Survival - but not horror! - Games.

jill_valentine

Yes, I am aware of the user name irony.

I'm looking for something where the emphasis is on surviving the environment more than combat. I find there are a ton of zombie games in particular out there with elements of this - State of Decay being a particularly exceptional one - but at this stage I'm starting to find the inevitable "escalating zombie tier" mechanics kind of an irritant rather than a thrill.

So I'm looking at stuff more in the direction of Lost in Blue of old, or even Disaster: Day of Crisis. I'm not fussy about graphics or anything, or format.

Any suggestions?

McSasquatch

Don't Starve sprang to mind, but it does have it's fair share of enemies to bash. Love it though.

There's always Minecraft?

Fnz

Miasmata might interest you: http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/miasmata

PC only. Haven't personally played it but, from what I remember, exploration and cartography are a big part of the game.

nesf

Dwarf Fortress.

cherryghost

Survival Sandbox forum

SeantheMan

Rust . It's new out on STEAM, sounds exactly like what you want, and Don't Starve as mentioned above

The only aim in Rust is to survive. To do this you will need to overcome struggles such as hunger, thirst and cold. Build a fire. Build a shelter. Kill animals for meat. Protect yourself from other players. Create alliances with other players and together form a town. Whatever it takes to survive.

Vicxas

DayZ?

Its all about survival and to be honest the Zombies don't even pay a part at the moment, its all about surviving and not trusting anyone!

Let that be the first rule

Zero-Cool

I Am Alive on PSN, great game. You might have 1 bullet but come up against 2 guys. Then it turns into a bluffing game, maybe killing one but making the other guy think you got more bullets. Some great mechanics in the game.

https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/#!/en-ie/games/i-am-alive/cid=EP0001-NPEB00476_00-IAMALIVELICENSE1

Nody

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. might be to much horror but it's definitly survival!

This is a pretty good summary of the game from Reddit:

Ever since i first played S.T.A.L.K.E.R., i was taken aback by it and it left a lasting impact on how i think Open world games like Fallout and other games should be made and why.

I think that the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series is simply fantastic because of it's unrelenting brutality, and it's focus on pure terrifying and subtle atmosphere that does not rely on jump scares, and because of the way it handled skill and the "Karma" and Level Up" system.... or, to put it bluntly, the brilliant lack of them.

First of the brutality:

I made this comment on this subreddit a few months ago. Link.

The games atmosphere, ambience, creatures and sound effects lead me to be afraid of stepping one foot out of any safe zone and into the untamed wilds of The Zone.

Seriously, going through The Zone isn't a cakewalk. It's not like in Fallout 3 or New Vegas when you can walk around the Wasteland and only come across one or two enemies.

Once you step outside of any safezone, you are beset upon by the dangers of The Zone, and staying alive depends completely on how prepared you are.

That game really made me dread kicking up my feet and walking outside into the wild, when i just know that everything is out there to kill me. Bandits, enemy factions, anomalies, creatures, you just aren't safe.

I basicaly ran all he way from one safe zone to the next because there isn't any rest to be had once you're out in the open. You're constantly fighting to remain in one piece, and it truly add's to the feel of the game.

Through out the entire game, the feeling that surrounds you, penetrates you, makes you uneasy and lulls you into a sort of somber trance, is the simple fear that everything outside can and will kill you.

In many open world games, survival isn't that big of a deal as long as you leveled up and it stops being fun.

In The Zone however, you live and travel with the knowledge that your trek through the zone will be constant running from beasts, enemies and avoiding anomalies, and the only respite that you will ever see is by getting to a checkpoint with other Stalkers in the zone.

You fear kicking up your feet and going into The Zone, because, like i said, everything can kill you and you are never safe out in the open.

When i played it, my entire path from the first part of the game, The Cordon, to the 100 Rads Bar was nothing but constant running, gunning, healing and nothing but fear and the feeling that i had no chance.

As soon as you leave The Cordon, which is relativley safe when compared to the rest of the game, there is no screwing around.

One of the major reasons for this is the atmosphere:

The Zone is at once, a somber, kind of meditative place and a wild, untamed, terrifying wilderness. Gunshots are common and omnypresent. Helicopters often fly over, breaking the silence, but worst of all are the faint and distant roars of.... who knows what they are.

But The Zone has a sort of eeire quality to it that many times, it leaves you feeling very alone, somber, even a little depressed, and the subtle emotion upon the end of the game completes this feeling. It's a beautiful mix of loneliness and fear.

