Distrust: Polar Survival
TL;DR: I love arctic survival games - but Distrust: Polar Survival is a lesson in how NOT to make an arctic survival game. Distrust is supposed to be a game about surviving in arctic conditions - yet once you figure out how to manage your resources, you’ll find the biggest challenge is surviving the many bugs like dropped connections and lost inventory.
PROS
I love arctic survival games, where you are not just fighting to survive but where the harsh conditions of the environment itself is killing you. If this doesn’t describe what you enjoy playing, I’d advise you to stop right now and pass on this game.
– Real player with 94.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Survival Horror Multiplayer Games.
Distrust:
“Mayday. . . Can anyone hear us? . . . We need help. . . We’re losing people one after the other. . . HELLLP!” Then . . . silence. That’s when we decided to send a rescue team to our neighbouring Arctic base. But then, as the helicopter approached the base, screams were echoing all around. All we could decrypt on our end was “what is that light?” After that, all communication was cut and there was no sign of the chopper on our radar. I hope the rescue team survived the crash. That’s just the start of Distrust!
*– [Real player with 22.4 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198003030375)*
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## Fade
Set in a small town in the Mid-west. You are an investigative reporter sent out to document the local happenings of Eastville. Recently, a cult has taken up residency in the town and strange occurrences have prompted locals to pack up and leave. Prior to your arrival, the company you work for had sent out another reporter whom none have heard from in quite some time. You must use your skills to dig deeper into the mystery and reveal what the town is hiding, as well as locate the missing reporter.
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Read More:
Best Survival Horror 2.5D Games.
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## Blind Boris
This game has alot of potential, but i don't think this should be presented as a finished product.
Positive:
Theme is awesome and creepy.
Loved the pixel graphics.
Minimal but effective sound design.
And the rest…
Some typos in dialogue.
Hard to tell what you are supposed to do at any given point.
Level design is pretty awkward.
Sometimes you cant use things in your inventory when you need to.
Some guy on youtube already posted a video of a 'walk up a wall' bug.
Im on the fence about getting a refund tho because theres a ton of promise here. Hope to see a patch from the devs!
*– [Real player with 4.4 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198047505413)*
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Read More:
Best Survival Horror Pixel Graphics Games.
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Very interesting!
I wouldn't really "recommend" this game to everyone as it doesn't have a typical appeal like story (I didn't understand a single thing about the plot), graphics (standard pixel art) or gameplay (incredibly buggy and unpolished).
The only appeal that I can find is its weirdness.
I personally quite like figuring stuff out for myself instead of being told and trust me, this game is happy to hide as many details as possible from the player.
I spent 2/3 of my time restarting various times trying to understand the mechanics of this game and once it all "clicked" I breezed through the game from start to finish with no problems in one attempt, I even skipped a lot of items (optional ones like health and traps that help agaist hazards) since I already figured out how to reach the end.
*– [Real player with 3.5 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198065091520)*
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## Outbreak
I'm gonna bang this out fast since I wanna get this out here quickly. Apologies if it's a bit messy.
I was informed of this game about 20 hours prior to the release. I checked out some videos and made up my mind that the game looks like it should be within the 15 dollar range (just my opinion) . The following day I got an email saying the game has released, and for 10.49 for the first week. I jumped on it and bought the game.
GAMEPLAY!
This is a top-down style survival horror shooter. You have 5 scenarios, a neat little tutorial, and an "onslaught mode" to complete. In my almost 4 hours of gametime I only completed the tutorial and the first scenario. Having only completed scenario 1, I can say that each one consists of a large map with multiple locked doors and small puzzles throughout, with plenty of documents to read that will fill you in on what is happening around you. Now you can't just assume you are safe because you are reading something, ohhh my sweet child no.. THEY WILL COME AFTER YOU AND THEY WILL NOT STOP. So you'd best not dilly dally or you will become zombie food ( I did a few times -_- ). You have an inventory system that allows you to carry only so many items with you at a time. I had a few tough decisions to make between ammo and health while playing. You complete puzzles, fight monsters, and unlock doors while running for your life and trying to find the exit.
*– [Real player with 26.1 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197961974865)*
Outbreak (or - as the fans refer to it as - ob2d) is the first game in the "Outbreak" series. It's a 2D, top down survival horror game, which brings the player back to strict inventory control, limited resources, and even limited light, with the legendary tank controls set up.
