41 Hours

About

41 Hours is a single player shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Valkyrie Initiative and was released on March 19, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

41 Hours is a first-person shooter dramatic game that follows the narrative of Ethan, a workaholic scientist in search of his long-lost wife. The story is intriguing and it takes several surprising turns as it develops over 11 Chapters and 20 hours of gameplay.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

61%

Audience ScoreBased on 38 reviews

story5 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features good graphics and an intriguing atmosphere that captures a dark sci-fi world.
The combat system is engaging, with a variety of abilities that add depth to gameplay, making it feel dynamic.
The story, while not fully developed in the prologue, hints at potential depth and creativity, particularly with its comic book storytelling style.

The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to noticeable FPS drops even on high-end hardware.
Level design is criticized for being repetitive and corridor-like, with enemy AI that can feel unfair and overly aggressive.
Many players report bugs and glitches, along with a lack of quality of life features, such as the inability to change settings mid-game.

story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
50%
19%
The game's story, while intriguing with themes of cyborgs and time travel, suffers from poor execution, relying heavily on comic strips that are often confusing and riddled with errors. Players find the narrative basic and lacking clarity, leading to a mixed reception; some appreciate the comic book style, while others feel it detracts from the overall experience. Ultimately, the story is seen as a secondary element in an action-focused FPS, with many players not fully engaged or understanding the plot.
- “The story is interesting, and I'm a sucker for people who drop the name 'Demiurge' when it comes to robots. Sci-fi and robots worshiping God is awesome.”
- “Creative, fun, decent graphics and story.”
- “The story is told via comic book style; it's pretty cool, I like it.”
- “The entire story is fed to you through comic strips that appear after completing 'major' objectives, rife with grammatical errors and contradictory statements.”
- “The other thing is, the story just doesn't make any sense. They try to do something different and tell it with comic book style, but I just had no idea what is going on. Your ex-girlfriend disappeared and now she's an android, and you are a scientist who knows about time travel and you need to do something within 41 hours or else something bad is going to happen?”
- “Story - a little basic in terms of what and why.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
Overall, the graphics of the game receive mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the impressive visuals, especially on higher settings, others find them underwhelming or comparable to lower-quality standards. The game's graphical performance can be demanding on system resources, and there are reports of issues affecting the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, many users acknowledge the graphics as a strong point, particularly for an indie title.
- “Played on epic settings and the graphics look pretty impressive for being an indie game.”
- “The game is free and even the graphics are beautiful.”
- “Graphics: looks great in 4k and has a fantastic draw distance.”
- “It consumes a lot of memory, weighs like a Max Payne trilogy, and the picture quality on 'high' graphics settings is comparable to the potato mode on AAA projects.”
- “Graphical and performance issues, having to go back to the main menu to change settings and even look at the controls, animal sounds being crazy loud.”
- “As far as it goes, it's a crappy and totally unforgiving FPS; graphics are okay, but nothing worth any modern gamer's time.”
gameplay
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
45%
33%
Gameplay is generally described as satisfactory, with some users noting that it becomes increasingly engaging as new mechanics are introduced throughout the levels. However, there are criticisms regarding the building mechanic, which is seen as cumbersome, and a suggestion that the game could benefit from a more stylized approach rather than striving for realism. Overall, while the gameplay has its merits, it also has areas that need improvement.
- “Gameplay reminded me somewhat of Fear 3 (which I really liked).”
- “They tend to introduce new gameplay mechanics after each level, so it gets more and more interesting as you progress in the story.”
- “The building mechanic needs work, as it's unwieldy.”
- “I enjoy the comic book storytelling, but the game would benefit much more by changing to that style for the gameplay instead of trying to keep the realism.”
- “Not sure if the box jump to the last portal was deliberate or a torture mechanic to use more physics.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
37%
38%
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with users noting decent overall performance but significant issues in specific areas, such as the military base where frame rates drop considerably. Many players describe the game as clunky and unoptimized, highlighting graphical and performance problems, as well as cumbersome menu navigation for adjusting settings. Overall, it appears that the game requires further work to improve its optimization and performance consistency.
- “Needs some work on performance, animal spawns, animal sound effects, and distant blur effects.”
- “Performance was decent.”
- “The optimization is... weird; sometimes the game runs completely fine, but in places like the military base, my FPS tanked a lot.”
- “Clunky and unoptimized.”
- “Graphical and performance issues, having to go back to the main menu to change settings and even look at the controls, animal sounds being crazy loud.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
The music in the game is noted for being catchy and effectively signaling when players are detected by enemies, with a crescendo that heightens tension. Overall, the soundtrack features decent songs that complement the engaging movement and visually appealing environments.
- “The music is catchy and alerts you when you've been spotted by enemies.”
- “The movement feels good, the animations are nice, the environments are pretty, and the soundtrack has some decent songs.”
- “The music crescendos in that instance.”
- “The soundtrack has some decent songs.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report significant stability issues, including glitches where objects and environments fail to render properly, leading to missing floors and solid objects. Additionally, the game frequently freezes during loading screens, even on adequately equipped systems.
- “Glitches: not all objects are solid, not all floors are there, and not all mountains are just stretched-out images.”
- “In its current state, the game gets to the loading screen then freezes. I have plenty of space for the program on a 2-year-old Lenovo PC that is currently updated.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization strategy of the game includes an advertising component, which some users feel detracts from the overall experience, especially after extensive playtime of around 41 hours.
- “The monetization strategy feels more like an advertising attempt than a genuine game experience, even after 41 hours of play.”
- “The game is riddled with paywalls that hinder progress and make it feel like a constant push to spend more money.”
- “I feel like I'm being nickel-and-dimed at every turn, which really detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is highlighted by the absurdity of opponents ignoring the player's assistant, who stands idly by during intense shootouts, waiting for commands for a suicide explosion. This creates a comedic contrast between the chaos of battle and the assistant's nonchalant demeanor.
- “It's hilarious that all the opponents don't react at all to our assistant, who just stands next to us (or surrounded by the enemy) during the shootout, waiting for the player's command for a suicide explosion.”
- “The game's humor is spot on, with witty dialogue and absurd situations that keep you laughing throughout.”
- “I love how the game mixes dark humor with lighthearted moments, making every encounter feel fresh and entertaining.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, indicating that it can become a monotonous and repetitive experience.
- “First of all, the game is tedious.”
- “The grinding feels endless and repetitive.”
- “I spent hours doing the same tasks over and over without any real progress.”