Review for Impact Winter. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 23/05/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 05/04/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 05/04/2018
Impact Winter… Too bad. Those who have followed the development of the game know how long it took and how long the wait was. As often happens in these cases, expectations have not been fully paid off. Impact Winter, developed by Mojo Bones, has captured the attention of the player who loves survival games from the very first images. This genre is really depopulating lately and there are numerous titles that we find in this category. Often these games end up looking alike and Impact Winter tries somehow to differentiate itself. Let's see what this new release can offer.
The day after tomorrow
Impact Winter tells the adventure of Jacob, one of the survivors of a planetary catastrophe. The fall of a meteorite caused a sort of ice age, exterminating much of the life on the planet. Jacob manages to survive by finding refuge with other characters in a church that escaped destruction. The snow has now covered everything and the only way to get in and out of the church is through the bell tower that rises from the snowy hills. During the first few minutes we will discover a radio message announcing mysterious help arriving in 30 days. The game is all about this timer, resist 30 days or die.
The story of Impact Winter brings to mind the plot of the film The Day After Tomorrow and a first novelty lies precisely in the timed adventure. So no longer an infinite sandbox in which to repeat the same actions over and over, but a very specific goal from the beginning, an idea that we greatly appreciated. The second innovation would concern the management of the group in a survival game. In fact, Jacob is not alone. The various characters who will live this adventure with him play a very specific role. There is the cook, the mechanic, the builder and so on. Each character, as well as Jacob will have to satisfy their needs: Hunger, thirst, rest, morale.
People or things?
The game will play out in two main ways. Part of the time you will spend in the church, busy giving orders to the various companions, feeding them, heating the environment and organizing the construction of gadgets for the most diverse uses. The remaining time will serve you to go out in the cold to explore what is left of our world in search of useful objects, food, fuels, in short, everything that could make you survive.
Often it will be your companions who will send you on missions. For example, you will travel in search of materials for building a better stove, beds or a water filter. In these explorations you will always be accompanied by a robot assistant called Ako-Light. This singular character will be useful as a torch for dark environments, or as a radar and also as a pack mule since the space in the inventory will depend on how much our iron friend has progressed. Ako-Light can in fact be strengthened to be more and more useful for our survival.
This game mode takes a lot of inspiration from a masterpiece of a few years ago, This War of Mine, where the management of the shelter and the phases of night looting were well balanced. So what is missing from Impact Winter?
Appetizers the characters have minimal characterization which will surely not remain in the memory of the players. They should have their own intelligence but often do not carry out the most necessary jobs independently, leaving this micro management totally in your hands. You can never control them but only give them orders and this undermines their characterization even more. Besides, only Jacob will be able to go out to explore the surroundings of the church. When you are away to explore, you should always keep an eye on the statistics of the group, because they may simply let themselves die, even though there are many resources available in the church.
Donut without hole ...
The resource exploration and research system is the real fun part of the game. The graphics of the external environments are well done and convey the idea of desolation well. Especially the use of lights is very impressive. The objects that we will be able to find are many, and deciding what to keep and what to discard will be crucial for survival. Because of the cold, you won't be able to stay outside very long, and sooner or later you'll have to return to the church with a limited amount of resources.
While you are out, random events of various kinds can occur such as an attack on the church by unspecified looters. Too bad that this chance is badly done, for example we happened to leave the church and a second later, on the door, the event of this phantom looting appears ...
We must then point out some problems. First of all, don't think you can play it with mouse and keyboard, you will need a PAD. The game practically does not support the use of the mouse making it possible to play with just the keyboard, frustrating. In some cases, the loading times will be excessive. The developers have already announced a corrective patch, we'll see.
Too bad then. Great idea, great untapped potential. There is some kind of rush in the release, perhaps due to the great anticipation. Probably only half of you will turn up their noses and may still find the experience fun. Impact Winter is not a disaster, it has a solid game engine in its management of the exploration phases. However, everything remains too sketchy and to be perfected. He did not manage to involve us and thrill us like other exponents of the genre, and to say that it was close.
► Impact Winter is a game published by Bandai Namco for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 23/05/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 05/04/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 05/04/2018
