Developer: Indie Gala
Publisher: Indie Gala
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PC
Die Young – Review
Almost two years ago we did a preview of Die Young, which then already made quite an impact in terms of graphics and possibilities. Now, the game has been fully released and it’s time to dive back into the madness of the island. What’s new? What’s old? Are you still plummeting to your death on a regular basis (yes) and how will you outlast the crazies gathering around you?
Story
Good to know from the get-go is that the Die Young game includes a (previously separate) prologue game. The prologue game plays a lot different from the main game and is designed to have quite a bit more action in it. Seeing as it’s not just a tutorial, you quickly gain access to a crossbow and then it’s a high-tension combination between a shooter and a sneaky game where the main game is more about running around in nature. This makes the prologue really good as a small game by itself, but it does do some damage to your expectations by the time you will have played around in the main game. Besides some painted drawings in cutscenes at the start of Die Young, everything else happens in-game without intermissions.
In the prologue, we get to see a bit of depth revolving around the story and the future protagonist. You try your best to escape a cult-and-crazies-filled island by making your way to the shore, and also learn a bit more about the leaders of said island. In the main game, you play as a lady who’s a big thrill-seeker but took more than she could handle, quickly discovering that her ”friends” who convinced her to go to the island will be found more dead than alive. Luckily for her, all the previous partying and bad life choices turned her partially into an athletic beast, giving her a fair chance to survive.
Graphics
When looking at Die Young and realizing it’s an indie game by the team of Indie Gala, Die Young might not have the graphic capabilities of the finely polished 100-people-teams that the high-end industry pushes out. That being said, when not looking at the polish, it’s doing really fine. There are practically no loading times present, there’s a lot to see and especially combined with the sound, the game succeeds in creating a Mediterranean environment that reminds you of a hot summer. And then we still get to mention the way they captured climbing and other first-person movements, which God knows have been done worse plenty of times by other developers. Overall, with the wind moving plants around you and creatures surrounding you, a job well done.
Sound
The sound compliments the game as a whole incredibly well and gives a unique twist to the entire game, really making it feel ”indie”. To make everything feel like it looks (hot), there are random places with crickets and bees, and atmospherically enhancing localized sounds such as the wind howling through a canyon. The same goes for the background music that is a bit weird. Sometimes there is no music, sometimes it’s eerie, sometimes it’s a bit like 80s synth music, but it always fits the moment or gives a certain vibe to the game that feels unique. A downside, however, is the voice acting. Where the main character is still alright, though somewhat weird in tense situations, the side characters mostly don’t sound believable.
Gameplay
Die Young is a combination of a survival game with an adventure, and it also has some action. It might be worth it to mention that for the true experience, you might want to put the game on ”survival” mode, the hard mode. This is because it makes the game more intense and interesting, where on an easier mode you will find yourself walking around even more with nothing to do, cause at times the game can feel pretty easy. Where at first you will struggle to survive, the enemies quickly don’t seem that much of a danger. Luckily this changes way later in the game, but survival mode can just feel more like the game was intended to feel.
When playing, you get to craft stuff such as tools, weapons, and medicine. All of these you will need to gather ingredients for, such as herbs and scrap metal. At the same time, you will need to make sure you consume food on a regular basis to heal up and find spots to drink water as you get dehydrated over time. By upgrading and finding gear, you grow stronger over time, which is good since the island you find yourself on is full of dangers, be it enemies or nature. Sadly, this aspect of finding gear is also the biggest flaw of Die Young. Sometimes you will search aimlessly because you need a specific piece of gear to continue your story. Gear such as climbing gloves to be able to climb longer, which are hidden on an island that’s many miles in all directions can be frustrating to look for. As just mentioned, the game’s biggest flaw is that it’s missing an indicator to not let you waste too much time on mandatory quests such as these.
Then there’s also the fact that the game presents itself as an open-world game, though it’s actually giving you much more linear paths. The same goes for climbing paths, which are indicated by white and green markings. The freerunning overall is done really well and feels awesome. Despite the great freerunning mechanics, your character gets presented as a tough, agile woman who can conquer rocks without problems, you can only climb on the indicated paths. Any other rock will be standing in your way more like back in the day when they used literal roadblocks in games to indicate an area where players couldn’t go to. Try to jump off rocks into water and you will surely die when it’s a bit too deep down. The same goes for guessing how far you can fall. Sometimes death is closer than you imagined and the falling distance or climbing rocks just seem a little bit buggy at times…
Conclusion
Die Young turned out to be a great freerunning survival adventure, and the graphics and sound really put something there that’s unique and became an indie project the developers should be proud of. For a price of about twenty dollars/euros, it’s really not a bad buy at all. The gameplay could use a little bit more finetuning to make it less boring at the start and to make it less frustrating throughout the rest of the game where it feels buggy when climbing or falling, but overall, it’s a great experience to have when you are in for something that feels like a real adventure.
Die Young - Review,
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