Impact Winter

I was super excited for this game. I was disraught when it didn't meet it's crowdfunding goal, so when I saw it coming out on steam, I immediately bought it up. MISTAKE. The game was filled with bugs on release. They released "version 2.0" to address these bugs yet it is still plagued with them. Menu bugs, character getting stuck, aiming problems, and a bug where you tell an NPC to build something and it just deletes the components and gives you nothing. How is this bug still in there?!?! I love the concept for this game, but the execution is shameful. It's like nobody even bothered to play it before they released it.

This game is a mess in its current state. I've played Early Access Alphas with more polish. It's like they didn't do any QA at all. No mouse cursor or mouse support on the in-game menus even though you can see the cursor during intro videos, controller support goes in and out, sometimes the d-pad works for UI navigating, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes the B button works to go back in the UI, sometimes it does not even though there are prompts on screen. The game lets me choose my native resolution in the launcher but forces me to a different one in-game with no option available for my native resolution in the in-game menu... This game is completely broke, I'm refunding now. Avoid it on PC until the devs get their game together.

Update 7/20/17: Still buggy, even after the patches. I still want to play this game, but bugs prevent me from accomplishing anything. Below review is still accurate. Concept of the game is great. Execution is terrible. TONS of bugs, some of them game breaking. Would be a fun game if it didn't constantly screw you with bugs. Lost items, items not working, bugged crafting recipes, terrible controls, etc etc etc. If you're still interested, come back when its deeply discounted and they've had time to patch it 6 or 7 more times.

I've certainly got my money's worth out of this game, but it's not for everyone. Mostly the negative reviews come from the impression the game was abandoned, however an update in April 2018 proves otherwise and brought some much needed improvements- such as to load times, which previously could be up to 30 seconds and are now under 1-3 seconds. There are still a few bugs to be dealt with, the most noteable and frustrating are: 1) Getting stuck in the environment - which thankfully is only really an issue if you're trekking across the map without checking in at locations along the way, due to how the save system works. 2) The inventory systems. There will be many instances of cooking the wrong item, or using the wrong item on the fire. There seems to be a problem between using the mouse wheel and using the keyboard, and using the mouse to click/select. It's my most frustrating issue with the game, but it's something that once you're aware of it you can find ways to work around. 3) Clicking with the mouse is very non responsive. It's required to enter/exit locations and to pick locks, and often I find I have to click dozens of times before the action is recognised. This is definitely an issue with the game and not my mouse. It's not all bad, there's plenty of good stuff too! The world is beautiful and the map is littered with all sorts of locations and opportunities. I love exploring the world, and the character questlines do a great job of introducing you to all the aspects of the game. I only regret that I only get >30 days in a playthrough. I actually really like the save system that the game uses, in that it doesn't really have one. It constantly recognises everything you've done, and quitting and rentering simply moves you back to the last building you entered or exited. Helpful if you get stuck in the environment, but not so much if your stats were low. There are only 2 improvements to the game (other than the bug fixes of course!) that I would love to see: 1) Custom key bindings. At the moment, you can't change the keys and that's... well, I'm left-handed and an arrow-key player, so it's an awkward problem for me. 2) A sandbox mode, or an extended campaign mode. I fully understand why the game is only >30 days long, it's to push people to make multiple play-throughs to experience everything and therefore extend the game's playtime and longetivity. And yet. Dear god let me see how long I can survive. There are so many aspects of the game I ignore completly - the nomads, helping other characters, the birdtec vans, the radio masts etc, because they reduce the rescue time and therefore my play time. Give us a 50 day mode, give us a 100 day mode, give us an endless mode so we can struggle as long as possible. I don't even think an endless mode would be impossible, simply swap the rescue time rewards for seeds and bam, struggle on.

