The Long Dark is a punishing survival game set in the middle of the frozen wilderness, forcing the player to think carefully about every decision like it could be their last. I played the story campaign in order to understand how game narratives and narrative may interact with each other and how their dynamic can be tailored to bring out the strengths of these elements.

The narrative starts off with you as William Mackenzie, a pilot who flies to and from the mainland of a frigid island. In the first scene, I thought the set up was alright until it came to the cutscenes. The writing was on the nose and the dialogue was extremely dramatic despite the fact the characters had just been introduced five minutes prior. With no emotional connection to the characters, it feels like walking in on someone watching Eastenders or a random soap opera. I think it could’ve been built up gradually in order to build up the tension. This would make a very emotionally charged scene regarding some sordid past a lot more satisfying as a climatic payoff. Instead it just ruins the setup of the story for me. 

The gui was nice to navigate but I thought some colour coding could make it stand out especially for newer players since it’s mostly black and white. I liked the art style. The painterly textures were appealing on the low poly models.  That being said, I personally didn’t like the blush on the characters, the red makes them look like they’re ill or sunburnt. However, it is fitting for a setting with extreme cold so I don’t think that should be a criticism. Other than that I had no issues with the art style, the cold colours worked well with the setting and added to the desolate feeling. 

The gameplay is punishing and gives you three difficulties to work with. I went with the average one as I assumed that was the intended experience. To be upfront, I am not a good gamer, but I thought the experience of the introduction was very tough, maybe a little unbalanced as I couldn’t enjoy the gameplay as intended as my body temperature dropped so quickly I was close to death after a couple of minutes away from a fire. This would be manageable if warming up didn’t mean I had to waste time standing by a fire for ages. It broke up the gameplay and was extremely tedious, personally I would not sacrifice the player experience for the sake of realism.

However, it’s not all bad. I liked pelting rabbits with rocks and exploring the first ruined town and picking up the story. The environmental storytelling is good but the dialogue and character interactions are a little rough. I have only played for about an hour and a half so I cannot speak for certain or comment on the narrative as a whole, these were my first impressions. There are definitely some flaws but it’s compelling at least in the setting and gameplay so I think I would keep playing.