The Last Horizon update to The Long Dark has dropped, and it's got something for everybody -- a new game mode built around suffering, a new mechanic that's so unpopular it's already been pulled, and a new zone rife with timberwolves and frigid weather. Sound familiar? Anyway, having visited the new zone and completed the third and final Tale, we pivot to experiencing the latest game mode designed to make players suffer: Misery.
Let's get miserable, folks. This mode makes you make several important decisions very quickly. You start with temperatures akin to those 50 days into an Interloper run, so you have to move and think fast. After spawning at a burned-out Draft Dodger's Cabin (5:30), we have to decide -- do we go to the plane crash for clothing? Molly's for shelter and loot? The barn for a stim? Thompson's Crossing? Signal Hill? It seems unlikely we'll get both a hat and gloves at the plane crash to avoid frostbite, so we make for Molly's, strike out there and the barn ... and get frostbite anyway (32:50). Fortunately, it's only mild. As we're searching Thompson's Crossing, we get hit with the first unique taste of Misery -- Diminished Form, a permanent affliction that lowers our stamina, carry capacity, and chance of scaring off a wolf in a struggle (56:00). We're still lacking important tools, and Signal Hill yields only a batch of Cooking XP and an unwelcome reminder that bears can wander inside the fence, too (1:31:55).
We get back the 5kg of carry capacity Diminished Form took from us thanks to the Well Fed buff. The cold continues to be brutal, but checking one last loot spot pays off as the ruins across the bridge from the Rural Store nets us both a prybar and a hacksaw (2:06:00). Combined with the heavy hammer we got from the barn, it's time to make for a forge, and Desolation Point seems the best bet. We pass through the coal mine to emerge in a somehow-colder Coastal Highway, with temperatures below -40C on a perfectly clear day. Undaunted, Astrid loots the townsite and cabins, with beachcombing proving unusually fruitful with a birch sapling (3:33:30) and a cured rabbit pelt. The stream closes with Astrid catching her second affliction after surviving for a sixth day -- Sour Stomach, which takes away a quarter of our hunger meter and makes us more likely to catch food poisoning (3:54:40). It's only going to get worse from here, but for a first attempt it seems to be going ... not badly? From the July 4, 2024, stream at / trooperbari .
The Long Dark is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. There are no zombies -- only you, the cold, and all the threats Mother Nature can muster. store.steampow...
5 окт 2024