I'm not going to pull any punches here; I strongly disliked this game in my first 5 or so hours… I just couldn't get into it, and found it unnecessarily hard and punishing... I left it a negative review, uninstalled it, and vowed to never play it again. But as the developer kept work on his other titles in the series, I thought I'd give it one last look. This time around, and with a little research and correspondence in the series' Discord channel, I found the game much more enjoyable to play.
*– [Real player with 20.3 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198053227812)*
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## Tunguska: The Visitation
This game is very hard, but in a strategic way. It requires no aiming skill or reflex, and you have plenty of time thinking about what to do to solve each combat scenario. Sometimes it's more straight forward, and other times you have to die a few times to figure out the right way. It's all about attention to details - some enemies wear armors, for example, and you can tell it from their appearance. But if you ignore that intel and just start shooting without the right kind of ammo, you'll just be waiting ammo. There is a lot of details in the dialogues and journals, and you must pay pretty close attention to not miss important information.
*– [Real player with 74.4 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198033254096)*
6 hours in, and I really like this game. I first heard about it a couple of years ago on a Stalker forum, and my first impression from the previews was good. Now that I've had a chance to play the game, that first impression has been reinforced. Tunguska's setting is moody and atmospheric. The gunplay and stealth are straightforward but challenging, and the overall result is a fun top-down twin-stick "shooter." Quotes because there's more to this than running and gunning – there are some light RPG elements, and a heavy element of exploration.
*– [Real player with 71.9 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198121527720)*
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## Guidance
Velvet, a senior citizen and retired electrician, is on a guided bus tour far out in the wilderness with his wife Jo. Coming across an old abandoned village, the guide decides to go off the planned schedule and take the group for a short improvised exploration. Velvet, who chose to stay behind for a nap, wakes up alone several hours later in the dark bus. Equipped only with a tranquilizer gun he enters the village, determined to find his wife.
Guidance is a survival horror game where you:
* Talk to spirits through possessed sightseers
* Keep the angry ones in check with your tranquilizer gun
* Explore a vast, abandoned village , meticulously composed in great detail
* Follow the story and learn the village's past through conversations and visuals
* Play at your own pace. Guidance has no jumpscares, the emphasis is on atmosphere and building tension
Guidance is the new horror game from one-person studio Stroboskop, developer of the indie horror classics Sylvio and Sylvio 2\. The game is early in development, and will be released when it is finished.
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## Decarnation
**Where do you run when the monsters are chasing you from inside your mind?**
**Explore a haunting world, both real and metaphorical, and find the keys needed to battle inner and outer monsters.** Get caught up in an intensely emotional story unfolding in a malignant, elaborate setting. **Experience diverse gameplay featuring twisted puzzles, threatening creatures, lovecraftian environments, and metaphorical minigames.**
Decarnation takes inspiration from the best 2D adventure-horror and survival-horror games from the past eras, as well as cult movies from Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue) and David Lynch (Mulholland Drive).
Paris, 1990\. Gloria is at the end of her rope. A struggling cabaret dancer dealing with the fraying of her relationships, career, and self-esteem, she takes on a new artistic endeavor sponsored by a mysterious benefactor. Would the generous proposal be Gloria's lucky break, or something worse?
A survival story with layered psychological stakes, Decarnation explores the contrast between battling limitations in the physical realm, and the subconscious landscapes one can't escape.
**Decarnation is an emotional, startling story-driven experience that will keep you on your toes until the very end.**
Decarnation mixes **traditional survival horror elements** (cryptic puzzle to solve, inhospitable environments to explore, lethal predators to avoid, terrifying boss to defeat, etc.) with **a wide variety of symbolic minigames** (puzzles, reflexes, rhythm, etc.) accounting for real life situations (performing a cabaret show on stage) or metaphorical ones.
Once uncovered, key elements of Gloria's life aid her in defeating monsters in her dreams in unique battles that marry the grotesque and the sublime to represent her struggle for survival. Overcoming challenges in her dreams strengthens Gloria against real life difficulties, and her real life issues create new challenges in her dreams.
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## Shatter Keep
I'm super excited for Freethrow's first Steam game! Mostly because my friend Myles worked on this game as the Character Artist. I want to do what I can to support them, and I hope they see this review. I haven't been the greatest friend to them in the past, I've made mistakes and I regret a lot, and I'm hoping I can fix that going forward. Here's to you Myles, and here's to the rest of the wonderful team at Freethrow, excellent work everyone! I hope this game gets many more positive reviews, and gains a huge following!
*– [Real player with 3.4 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198051009727)*
I really like the concept of this game. The killer is fun to play and feels really satisfying when you hunt down your friends, and survivor gameplay is tense for that exact reason.
