Do not purchase if you are not okay with playing a game that is FAR from being complete. This game takes the phrase "Early Access" in every literal sense. AI will get caught on terrain sometimes. You will fall though the map occasionally. Some interactions may not work as intended. Optimization is non-existent. Crashes, bugs, and more will happen. Play with the expectation that these things will happen to you, and so long as you're okay with that, then you'll be alright. If you're not okay with that, then please, do not purchase this game yet. Wait.


A world ravaged and wounded by merciless destruction and endless death. A world where warring factions fight over every inch of hellscape they can to get to obtain a inevitably pointless advantage. A world where the war has gone on so long that even the troops have forgotten what they were fighting for. A world where every mistake is treated with unforgiving brutality.

And then there is you.

A scavenger who is simply trying to survive. Wading through the sea of blood, bullets, and bodies, your goal is to scavenge as much as you can while drawing as little attention to yourself as possible. There will be risk. Do you chance a quick death by approaching a flaming, fallen EXO and retrieving the downed pilot in an intense firefight for a significant reward? Or do you play it safe and stick to the shadows and loot only the scraps of fallen infantrymen while making less credits? That is a decision best left for you to decide, scav. But move hastily, for it won't be long before another death squad, armed to the teeth, comes by to put an end to all the commotion.


The gameplay can be as riveting, thrilling, and terrifying as it is cumbersome. The thrill of sneaking by enemy patrols and looting the dead bodies of the enemy factions after combat is immense. This game puts me on the edge of my seat regularly. I love that. However, the movement can take some getting used to, as your characters (most of them) do not get up to speed very quickly. They are not the most responsive, and I think this adds some additional challenge. Though, some people see it as arbitrary challenge, and I can certainly understand where they're coming from. I am sure this will be refined going forward.

I genuinely enjoy the atmosphere, and this is something that The Forever Winter does exceptionally well. The developers know how to build a world that's as wondrous as it is dreadful. The terror I have felt when the dense, grey fog sets in, and I know that at any moment a zombie-esque cyborg could come trudging through the mist is electrifying for me. When I look up to see a firey sky, with raging yellow and orange with raining ashes, it really helps to set in the "world at war" feeling. If I had to make my choice on the best feature about this game, the atmosphere would be my choice, no questions asked.

The gunplay does leave some to be desired. It is not terrible, but it lacks grace. Moving your weapon, firing, and ADSing is not clean, and it will take quite a bit of getting used to. Moving from 3rd person view to 1st person during ADS can be jarring for some, but it doesn't bother me. The reticle for 3rd person ADS is odd, and I don't use it for that reason. Recoil control is not difficult and the recoil patterns aren't complex. Though, the muzzle rise on most platforms during firing makes it difficult to put quick follow-up shots on targets, even at mid-range. Do not expect to laser something from a distance (not that I would anyway considering I don't want to bring attention to myself). The lack of a shoulder-view switch in 3rd person was very noticeable, and made some fights/sneaking around awkward because my character is blocking where I need to see. Your camera is locked to be over your characters right shoulder, and there is currently to way to change this. However, the developers are already working on this.

I enjoy the different characters that are available to you, and I feel that each fits their own niche well enough to have made me want to play different characters. I personally like Shaman due to his well-rounded, albeit average, stat distribution. However, I also like Mask Man because he's able to use heavier weapons, without incurring the massive movement penalty like Bag Man does. Scav Girl is great for runs where I need to pick up my stuff after I've died because I can bolt past everything. If Barry Allen got genderbent and teleported in this game, it would be her for sure. There's Gunhead, Bag Man, and Old Man which also have their upsides and downside as well. I also like the prestige system. It's not too grindy because XP can be earned relatively easily, but having to reset always makes me a little sad lol. I like the character system overall. Note: Gunhead is not yet released.

The water mechanic is definitely something that should be looked into, but is something the devs are already addressing. I am not sure how, but they did mention in their Discord server that they were looking deeper into the mechanic. With water being very easy to obtain, but still ticking down while offline, it simply trivializes the entire mechanic and turns it into more of an annoyance rather than something the player should take seriously. The mechanic as it is now makes it almost entirely irrelevant to active players, while making it a complete roadblock to more casual players who have other obligations. I like the concept, but I think it's execution should be geared more towards ticking down only while online. As many other have already stated, instead of each barrel being worth 24 hours and ticking while offline, make each one worth 2 or 3 hours that tick while only online. This way it's something the players should be conscious of, while also not chaining the player into getting water every single run they do.

The stealth system is shady at best. Sometimes it feels like I'm playing Solid Snake in Metal Gear. Other times it feels like I'm one of the Europan EXOs, incapable of hiding behind even the largest of walls, containers, or barriers. Infantry units have walked right by my crouched character, point blank, paying them no mind. Other times, a fire-team will shower me with bullets from 50-75 ft away even though I was hiding behind a concrete pillar. I think that what they have is a great start, and I'm sure if they refine the vision collision (i.e. what the AI can see through, and what they can't) and the threat system, it will help significantly. The folks over at Ready or Not did this not too long ago, as their AI was able to beam you through walls that had even a sliver of a crack in them. This has since made Ready or Not much, much more enjoyable to play.

There's other small pieces of QoL feedback like:

• Allow the player to turn weapon attachments on and off
  
• If you're in the middle of reviving another player, it would be nice if the death timer didn't tick down and kill them while you're bringing them back up
  
• A more in-depth understanding, whether that be through completing missions or otherwise, into Hunter-Killer spawning conditions
  
• Having enemies spawn by walking in via the entry points at the edges of the map, dropship, ground-based vehicle, orbital drop, etc.

Overall, this game has incredible potential, but it's got a long way to go. However, the developers have been active in discord, and have already pushed 2 significant patches since the game's release 3 days ago (as of this review). I have high hopes that this game could easily be one of my favorite looter/extraction-shooters on Steam if given the proper care. So to everyone who is playing or would like to play, please keep giving constructive feedback! I want this game to succeed!