I had survived for five long, cold days.

At dawn I exited the little cabin by the lake and walked out onto the ice. This frozen expanse had provided me with valuable resources, so I made my camp in the lodge across the way.

As I began to make my way back to camp, we spotted each other. A very large, very angry bear stood to my right. We locked eyes and everything stopped. I raised my rifle as he charged and fired. Direct hit, but still he came. As the remaining three bullets did little to slow him, I realized this was it.

He hit with the force of a runaway truck. Teeth and claws thrashed and ripped by clothes and flesh. The attack lasted mere seconds, but the damage was done. I pulled myself, bleeding and bruised from the ice and administered what little first aid I had. With the last small ounce of adrenaline left in me, I began to run. Straight across for the lodge where all of my extra supplies, firewood and food were.

The black crept into the edges of my vision. My staggering grew worse. I couldn't walk straight, but still I pushed on. After what seemed like a lifetime, I pulled myself to the door of the cabin and went inside. Slowly up the stairs, vision all but gone, I crept. Finally, I lit a fire with my last accelerant and a few books. Water, food, rest and pain killers pulled me back from the brink over the next day.

When back at 100 percent, I ventured out for more ice fishing, only to be surrounded by wolves and killed; overtaken by hypothermia and blood loss.

I survived six days, eight hours.

so cool and cold, you have to be very careful cuz it is very difficult to survive here

I have played a lot of survival games. For the most part, they all either start off great and end up stinking, or they stink from the onset.

This game is different. For the very first time I can say that a survival game has nailed survival. It is doing so in the most elegant and streamlined fashion, which I can't even believe I'm typing.
Years of games like Dayz have lead me to believe that survival games are supposed to be clumsy, sloppily designed, and painful to learn.

Thankfully The Long Dark handles cooking, crafting and inventory with an ease and simplicity that throws a middle finger to almost any survival game I've tried.

It's single player. I think, as of now, that is the only downside I would have for the game - but it isn't a downside.

This game instills a very tangible fear in you for mother nature. You feel alone, but you are surrounded by beauty. Gorgeous forests, mountain trails, and of course snow capped mountains and icy lakes.
The play area is massive, loot and spawn locations are randomized each new game, and the threat of harsh snow storms is only bested by the sight of a wolf, or worse, wolves... or even worse - a bear.

Discovering books allows you to read up on certain things, like ice fishing, firearms, or building campfires. Finishing these books enhances those abilities.

Finding your first rifle is empowering, and shooting a charging bear in the face 2 times before it mauls you is soul crushing.
That was me; Just over two hours into my first playthrough, feeling confident, I wandered into the dawn. Outside of my vision, a bear had spotted me. By the time I turned to fire, it was too late.
When the bear finished mauling me, I was shocked to find I was left hanging on to my life. I stumbled between some large rocks, built a campfire, and used almost all of the first aid I had. Still hopeful, I ate a meal and laid down in my sleeping bag to rest and regain my vitality.

Little did I know that my injuries would claim me as I drifted into dreams.

The game is complex, and yet every mechanic is intuitive and easy to learn. Exploration is exciting, whether it is a small lakeside cabin, an expansive network of caves, or an abandoned hydro dam. Often times the game evokes a sense of wonder, excitement and fear that I don't recall having since I first played Fallout 3.

Get this game. It's the best single player survival game I've ever ♥♥♥♥ing played, and I knew it within the first hour. If it wasn't, then why would I have stopped playing just to tell you all of this?

I am hopeful that one day a multiplayer survival title will take notes from this game. It would be amazing to play a game as silky smooth and devoid of zombies alongside friends and strangers. This is a title that would actually cause players to work together, because as threatening as the wolves and bears are - the world you must explore to survive is even more hostile.

This is simply one of the best games I played in years.

Superb Survival mechanics without zombies!!!! At last.

I bought this game a while ago, but I decided to write a review now. I had been looking for a survival game that would be as as close to real wilderness survival as possible. If you have spent any significant amount of time backpacking in wilderness you will understand how unforgiving it can be. And this game portrays that aspect of real life, granted wildlife like wolves don't come charging and try to kill you when they see you. I would say if you want a game that is very challenging and can be brutally unforgiving and will test your skills and luck around every corner, buy this game and immediately play it on Stalker mode. You won't regret it.

I am most likely going to get downvotes and probably have my review marked as "funny" due to certain members of the community, but I'm here to say what I've been holding off on saying for the past few months.

I bought The Long Dark primarily for the Story Mode; back when it was seemingly right around the corner. On the fence about purchasing, I was persuaded by the 90%(!) approval rating and endless amounts of positive reviews, so I thought I'd buy the game. While waiting for the Story Mode, I thought I might as well give Sandbox a try, so I'll start there.

Sandbox mode started out fair enough - The visuals were amazing, the wolves felt like threats, and I was always on the edge of my seat, planning my next move. The atmosphere was great.

However, after some hours, it became obvious that there was no point to surviving - There is simply nothing much to live for. Even with these new "challenges," the game's sandbox lifetime is disappointingly short. Simply put: It gets rather boring. Surviving for months is a tedious chore, not a fun adventure. There's no reason to live. If the game had been marketed as yet another sandbox survival, I wouldn't have bought it. There's a multitude of those already, most of which are better than this game.

Moving on to the mess that was/is Story mode: 18 months and multiple failed release dates later, the devs have engaged in a rigorous "it's done when it's done" stance. Waiting for months upon months for a story mode that was promised to be delivered months ago and may be at best only a few hours long is not my cup of tea. I have been holding off on writing this review, but as time passed I ended up feeling disappointed and angry as The Long Dark seemed to be traveling down a never-ending road of Early Access, sadly like so many other games.

This is the first Hinterland product I have purchased, and it will also be my last. I've uninstalled the game, and it will most likely remain uninstalled for the rest of eternity.

Best survival game ever made!

This game is aesthetically satisfying, immersive, and fun. Of all the early-development games I've played, this has been my favorite. Dying after so many hours of walking, collecting, hunting, crafting and hardship is devastating; however, the permadeath aspect requires thought-out planning for every endeavor.

+: I love the music, the sounds of nature, the exploration and the struggle to survive. I am so happy to find a game like this that doesn't have zombies or a ridiculous premise. I love how in-depth the statistics are recorded and available to track in-game and compare between games. Being able to record notes on my travels and activities is useful - I used this feature to record where I had to leave essential items behind in order to efficiently travel to new destinations.

-: I am very excited for a story mode; however, it is very difficult to be patient. I am dissatisfied by the lack of background information, features and dialogue that I hope will be implemented in the story mode. I would have enjoyed the ability to record a rudimentary map in-game based on areas I have already traveled.

Overall an incredible game, and I am looking forward to the Story!

One of my favorite games of all time, and if Hinterland stays true to the posted roadmap, it will probably be my favorite game of all time. The sanbox alpha would be a complete game in itself for most publishers, but these people are adding a story mode(which will be the core of the game), and much more to the sandbox mode. The challenges already in the game are just that, challenges, nothing easy about them, but fun as hell, with more on the way! As a first game, Hinterland has a masterpiece in the making

I have issues playing this game. I'm just too big of a wussy to actually play it for a long period of time. The first time I ever saw a wolf, I was in the Hydroelectric Dam at night. I was walking down the stairs without a care in the world thinking wolves just couldn't possibly spawn in a building. I turned the corner and that boom, getting mauled... Lets just say I didn't rage-quit, I fear-quit. Never before have I hit Alt-f4 so quickly out of pure terror. 10/10 for PTSD.