But what sets S.T.A.L.K.E.R. apart from other games is that it lacks a level up system:

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R; you don't have any character attributes, or perks, or any sort of level up system that will help you survive.

Instead, you are completely left alone to fend for yourself and your survival depends COMPLETELY on how well prepared you are. There is no level up system to save you when your gun jams and you're being chased by a Bloodsucker in a deep, dark tunnel.

Your survival depends completely on: how much ammo you have, the quality of your weapons and ammo, your weapon handling, how many weapons you have, but above all your own skill at aiming the damn thing.

In this way, the game never get's boring because you know that any minor slip up or disatser will lead to you being massacred and you are never lulled into a sense of security. As i said, these things force you to keep on your toes.

Along with atmosphere and the pure brutality of the gameplay and survival, the games rise up above other, modern open world FPS'.

Fallout may be fun, and the level up system and perk system is neat and fun, but it's nothing compared to The Zone. There is no pussyfooting. Make it out on your own, there are no perks for accuracy.

Figure it out yourself. Shoot straight and don't miss.

But what i really like is the lack of any karma system in it's modern form.

Karma systems in modern gaming are broken and unrealistic, as well as being mostly incosistent.

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R; it's simplified to the point where it's just sort of an add on, and not a massive part of the game.

It isn't really a karma system, as it doesn't ensure you any sort of ebenfits from the people you help... you're just kind of a, well, friend, after helping them. But that doesn't give you really any sort of perk as opposed to being evil. It's all the same.

However if you screw up and attack a faction, like The Loners for example, they will turn on you in a heartbeat for killing one of their own. Helping grannies walk across the street won't help that.

IMO, many modern games should stop holding the players hand and dump him in a place where he will be forced to think and survive, with no perks or any sort of level up system.

The karma system should be scrapped and replaced with something much more, well, cruel, if i can put it that way.

So yeah, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is great and weneed more games like it. The only other game that comes to mind is the Metro: 2033 series, but it's not near S.T.A.L.K.E.R...

Cravez

You'd want to get an Overhaul mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R though. Vanilla S.T.A.L.K.E.R lacked alot of features particularly involving survival. There are some Overhaul mods that make sure Eating, Drinking & Sleeping are big parts of the game.

VenomIreland

Cravez wrote: »

You'd want to get an Overhaul mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R though. Vanilla S.T.A.L.K.E.R lacked alot of features particularly involving survival. There are some Overhaul mods that make sure Eating, Drinking & Sleeping are big parts of the game.

Just ignore the "Complete" series of mods! They make the game look nicer, but also remove some of the difficulty.

ShadowHearth

Dont like Zombies? Well, you are in luck! Rust removed Zombies 2 days ago and replaced them with very angry wolfs and Zombies! :pac:

If seriously. Rust is awesome survival game and gets going a bit faster then DayZ ( DayZ is not a bad game by any means, I got both and both are AWESOME! ). All you do in it - SURVIVE! Your fellow man is 90% of the times a "dick", so you will learn to run, hide, fight and survive like a Champ. In some ways I think that this game is not even a Game, but some sort of evil experiment on humanity and its social structure. I am pretty sure thats how we lived when we were a Mancave sociaty! :pac:

If you looking more of a Single player survival, then games like Terarria and Dont starve are up your alley. PS4 Dont Starve port is fantastic too.

McSasquatch

Also keep an eye out for upcoming title The Long Dark - not out til October, but hopefully your survivalist yearnings won't have abated by then!

CiDeRmAn

Ok, I think I know what you're after.
There is a series that appeared on the PS2.
Disaster Report featured you as a reporter in a city built on an artificial island when disaster strikes and there is a series of earthquakes, building collapses, bridges coming apart as you climb across them, it's really good.
And you can probably play it by buying a PS2 and a copy of the game for less than €50.
Theres a sequel too called Raw Danger.
Well worth playing the both of them.
Survival horror without the monsters.

Fnz

Rust and Dayz stop being about about survival after the first 3 hours. After that it's about looking for entertainment. The biggest threat to your survival is combat born of boredom.

Taylor365

The Frostfall Mod for Skyrim is the only non-zombie, non-apocalyptic survivor-esque gameplay i can think of outside sandbox games.

Basically have to eat, drink and stay warm/dry or die. Impossible to stay warm in blizzards and storms so usually end up sitting them out in a tavern or Inn getting 3 sheets to the wind. (that's also possible in the mod )