Green Hell – Game Voyagers

Green Hell is one of those survival games where you either love it or you hate it. From the very beginning, pretty much everything is out to kill you. Everything is dangerous, like drinking the water and contracting parasites or walking through a giant ant hill and getting a rash from all the ants. You basically have to watch your every step or else you will have a hard time in the game. I died countless times because I neglected to do something that was very important. There are many things in the game that are very unique, but there are also a few things that I am not a huge fan of. Keep in mind that this is an Early Access Review and it will not compare to the game when it officially comes out of Early Access. There is still a lot of work being done on the game so here is my Early Access Review. Gameplay The gameplay is much different from other survival games because it takes longer to do basic things. It aims for more realism, but end up becoming somewhat tedious to do tasks such as make a fire. Most of the time you look out for your health, hunger, and thirst, but in Green Hell, you have to look out for those things as well several macronutrients like protein, carbs, and fats. It's also extremely easy to stumble into hazards like anthills, and basic things like streams become hazards from leeches. You also have to watch out for the native tribes around the area because they'll pretty much attack you on sight. The different mechanics of the game make it a very unique experience, and I've never seen a survival game quite this in depth before. Main Goals There are 2 modes the game has in it's current Early Access stage, the story and the Co-op. The story is the component of the game and it follows a man and his wife as they try to make contact with a tribe in the middle of the Amazonian Rainforest. Along the way, you will find fear in the jungle as you get lost and you forget where you are. The co-op mode is very basic right now, and all you can do is do things like build a base and attack cannibal villages, but there is another co-op update coming to the game soon. The story cannot be played in co-op, but the survival mode allows for you and 3 other friends to survive and build in the world. At this point, I can't recommend getting the game solely for co-op or multiplayer.. Building The building in the game is very tedious. It will probably be simplified and made easier in later updates, but the building now takes a long time, and the building mechanics aren't explained well at all. You place down the blueprint wherever you want, and it tells you what you need to finish each piece. It feels reminiscent of The Forest's building system, but that feels a lot more fluid and intuitive. As you collect resources, you bring all the materials to the blueprint and place then in their successive slots. It does take a while, but it is really satisfying to finish something you have been working on for a while. Movement The movement is smooth and feels good, but the collecting and use of tools can be a little clunky at times. Ultimately, it is an Early Access game, so I hope these things are improved in the future. The walking is pretty smooth though because you need to make accurate movements to make sure you don't walk into something very bad. You also need to learn to run when you need to for later on. Every step you take need to be carefully considered, because one wrong step can could literally cause you to go insane die. Survival The survival aspect of the game is very hard. When I was playing, it took me several hours to learn how to actually survive. You can get infections and parasites from drinking the water, leeches by walking through small streams, rashes from walking into anthills , and even poisoned by certain plants. The inventory system is a little weird at first, but you eventually get used to it. I do like the aspect of building the fire yourself and even using a stick and dried plants to create fire with friction, though after a while it get annoying to hunt down tinder for the fire. Hunger and thirst are probably one of the easiest things to take care of in this game, though it will probably take you a few tries to figure out how to get them. If you enjoy very difficult survival games, then you might like this game. The survival aspect of the game is very different from others, and in my opinion, is the most hardcore survival game I've ever played. World The world in Green Hell is a lush rainforest. I think the world looks great, though it's a bit linear at the moment. Even though it's large, it could take you several in game days to travel across it. The hazards make travel much slower, making the world feel larger than it is. The final release will open up more areas of the map to explore and will change up the scenery, but right now there just isn't a whole lot do to or see. Right now, I see the game being much more story-oriented rather than a sandbox game. Graphics/Performance The graphics are pretty good for an Early Access game. The game is not super optimized though, causing frame-rate stutters on my powerful PC. Early access games usually have garbage optimization at first, so I really hope improve the performance in the future. I give the performance an excuse now, but if it stays like this on final release than it'll be a huge negative. Narrative The narrative in the game was surprisingly good. The voiceacting isn't the best I've ever heard, but it definitely is decent enough to not be immersion breaking. I was disappointed when I found out how little of the story the game currently has in it. It currently has a couple hours at the most, but I'm really looking forward to playing through the full story. The narrative feels extremely Far Cry 3ish. The gist of the story is your a male researcher who's gone to the rainforest with his wife to communicate with a native tribe, and eventually they become separated and you need to search for her. There were a few interesting things in the story that have yet to be explained, and I'm curious to see what the developers have in mind for the finished product. Music The music in the game is actually very relaxing and it fits the setting very well. It is very slow, soothing and has a very distinct sound to it. I would say that the music is very good compared to other survival games, as most others don't have a big focus on the music. The music of a game is very important to me, and I feel like it fits the setting and gameplay very well. Even on the menu I could tell it was going to be an intense game just by the music. Replay Value It is a survival game, so keep that in mind. Most of the time, survival games have a lot of replayability just because of the different ways you can do things every playthrough that you do. However, things are so limited now that you shouldn't expect a ton of replayability yet. The main reason to get the game now would be to support the developers, and to get it before it fully releases and most likely increases in price. The survival mode will bring you a few hours of enjoyment, but eventually you'll probably stop playing until new content is added. Conclusion In conclusion, Green Hell is a hardcore survival game that should only be played if you like the really difficult games. After a while, you start to learn all the mechanics, but not without a lot of dying beforehand. While we gave the game a good rating, it's mostly in anticipation of what's to come. Green Hell has a lot of potential, and if the developers add a lot more content and fix the current issues, we're looking forward to a really great survival game.