Jan 14, 2018
Update: The Devs have fixed the problem with structures disappearing when restoring from a save. Also of note, the devs are responding to comments made on the discussion boards and have already (5 days after launch) provided a bug fix which is very promising regarding on-going development as of this point.
Jan 10, 2018
(short version, if you are looking for a game that is fairly stable, this one is NOT very stable yet. If you are looking for a game with potential, this one has it. What remains to be seen is how well the dev's update the game and listen to player feedback)
This is a very early review (one day after alpha release on steam) and I will update as the game progresses/develops. The game starts up relatively well and seems stable on my system (which is fairly high end) and does have a couple of options for the graphics. Below are two screenshots at the highest level of graphics. Having looked at the provided video, this is one of the few games where I can say the in-game graphics (especially of the sky and clouds) currently exceeds that shown in the video; a nice surprise since it is usually the opposite.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1265195182
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1265194840
The game has a working day/night cycle with clouds that change shape and move across the sky. Trees can be chopped down for either sticks or wood, depending on the size of the tree. They also provide leaves. There are a few crafting items that are based on resources (i.e., get rocks and animal hide, make rope, use rope and rocks to make items, etc.).
Movement is smooth and I did not get caught anywhere on hidden terrain glitches/walls
The day/night cycle includes general brightness changes and directionality due to sunrise and sunset. Overall, the day/night cycle seems very well done. Fog also arises at times.
Trees cast shadows and different regions of the trees move slightly differently to give a more complex movement due to wind. But looking up close you see the trees are built of multiple flat planes moving. From a distance the movement looks more realistic than up close.
The game includes stamina (affected by running), hunger, thirst and health.
You start with an axe and bucket. The bucket can be filled from a water source with several levels from empty to a couple of mid-fill levels to full, allowing you to drink several times from the bucket. You can also drink directly from the water source. You can also drink from the bucket right now, even when it is already empty.
Movement of the animals still needs some development but works fairly well. There are deer, bear, and rabbits that I have found so far. After hitting a deer with an axe, it attempts to run from you. The movement of the running animal works fairly well but has a few minor glitches (it can get stuck)
The ground is complex with enough terrian variation to be interesting. There are multiple tree species. Grass and bushes also exist although both appear non-harvestable at this point. The view distance at maximum is fairly far away, although I would prefer it a little further (I, personally, do not like seeing the trees spawn in the distance for a game, I prefer them to spawn so far away as to be essentially un-noticable)
Motion of weapons/tools is fairly smooth when attacking or chopping trees and a hit produces an effect to let you know if you are actually hitting the tree/animal.
The beginning of the game shows you the key binding. Those bindings do not seem changeable at this point but are the standard bindings that you would expect for a survival game (shift to run, contl for slow, wasd movement, mouse motion redirects, etc.)
All in all, only having played for 1 hour so far (so obviously still seeing what all exists in the game) it seems fairly well put together of a beginning alpha release. The game is still new, so it is hard to judge yet how responsive the devs will be towards suggestions and bug fixs, but the opening screen indicates that they are hoping to develop the game in conjunction with the players, so hopefully they will be an engaged development team. The opening does provide multiple ways to contact them through email, and social media, so it looks promising.
Overall, I have a large collection of survival games on steam, many of which are still in alpha. This game seems to be starting further along than many of the 0.1 Alpha releases and shows promise towards becoming an interesting game. It will be nice to see how it develops. If you like survival games and also are interested in engaging in player feedback development of a game, this alpha release is worth getting. If you do not like dealing with bugs as a game develops or if you prefer alpha releases that have been around for a while, this probably is not the game for you.
In its current state, you WILL run into bugs. The game has problems, the crafting menu with the hammer does not always seem to come up and once it is gone, it stays gone, and you are pretty much done and need to restart. If you are able to build a structure or sleep, the save function still needs work.
