These days, survival games on Steam are a dime a dozen. Saving yourself from the like of Mutants, zombies, robots, monsters… if you’re in need of a survival adventure game, Steam undoubtedly has you converted. Of course, with such a wealth of riches, the likelihood of most of those games being terrible is pretty darn high.
Myst Survival hopes to avoid being lumped in with the lesser, forgettable survival adventure titles. From what I’ve experienced so far during my time in the game’s Early Access, Myst Survival is looking like it will succeed on that goal with flying colors (assuming you can see them through the mist).
Gorillas Infected In The Mist
Technically, Dimension 32 Entertainment - the developer and publisher of the game - categorizes Mist Survival as a single-player, survival stealth sandbox game. Honestly, that’s a perfect description. Players take on the role of one of the few individuals who have managed to survive a virus pandemic that has turned the rest of the world’s population into flesh-hungry infected former humans. If surviving a zombie apocalypse wasn’t enough, players also need to be wary of the additional threats to their well-being, including bandits, wild animals, and even dynamic weather.
There’s a lot to break down in Mist Survival, plenty of which I haven’t even been able to experience yet due to, well… let’s just say that the game doesn’t make me very optimistic as to how well I would fare in a real-life zombie apocalypse.
Crafting and base building are very much a foundational component of Mist Survival, allowing players to collect, craft, hoard, and utilize different items that will help them outlast the threats of the outside world. Players can even help out other survivors and recruit them, who in return, can help players maintain their base of operations, such as upgrades and food and water resourcing.
Black Hole Sun
It’s just that easy, right? After all, you’ve had success with other survival adventures. Think again.
It’s not necessarily a surprising dynamic for the infected to make their appearance in large numbers at night, forcing players to spring into base defense mode. Thankfully, players can keep an eye on the in-game clock to ensure they’re returning to their base before nightfall.
However, that doesn’t mean that the daytime is any safer. Days can be spent scavenging for crafting materials and scouting for enemy camps, but players need to be wary of their surroundings for when the deadly mist randomly rolls in from seemingly out of nowhere. The infected also become active within the mist, creating the need to hightail it to the nearest shelter or likely becoming too overwhelmed and getting knocked unconscious. Falling unconscious leaves players with two choices: end the game and start all over, or revive at their base, but lose items as a penalty for getting knocked unconscious. Being revived also leaves players needing to heal their wounds, which may be more trouble than it's worth.
Even though it’s still in Early Access, Mist Survival looks great. It feels like what H1Z1 was trying to be, with the depth of DayZ (and none of its faults). The game’s interface feels like PUBG’s inventory management system, with controls being some of the most intuitive I’ve played recently, in regards to indie games.
My Most-Anticipated Survival Sandbox
What’s more, is that Mist Survival is surprisingly immersive. There is a feeling of hopelessness in Mist Survival that remained at the back of my mind even as I was doing my best to keep myself alive. The utter dread that I felt when I realized that the trees were beginning to be encompassed by mist was enough to make my heart beat a little faster and raise the hair on the back of my neck.
That said, the audio and overall close up encounters with the infected could be improved, as they were a little underwhelming compared to the rest of the game. Of course, this is something that is likely already being worked on by the team while the game spends time in Early Access. The roadmap for the future of the game details plenty of good things coming to the game - ALIENS!? - and I can’t wait to get my hands on the final version.
An Early Access code was provided to TheGamer for the purposes of this preview. Mist Survival is currently available on Steam Early Access, with no firm release date announced as of yet.