Thursday 9 May 2013

Don't Starve PC Review



Klei entertainment studios never fail to entertain us. Klei entertainment present to you Don't starve- A classic indie game. Don't starve is not exactly a "don't starve yourself but eat something in order to survive" but more like "survival and adventure kinda game". The player assumes the role of Wilson. The game is in a vast area of map, encouraging players to explore and find new items for crafting or making new items. Yeah!! Crafting items. I felt the game drew the concept of combining elements from "Little Alchemy", where items acquired are mixed to make new items. We can craft almost anything from the available resources. 

Craft anything! 

Gameplay
The main objective is to survive as many days as possible. On the right top corner, there is a day counter where the day, evening and night are represented in a pie chart diagram. On the bottom of the counter, there are number of bubbles players must look for. There are health, sanity, hunger levels. Player must strive to satisfy all the needs despite the odds that are presented in the game. Its like the satisfying both sides of equation. 


To survive and satisfy the hunger, there are numerous kinds of and number of animals to kill.Don't worry not all animals are scary and come to kill the player. Some are docile, some are aggressive, some are dumb, some are scary. Some animals are hostile not only to us but also to other groups of animals. This can be used to the players' advantage. So...better learn about the animal's behaviour and approach to kill. Its not necessary to kill the animals always. 

The best strategy for surviving in the initial stages of the game is to gather as many resources as possible. Later once the player gathers plenty of resources, he should settle down and explore the world around. The game boasts of real time seasonal changes. Although the game usually starts with summer or autumn like season, though its not necessary. It can also start with winter. Beware, the animals in winter are not so kind and it just adds to the difficulty of the game as the player should also survive the icy cold of winter. Craft a earmuffs or a jerkin to keep yourself warm. :D. 

There are numerous tabs on the left side of the game play. Each for different upgrade or for creating more sophisticated items or weapons. Ah!! Weapons! Important! :D Weapons category actually surprised me back there, because of the lack of the quantity and life of each weapon can be really frustrating. Yeah! Life for weapon!! You must be like "What??" . Although that is there, developers din't want the players to just settle for one weapon lifelong. 
Ya, he's Wilson with exceptionally long beard :D
As already mentioned, we play as Wilson (who grows a magnificent beard. Trust me, the beard comes in handy afterwards ;) ). Usually the game rewards the players depending upon how many days the player has survived-whether intermittently or at a stretch. The rewards are in the form of experience points and the players can unlock different characters who possess different ability. For example, Wendy doesn't need light to keep her surviving through the night. She lights a fire just enough times to survive the night. 

Wendy survives the night by lighting a fire.
Conclusion
Although at the initial stages, i felt the need/addiction to play the game, it gradually declined. The main reason being the game rewards are minimal only confining to unlocking the characters, but not any new features in the game.
This said, game is not bad at all in other aspects. It just balances the need and wants pertaining to survival of the player without the game play leaning towards either of them.
The game can improve in lot of ways actually. I hope i can see a update available for the game or start a sequel like slender.

My rating is 7.5/10

+ Exploration                              - Re spawning from Day 1
+ Adventures                              - Awards are limited
+ Survival

~Gamesbuzz game of the month~  April

                    Don't starve


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