The Long Dark

Item: The Long Dark
Rating: 87
Author: VaporLens

Last updated: 2025-03-04

Summary

Realistic survival experience with stunning visuals.
Unique, replayable, customizable gameplay.
DLC adds significant content to the game.
Slow pace, grind, and delayed content updates.
Brutal difficulty and punishing permadeath.
Tedious backtracking on large maps.

Categories

Survival Resource Management Open-World Exploration Single-player Story Crafting Hunting

Reviews (sample size): 2000
Helpful reviews: 62%
Unhelpful reviews: 36%
Protest reviews: 2%

87%
Helpful reviews with positive sentiment
13%
Helpful reviews with negative sentiment

Positive points: 2797
Negative points: 1434
Gameplay points: 527
Perf. points: 42
Rec. points: 817
Misc points: 171

Point	Description	Importance
Realistic, challenging survival experience Description The game emphasizes realistic survival against nature's harshness. Players must manage hunger, thirst, warmth, and fatigue while navigating a brutal environment without hand-holding. The permadeath system and focus on vulnerability create a constant sense of tension and reward strategic decision-making. Importance 90%	The game emphasizes realistic survival against nature's harshness. Players must manage hunger, thirst, warmth, and fatigue while navigating a brutal environment without hand-holding. The permadeath system and focus on vulnerability create a constant sense of tension and reward strategic decision-making.	90%
Immersive atmosphere and stunning visuals Description The game features a stunning artistic style, immersive sound design, and atmospheric environments. The combination of visuals, music, and sound effects creates a strong sense of isolation and enhances the overall survival experience, making the player feel truly present in the harsh Canadian wilderness. Importance 67%	The game features a stunning artistic style, immersive sound design, and atmospheric environments. The combination of visuals, music, and sound effects creates a strong sense of isolation and enhances the overall survival experience, making the player feel truly present in the harsh Canadian wilderness.	67%
Unique, replayable, customizable experience Description The game offers a compelling and unique experience with a rewarding gameplay loop, beautiful world, and constant updates. It is praised for its replayability, customizable difficulty, and the developers' dedication to improving the game based on community feedback, making it both relaxing and challenging. Importance 62%	The game offers a compelling and unique experience with a rewarding gameplay loop, beautiful world, and constant updates. It is praised for its replayability, customizable difficulty, and the developers' dedication to improving the game based on community feedback, making it both relaxing and challenging.	62%
Addictive, updated, great value Description The game has garnered long-term player engagement due to its fun gameplay, frequent updates, and dedicated developers. Players find the game addictive, relaxing, and a great value for the price, often returning to it over many years and praising the developers' commitment to continuous improvement. Importance 40%	The game has garnered long-term player engagement due to its fun gameplay, frequent updates, and dedicated developers. Players find the game addictive, relaxing, and a great value for the price, often returning to it over many years and praising the developers' commitment to continuous improvement.	40%
Challenging, immersive, and relaxing Description The game offers a unique blend of challenge and relaxation, requiring strategic thinking and patience. It evokes feelings of loneliness and unease, while also providing a sense of accomplishment and immersion, making it suitable for players who enjoy solitude and a slow-paced, thoughtful experience. Importance 19%	The game offers a unique blend of challenge and relaxation, requiring strategic thinking and patience. It evokes feelings of loneliness and unease, while also providing a sense of accomplishment and immersion, making it suitable for players who enjoy solitude and a slow-paced, thoughtful experience.	19%
DLC adds significant content Description The DLC adds significant value to the game by expanding the world, introducing new mechanics, and enhancing the overall experience. Players find the DLC worthwhile due to the amount of content it adds, making the game feel more complete and providing new challenges and opportunities for exploration. Importance 16%	The DLC adds significant value to the game by expanding the world, introducing new mechanics, and enhancing the overall experience. Players find the DLC worthwhile due to the amount of content it adds, making the game feel more complete and providing new challenges and opportunities for exploration.	16%
Active, responsive developers Description The developers are actively involved with the community, listening to feedback and consistently improving the game. This dedication fosters a positive relationship with players and contributes to the game's ongoing success and evolution, making it a game that is truly shaped by its community. Importance 11%	The developers are actively involved with the community, listening to feedback and consistently improving the game. This dedication fosters a positive relationship with players and contributes to the game's ongoing success and evolution, making it a game that is truly shaped by its community.	11%
Cold is a central challenge Description The game emphasizes the importance of weather, clothing, and resource management in a cold environment. Players must adapt to changing conditions and carefully manage their resources to survive, creating a strong sense of immersion and making the cold a central challenge. Importance 9%	The game emphasizes the importance of weather, clothing, and resource management in a cold environment. Players must adapt to changing conditions and carefully manage their resources to survive, creating a strong sense of immersion and making the cold a central challenge.	9%
World devastation and vulnerability Description The game effectively conveys the changing times and the devastation of the world through its story mode. It evokes a sense of awe towards nature and highlights the player's vulnerability against it, creating a unique and immersive experience. Importance 8%	The game effectively conveys the changing times and the devastation of the world through its story mode. It evokes a sense of awe towards nature and highlights the player's vulnerability against it, creating a unique and immersive experience.	8%
Adapt and evolve to survive Description The game allows players to adapt and evolve from prey to hunter, trapper, fisherman, and tailor. It encourages exploration and learning through experience and discovery, with the player's own mistakes being the biggest obstacle. Importance 8%	The game allows players to adapt and evolve from prey to hunter, trapper, fisherman, and tailor. It encourages exploration and learning through experience and discovery, with the player's own mistakes being the biggest obstacle.	8%
Continuously expanding content Description The game is continuously expanding with new content, including regions, items, and mechanics. This ongoing development keeps the game fresh and engaging, providing players with new experiences and challenges to overcome, ensuring long-term replayability and enjoyment. Importance 6%	The game is continuously expanding with new content, including regions, items, and mechanics. This ongoing development keeps the game fresh and engaging, providing players with new experiences and challenges to overcome, ensuring long-term replayability and enjoyment.	6%
Personal survival experiences Description The reviewer shares specific experiences within the game, such as finding a hunter's cabin, learning to fend off wolves, and crafting leather clothes. These personal anecdotes highlight the value of resources and the joy of overcoming challenges in the game's harsh environment. Importance 5%	The reviewer shares specific experiences within the game, such as finding a hunter's cabin, learning to fend off wolves, and crafting leather clothes. These personal anecdotes highlight the value of resources and the joy of overcoming challenges in the game's harsh environment.	5%
Straightforward controls and exploration Description The game has fairly straightforward controls and various maps. It is enjoyable and allows you to explore locations. Importance 5%	The game has fairly straightforward controls and various maps. It is enjoyable and allows you to explore locations.	5%