[Preview] Open Country, the Potential Form of a Wild Survival Game!

The biggest challenge of concocting a survival game always lies in how far or unique the implementation of gameplay that focuses on trying to survive is. There are so many survival games that manage to bring solid quality, although we are still waiting for a title that can bring a new breakthrough in this genre. As if coming to answer these expectations, recently we have been given the opportunity to try out the latest survival game entitled Open Country by developer FUN Labs and publisher 505 Games.

Promising a true wilderness survival game experience, is this game able to bring the different sensations we’re looking for? In this article we have summarized the initial impressions obtained after playing the game for the last few days. So instead of lingering, just take a look at the full summary below!

Welcome to the Real Wild

When we entered the game, we were immediately taken aback by the quality of the graphics that were quite solid, especially from the typical American wilderness setting that looks charming and very alive. In terms of presentation, this game manages to present a scene that has a comfortable and soothing impression, although unfortunately when we tried to modify the graphics there was only an option to change the resolution and window display mode. Maybe this is still a limitation that will be removed when the game is officially released next month.

The wild nature setting that is so distinctive is also supported by a Country-style soundtrack, which we think is very suitable for this game. It’s just that the overall soundtrack that he presents actually combines many genres which ends up making the game’s atmosphere feel strange in some parts.

Game sessions focus on three different areas that can be explored namely Mellow Hills (where to complete almost all of the initial tutorials), Tumnus Valley and Snowridge Valley. Each of these locations has different animal and plant species, so for those of you who want to hunt some specific animals, then pay attention to which area to go. The differences in the atmosphere to the types of fauna and flora have succeeded in making each area that we have explored so far feels like it has its own strong identity and not just poverty.

The Concept of Gameplay that Carried

The main course in Open Country focuses on gameplay elements that place you as an adventurer who is given absolute freedom to survive in the wild. The first lesson you should pay attention to in this game is to survive by gathering resources in the natural environment and using them as materials to build resting places and important equipment. In order to survive, you certainly need to find food and drink stocks because the characters you play can be physically affected such as hunger, thirst, heat, cold, to status signs that indicate you are sleep deprived.

We found that the indicators of the character’s physical ability were less consistent. For example, the stamina bar can run out immediately when running for just a few seconds, while the time it takes to recover stamina can be up to twice as long. Including the thirst level indicator which can run out quickly, so you have to provide enough drinking water. So if you’re out hunting for a long time, make sure to look for areas with nearby water sources.

As for the food supply, you can buy it at the lodge facilities, collect berries to edible mushrooms, or the most exciting thing is to hunt animals. Foods like berries can be eaten straight away, but mushrooms and meat need to be cooked first which means you need to bring enough fuel to make a fire. Carrying extra fuel is an important consideration, because the weight of equipment and materials you can carry is limited so that if you exceed capacity, your character’s movement will automatically slow down.

After understanding the simple basis for survival, it’s now the turn of hunting which in our opinion is the most exciting activity in this game. At the beginning of the game you will be given a weapon in the form of a Rifle and a mission to hunt three rabbits, which also includes a tutorial on how to hunt and understand important visual clues such as Sound and Sight (sound and sight) which are indicated by the icon at the top left.
This icon gives you a hint if the target can hear and see you or not. Visual clues like this can sometimes be quite confusing too, because there are moments where even though the Sight icon has a red exclamation mark, it turns out that the targeted enemy doesn’t see our character. Meanwhile, the Sound icon can provide a kind of sound wave that appears when the character moves too much, which is certainly easier to use as a race than the Sight icon.

Technically the game provides five weapon options for hunting, namely bare-handed, Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun and Bow. But throughout the game session we were only given a Rifle with a limited stock of bullets, so every shot must be used to the maximum because bullets are basic necessities which are quite expensive to buy. It should also be noted that firearms have loud gunshots that can be detected by prey animals, so if you miss you have to adjust the position and aim of the weapon from the start when the animals have calmed down. Besides on land, you can also hunt in any water source by fishing except during extreme cold weather.

One other thing to note when hunting is that there is no indication of the presence of animals. So you won’t be given directions such as arrow directions or areas that can be investigated to look for animals, all this can only be done by going straight into the wild and immediately hunting whatever can be found. There’s actually some sort of “Hunter Sense” mechanism that gives a little hint of the animal’s whereabouts, but it’s only useful for large game.

In addition, there is also a skill upgrade system which is divided into several categories ranging from Weapon Skills, Survival Skills and Crafting Skills. Each skill has three upgrades that can be upgraded using Skill Tokens. We managed to get these Tokens by leveling up our characters and completing a series of missions.

Fortunately, you are not always alone in your adventures in the wild, because in this game there is also a companion system that allows you to bring a dog. The role of your pet dog is really very helpful in detecting the presence of animals and other resources, including giving warnings when danger is approaching. If that’s not enough, you can even pet your dog anytime.

Some Parts Need Repair

Open Country, at least from the pre-release version we played is a game that has a lot of holes. The biggest drawback it brings is related to the gameplay control scheme which still has bugs and feels stiff. There are moments where when we jump twice in a row we can’t interact with anything anymore, so the game has to be restarted from the beginning. Even something as simple as accessing the Tab menu is quite a hassle because you can only close it with Esc instead of using the same key.

Not to mention there is also a Save Data game limitation which only provides the Auto Save feature, so you can’t save game progress normally. Actually Auto Save has a practical function, it’s just that for this game we had lost progress for a few hours more because of a problem with the missing Auto Save file, even this has not been calculated from bugs and other technical problems that can often be encountered.
We don’t even want to talk about the part about being able to use the vehicle, because the camera controls are really really messy and always make every driving session feel like you’re riding a rodeo.

Conclusion

In the end, we feel that Open Country is a game that manages to bring a solid foundation for a different survival experience. The concept it offers is not completely new, but there are still some parts in it that make this game feel special, from the wild atmosphere which is presented with captivating visuals to the hunting gameplay with raw concepts that are quite interesting.

Unfortunately, our gaming experience is often plagued with various bugs and less than optimal gameplay controls. Seeing how the game will be released in less than a month, we hope that the developer FUN Labs can fix most of these problems and make adjustments to the gameplay controls. As a simple example, make the character’s stamina capacity more accurate, or it can also increase the character’s jump height which is too short and almost useless when exploring.

For those of you who can’t wait for the game, Open Country will soon be released on June 3 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam.

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