Day 4 in the jungle: I ve adopted a diary format, as to cleverly convey basic information about the game I m reviewing in a thematic way. Today, as I neared the summit of moss-slicked ridge on the outskirts of a fuggy mangrove swamp, I encountered what can only be described as a discovery that will shake the very foundations of ornithology.

A flock of brilliantly coloured birds, flying in a such a way as to spell out: Green Hell is a first person survival game set in the Amazon rainforest. You play amnesiac American anthropologist Jake Higgins, as he attempts to brave nature, build shelters, hunt and fight, find his missing wife, and avoid eating so many poisonous mushrooms that he craps himself to death. Truly, we are but mewling babes in the face of nature s many undiscovered permutations.

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“Welcome to the Jungle”, Axl Rose once penned. A habitual liar and scoundrel, when Mr Rose was asked what sort of thing one would find in the jungle, did a diverse ecosystem come to mind? Natural wonders both deadly and delightful? No, dear reader. Take my advice and ignore what stadium rock bands tell you – there are no “fun and games” in the jungle. These are very serious biomes that demand our attention and care.

There’s plenty of fun and games in pretend jungles, mind. Like this one, Green Hell. The survival game just left Steam Early Access with a brand-spankin’ new story mode.

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Green Hell sure looks like a survival game. And sure plays like a survival game. Just out in Early Access, it does feel awfully familiar. And yet, by the end of its very brief excerpt of a forthcoming story mode, I did rather want to carry on.

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Upcoming survival sandbox Green Hell is a strong reminder that mother nature has no particular love for humankind, and that dense, verdant rainforests – while scenic – are not a place for the unprepared to wander. If the animals lurking in the night’s long shadows don’t get you, then the bugs will. Or the gangrene. Or just falling off a cliff. Within, a trailer featuring leeches, infected wounds and portentious quotes from Heart of Darkness, followed by twenty minutes of raw and bloody gameplay footage.

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