to hurry back to the church as I was notified that Blane was not feeling well. By the time I got back to the church – the temperature had plummeted to -7 degrees – Blane, Wendy and Christophe who are all bed-ridden, hungry and unwell, and the fire had died. I wasn’t doing too well and had to use all the wood I had gathered to help repair the roof to fuel the fire.
Impact Winter does a great job in setting a gloomy, post-apocalyptic scene, with Jacob wading through knee-high snow and being buffeted by arctic winds. Houses and business as dark and gloomy and often you’ll have to decide what to take and what to leave behind. Ako-Light, your robot buddy, has a powerful spotlight that is useful for illuminating dark spots and can help dig out objects from the ground.
Sadly, Impact Winter is hampered by technical issues, which is a shame. Sometimes, the game takes a while to load (but that seems to have been sorted) and even though I was using a game pad, button presses don’t always do what they’re supposed to. The key layout just seems to be a mess (apparently, a patch is on the way to sort out the key binding issues).
Technical issues aside, there’s a huge amount of depth to Impact Winter – and a huge amount to like – and it’s a game where you have to carefully pay attention to the other members of your party and not go Rambo and head off on your own for too long. Sure, it takes a bit of getting used to juggling everything you have to do to survive – I’m failing miserably right now – but Impact Winter is an interesting idea that just needed a bit more polish before it was released.
Thanks to Bandai Namco for providing a review code for Impact Winter.