The game has it's issues though.
Although scenery goes transparent when walking near it, open doors remain opaque, and standing behind them completely hides your character model, which is one of the only ways to truly avoid the monster.
This is counter intuitive to the intended design, as closing doors are one of the only ways to slow down the monster, however, the door is destroyed when the monster slashes it. It becomes apparent it's much better to hide your model behind open doors, rather than close it and risk losing it.
*– [Real player with 3.3 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197999099895)*
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## STASIS: BONE TOTEM
**STASIS: BONE TOTEM** is a thrilling and spine-tingling journey into the unknown fathoms of the icy ocean and the terrors that await a family. They will uncover a threat far beyond their wildest dreams.
Salvaging duo, Charlie and Mac scour the ocean for a living. They hit the motherload and come across DEEPSEA 15; A seemingly abandoned Cayne Corporation rig in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
#### A NEW STORY
Experience a new gruesome narrative with a fresh cast but featuring the same gameplay as **STASIS**.
**Combine items**, **interact** with computers, and **solve puzzles** while experiencing the gritty atmosphere!
Mac, Charlie, and their Super-Toy Moses will scrape the depths of resilience and descend into a sci-fi horror story that will test their resolve and relationships and push them to the darkest corners of mankind.
#### FEATURES
* Beautifully rendered isometric backgrounds
* Toggle back and forth between 3 unique characters
* Use an innovative shared inventory system
* Puzzles and story-based gameplay
* Voiced characters
* Explore a world full of rich deep history and lore
* Full motion video cut scenes
* Unique deaths
* Personal ‘self-destruction’ achievements
* Ultrawide screen support
* 4k support
Created by the team behind **STASIS**, **CAYNE**, and **BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION**.
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## 2Dark
This game seems to get a really negative rep, for reasons that I don't entirely understand.
I genuinely love 2Dark.
It's a horror/stealth game in a style that I've never seen before, and for that alone, I love it.
And, especially these days, I'd argue that creativity is more important than polished gameplay.
That being said, the gameplay _is_ far from perfect. The combat is kind of clunky, the U.I. is unintuitive and needlessly inconvenient, and the "come on" voice line sounds like it was ripped directly from a web browser flash game.
*– [Real player with 35.4 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198292076492)*
So, I played this game. I played it not knowing what I was going into. It was a very morbid experience and all the way throughout it felt tense because you could die at any moment. It was a great game and I enjoyed the ending regardless of how short it was. There are three endings in total and I achieved all of them. After playing this game an extra time, for the achievements, I got to truly appreciate what makes this game special. At first I thought there was going to be some demons and shit and I had to stay away from the dark. Little did I realize then and there that the darkness was going to be my best friend. This game has a lot of fucked up stuff in it so be prepared to see body parts but not just any body parts, children. This game messed with me on a lot of occasions because I was just shocked at what this game contained. I'm not going to spoil the game any further and let you experience it for yourself if you'd like. Now, I'm saying this game is good but why am I not recommending it? Well, for the most part the game fucked with me so much. When the enemies are distracted they do these little spins as I like to call them and you can't hit their yellow hit box which promptly one shots them instead hitting the red hit box which just angers them the hell out and they immediately pummel you. I thought the coughing animation after saving the game, via smoking, was a really cool feature but felt that it was unnecessary to have in some parts especially with the aspect of the game being to sneak around and whatnot. Most times I would find my location revealed because my guy decided to cough like twenty times. I also think that the moving paths of the enemies are a bit skewed with them colliding with each other especially in the hospital where two of the cops were stuck in place simply not going anywhere leading me to need to distract them. This leads me to another point that I think was especially exaggerated. The candies ricochet off the walls like a fucking ping pong. Worst case scenario they accidentally hit an enemy and they see you regardless of sneaking in the dark as they are coded to do. Finally, I want to bring this to a conclusion as the game was enjoyable. I simply want to leave it behind as a good memory regardless of my experience. I am not recommending this based solely on my experience with the game mechanics and not the actual experience itself! It is very important that I make that clear as I feel that the thoughts were well planned out but not executed well enough. The ending being the more controversial part for myself. I thought that it was a bit anticlimactic given that we just murdered like an entire cult but we only get to see the conclusion of our children rather than any consequences for the massacre we committed. I think it could definitely be improved perhaps in another reality but for now I leave it as it is. This review covers what I experienced in the twenty one hours that I played this game so take that into consideration when considering getting it. Have an amazing day if you read this far, even if you didn't! :)
*– [Real player with 21.2 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198200502641)*
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