Slowly but steady, The Long Dark is turning into one of the most atmospheric and challenging survival games out there. And while it’s been some time since we’ve had a major update, Hinterland has just revitalized its game by adding a new map and some pretty big systematic changes, on top of giving some much needed insight on the long anticipated story mode.
The update in question is called “resolute outfitter”, and its most significant supplement is a completely redesigned clothing system adding all sorts of handy stats. For instance, you can see your clothes’ temperature and wetness, along with their wind resistance, water resistance and weight. And yes, now you’re also slowed down by your own clothes. (As if surviving in The Long Dark wasn’t difficult already.)
Luckily, layering clothes has also been introduced as a new mechanic. There are two slots for each body part, though, so you can’t go super crazy and put on a thousand layers of sweaters. Lastly, a new frostbite affliction has been introduced, that being a permanent and irreversible state bringing down all your stats a considerable amount.
If you’re eager to test those out, you can do so now on a brand new map called Forlorn Muskeg. Its terrain is pretty wide-open and has very little man-made shelters available. Vast frozen lakes with breakable ice take up a big part of the map, making for one pretty rough place to traverse. Although, I heard you could find an abandoned 100-year-old farmstead somewhere.
Along with introducing all those meaty changes, Hinterland also wrote a pretty lengthy post regarding the state of The Long Dark’s story mode. Long story short, there’s about 6 hours’ worth of content currently available, split into 2 episodes. The actual story presentation has received quite a lot of work, with 3D animated sequences now getting added on top of the already planned 2D motion graphic animatics (as seen above).
There’s still no sight of a release date for the story mode, but The Long Dark’s future is definitely looking bright.
