Name: Green Hell
Developer: Creepy Jar
Publisher: Creepy Jar
Platforms: PC
Reviewed on: PC
Early Access Released: 28.08.2018
Initial Release Date: TBA
Acquired: A copy of this game was provided from publisher for review purpose
Green Hell is a survivor game, set in the amazonian rain forest, At first glance, the lush forest is a beautiful and tranquil place, however the struggle to stay alive is quite real. How long will you be able to endure in the wild?
Crafting the items you need, scavenging the forest for materials to help you stay alive and well, both physically and mentally, this game will offer a lot of challenges. In a forest of Survival games – some quite excellent at that, can this small title stand out and make a mark for itself? Let’s find out!
The Good
The very first thing I have to say about this game is that it looks excellent. The graphics are very well made and details such as water and lighting effects are excellent. Some areas like the tented area and so on lacks some details, but this may be fixed later on.
The small part of the story that was available for play here was meant to be a tutorial for the game, teaching you how to do basic things like making a fire and tend to your wounds. This is a great way to get the hang of the basics, and works really well. I can’t say anything more about the story, really, because there is basically nothing to say about it. It will be released fully at a later date.
Another thing I noticed quite fast is that there is quite a variety of dangers out there to discover, and I bet that the game itself will not be easy at all. More or less anything in the jungle want you dead, and if you are not careful, most things can (and probably will at one time or another) kill you.
Watch the Replay of our Live-Stream here (Norwegian)
The Bad
It is very obvious that this game is still in early access. There are quite a few things that I found to be either annoying or just… weird.
The main thing that has to be addressed is the crafting system. It’s such a huge part of the game and it lacks intuitivity and feels quite hard to use at times. Maybe it is because it is quite realistic in the way the materials are sorted in your backpack or just my lack of short-term memory, but navigating to the items needed and getting it right was more troublesome than necessary.
Another thing I noticed is that is not at all obvious WHAT kills you all the time. In the stream you can see above, I was killed by a scorpion that I hardly noticed, even when looking for it. Sure, I heard something, but I had no idea what it was or where it was. Again I can take part of the blame here, and I am sure that issues like this will be sorted out before the game is released.
The main issue with the game is its lack of originality. I can’t really see what makes this game stand out and shine compared to other games that are established on the market. I hope that by the time the full game comes out, more will be added, but as of right now it is just a very beautiful game that uses things we have all seen before many times.
Verdict
The future of this game is very dependent on the story of the game, to be quite honest. The graphics are there, the audio and voice-acting is decent and the gameplay will probably (hopefully) be improved. If the story is good, I can see this game being rather good, but as it is right now, it lacks substance and a soul.
Overall
5/10
