IMPACT WINTER

PLENTY OF WINTER BUT NOT ENOUGH IMPACT. US$19.99 | PC | www.impactwinter.co.uk

Impact Winter’s premise is a novel take on a survivalist trope — instead of struggling for life in a post-nuclear wasteland, you’re left with a frigid and barren Earth after it’s hit with an asteroid. Your survival in this cold dead isometric world depends on a rather complex array of vital variables along with a small cluster of friendly survivors huddled in a church. These people act as an interesting take on a skill tree, each with unique abilities for you to nurture and develop in order to last the 30 days until help arrives. While the game has some truly genius ideas and many of the survival mechanics are deep and rewarding, the overall tone confuses the game. The art-style, albeit cute, seems to be at odds with the gravity of the context, as are the quirky cast of characters and their dialogue. The game launched with abhorrent controls and the menu system was pure drudgery, and while the controls and some other bugs have now been patched, the other issues may not be so easy to fix.