I love this game. It's a combination of just about every mechanic I adore from the good old days of proper PC gaming melded together into a very well crafted and difficult survival, exploration adventure. That being said,..... The UI and control is absolutly atrocious. Jittering, barely working canabled together input functions are a massive frustration. This should have been an early access release. This is not the state a finished game should be offered to the public. Rife with bugs and astonishingly abysmal control both via controller and KB+M amazingly enough, (Yes they even managed to massivly screw up keyboard and mouse controls.) it's hard to really get into any serious time investment that a game like this really requires. Key expensive items vanishing, buggy item selection literally tossing valuable objects into a bonfire with no recourse is unexcusable. This will be one of my favorite games, it's exactly the kind of experience I want and believe needs to be explored more often by developers. All they have to do is actually finish the damn thing rather than feed us this steaming pile of what I can only describe as barely out of alpha code they have released so far. If there has ever been an example of a game that should have been classified as early access,.. this is it. Whomever made the executive decision to release this as a "finished shippable game" should have a really good look in the mirror and maby contimplate the possibility they they have been promoted beyond their abilities and competency. I want to know exactly what happened in those meetings,.. what idocy was on display, what rational was put forth, what avarice conspired to come to the decision where you basically shot yourselves in the foot, seemingly on purpose. Was beta testing even something you discussed? Was there a beta test? If yes,.. how the hell did all of this slip through? I want to knnow all of this, not to lay blame, the damage is done. I want the story,.. There is no way it's not an epic tale of ineptitude and poor judgement. So yes, flawed is probably the milest possible way to describe Impact Winter in it's current buggy state. But,.. for those like myself who feverishly crave exactly this kind of game, if/when this is all sorted out Impact Winter will truly be a game that will be played for a long time and cherished as a modern classic of the genre. All ya gotta do is pull your heads out of your asses and get this stuff fixed guys. I for one, am cheering you on.

I don't know how it used to be, but as of right now the game is a 6 or maybe 7/10 survival experience. Nothing ground breaking, but an ok game in the genre. There are still some bugs, but nothing that has forced me to reboot the game so far. -I've gotten stuck a few times, but i've been able to get free by crouching and wiggling a bit. -Sometimes interacting with stuff is difficult, like trying to climb a ladder, just gotta find the sweet spot where it let's you grab it. -Difficulties changing zones, when you go in or outside, it can take a few button presses for your command to register. -There is a game mechanic that let's your robot carry your stuff back to base if you camp out, but sometimes it doesn't do this. I'm not sure if this is a bug, or if i'm just not sleeping for long enough to let the robot do it's thing. -There is a dude that wants your help to open his chest with a lockpick. After doing it the first time, he keeps asking you to do it everytime you come back(even though the chest is now already unlocked), and gives some XP(RP). Overall these have all been very minor inconviniences. If it looks like something you might be interested, it's certainly worth it in a sale for 5 buckaroos or so.

That rare time when there is nothing special or greate in the game but you still keep going to bed at about 02:00 after thinking "well, the kid sleeps, watching a movie is far too long (need to get up early), i guess ill just play that game about winter of which i dont even remember the name...". And you arent even sorry about that in the morning.

EDIT: This game "recommends" using a gamepad. My original review was playing the game using a mouse and keyboard. When using a gamepad, many of the bugs I ran into don't apply. I have enjoyed playing the game now that I figured that out. If you don't have a gamepad, you will probably find this game buggy and hard to play. I like the premise of this game. In execution, however, I keep bumping into annoying bugs. I lock a recipe to know which items I am searching for only to find it deselected later. I try to cook something and cook everything else. The hit box to loot or to enter an area is really hard to achieve successfully first try. I find myself wishing someone had made an unofficial Impact Winter patch to address all these annoyances. Since these bugs are still in the game 2 years later, I really can't recommend it. No one wants to play a game that becomes more and more frustrating the further in you get.

The title of a Kotaku review, "I just can't stop playing this busted survival game", adequately describes this game for me. I think it is fun and addicting to play for a while, though there are some obvious bugs and odd design decisions. I haven't run into anything completely game breaking for me yet. I have two main compaints: Getting stuck. Every couple hours or so of running around exploring, my character gets stupidly stuck in graphics just walking in snow and I worry that I will have to restart and lose my last progress, but usually after a couple minutes of trying to move I find the magical right direction to get out. Length. Also, though it does give you a good amount of time before you get rescued, probably 10 or more hours of play time, I would really enjoy the option of a longer, or endless play. It doesn't give enough time to explore all the locations or complete the other survivors missions before the game comes to an end.