NEO Scavenger Demo

Survival games seem to have assaulted the video games industry lately, with dozens of titles being released every year, all of which try to integrate new ideas and mechanics to attract players. On the other hand, many of them fail to provide you with a lengthy and replayable experience, mostly due to the fact that the survival factor is not very well implemented and things get repetitive after a while.

NEO Scavenger makes no compromises when it comes to gameplay and it certainly doesn’t make it easy on you, given the fact that everything is liable to kill you in the game and a lot of patience is needed if you are to make it out alive. The title is a combination of roguelike, RPG and TBS elements, which means that you need to watch out for permadeath, deal with skills and abilities, as well as constantly choose the right action for every turn.

The story starts in a cryogenic lab somewhere in the post-apocalyptic Michigan, as your character wakes up from stasis with no memory of what happened before he was frozen. There’s not a lot of time to think about it, on the other hand, since a weird creature is approaching and fleeing seems like the best option, given the circumstances. Hence, you find yourself out in the wasteland, poorly dressed, lacking food and always in danger of being attacked by whatever happens to be living deep under the ground.

Once you escape the lab, things get significantly more difficult and tricky, although you are free to do as you choose. The game includes a wide array of possibilities and mechanics you can make use of, although your main concern should be scavenging for food and finding shelter to avoid dying of hypothermia. You can also use your skills to craft items and get into fights with other people or creatures, in case you are the violent type.

Graphics are not the strong suit of the game, but that doesn’t mean they do not look good, regardless of the pixelated environments and some basic animations. A lot of talent went into the artwork and the landscapes certainly convey the right atmosphere, which is always great to see in a survival game.

All things considered, NEO Scavenger got everything right and it provides the players with tons of fun, as well as enough replayability to be worth the price and the effort put into it. Thus, if you do not mind dying very often and taking it from the top every once in a while, the game should definitely be in your library.