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  • September 11, 2023

Heavy Burden

Heavy Burden Game Cover
72%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, atmosphere
Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, optimization
72% User Score Based on 188 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCXbox OneXboxWindows
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Heavy Burden Game Cover

About Heavy Burden

Heavy Burden is a single player open world platformer game. It was developed by WRG and was released on September 11, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Beginning to think is beginning to be undermined, " wrote Albert Camus, and it is hard to disagree with this. To contemplate one's life means to knock oneself down, to stop, to begin to go over one's experiences, to discard the superfluous and unnecessary, to destroy the old in the hope of constructing the new, in other words, to be undermined. It is impossible not to note the severity of this wo…

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Heavy Burden screenshot
Heavy Burden screenshot
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Reviews

72%Audience ScoreBased on 188 reviews
gameplay18 positive mentions
grinding2 negative mentions
  • Unique and thought-provoking philosophical theme inspired by the myth of Sisyphus and Albert Camus' philosophy.
  • Atmospheric and immersive experience with compelling sound design, art style, and music that enhance the contemplative mood.
  • Engaging and challenging gameplay loop with smooth mechanics, platforming, and decision-making that encourage reflection.
  • Repetitive and slow gameplay with clunky controls and a burdensome carrying mechanic that can frustrate players.
  • Visuals suffer from excessive brightness, chromatic aberration, motion blur, and head-bobbing effects that cause eye strain or headaches.
  • Short game length with a limited story and some design choices causing irritation, such as permadeath resets and lack of clear instructions.

  • gameplay

    51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    35% positive mentions, 49% neutral mentions, 16% negative mentions

    The gameplay is centered around a unique weight mechanic that creates a thoughtful, meditative experience aligned with the game's Sisyphus-inspired theme, offering a challenging yet smooth and engaging loop. While some players find it captivating and atmospheric, others criticize it as repetitive, tedious, and lacking innovation, with the constant carrying of the stone sometimes hindering both gameplay and visuals. Overall, the gameplay strongly supports the game's philosophical message but may not satisfy those seeking more dynamic or varied mechanics.

    • “Great game with smooth mechanics and a really engaging loop.”
    • “The weight mechanic turns every challenge into a thoughtful problem to solve.”
    • “The gameplay is uncluttered yet challenging, and the visual style perfectly complements the overall tone.”
    • “I didn't really like this game; it quickly gets boring with the same type of gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay is always the same, and it gets boring to constantly drag a stone up a hill.”
    • “The gameplay feels repetitive and lacks innovation, making it boring after a short time.”

  • atmosphere

    39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    77% positive mentions, 23% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game features a dark, immersive, and deeply philosophical atmosphere enhanced by compelling music and thoughtful sound design. Its blend of abstract visuals, tense medieval settings, and reflective themes creates a unique, contemplative mood that draws players into an engaging and emotional experience. Overall, the atmosphere is praised for being captivating, meditative, and intellectually stimulating.

    • “Heavy Burden delivers a unique philosophical experience, drawing inspiration from Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus." The gameplay prompts deep reflection on life, while the atmospheric visuals and music create an immersive, contemplative mood.”
    • “The game hooks with Camus’s philosophy and atmosphere: you roll the stone, choose your path, listen to the music — it’s unusual and captivating!”
    • “The dark medieval setting and survival mechanics create an incredible, tense atmosphere.”

  • graphics

    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    39% positive mentions, 47% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions

    The game's graphics receive mixed feedback, with many praising its atmospheric art style, immersive visuals, and unique mood that enhance the experience, while others criticize issues such as blurry effects, simplistic or repetitive textures, and occasional headache-inducing visuals. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's tension and ambiance, though some find them lacking in innovation or polish.

    • “The visuals are stunning and the environments feel alive, which kept me exploring for hours.”
    • “The graphics of the game are excellent, the atmosphere becomes more realistic.”
    • “A cool adventure game with beautiful graphics and interesting puzzles.”
    • “Honestly, this game didn't live up to my expectations. The screenshots on Steam look decent, but in reality the physics are broken, the graphics are nothing special, and on top of that the puzzles rely almost entirely on parkour with a cube.”
    • “Not the most difficult puzzles, but the most difficult graphics for the eyes. How sick I am of this blur, how can you add it to games at all.”
    • “The visuals are nothing to write home about either; flat-textured geometric landscapes, kaleidoscope skyboxes and what I assume are pre-existing assets aren't really pleasing to the eyes, not to mention the overindulgent use of post-processing effects.”

  • music

    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for creating a unique, atmospheric, and contemplative mood that complements the philosophical themes and visuals. It is described as relaxing, ethereal, and captivating, enhancing the immersive experience and deep reflection prompted by the gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout element that enriches the game's emotional and thematic depth.

    • “Extremely relaxing atmosphere throughout the game, wonderful soundtrack.”
    • “Heavy Burden delivers a unique philosophical experience, drawing inspiration from Albert Camus' 'The Myth of Sisyphus.' The gameplay prompts deep reflection on life, while the atmospheric visuals and music create an immersive, contemplative mood.”
    • “The game's soundtrack is simply amazing and pleasant to the ears.”

  • story

    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    32% positive mentions, 52% neutral mentions, 16% negative mentions

    The story is praised for its dark, immersive atmosphere and emotionally resonant moments, often drawing on philosophical and biblical themes, particularly the myth of Sisyphus. However, many find the narrative underdeveloped, consisting mainly of scattered philosophical quotes and lacking depth or engaging plot progression. For those seeking a rich, in-depth story, the game may be disappointing, though it suits players interested in atmosphere and thematic exploration over traditional storytelling.

    • “The atmosphere is dark and immersive, and the story draws you in right away.”
    • “The story struck an emotional chord, with memorable characters and touching moments that lingered after I turned the console off.”
    • “Great game with an engaging story, solid gameplay, and immersive atmosphere.”
    • “The plot is also very murky.”
    • “And the story is exactly what is in the store page description, Sisyphus is an okay setup for a challenging game, but this is piss easy and an exercise in dullness at best, while the deep text is just quotes from philosophy Wikipedia articles.”
    • “The "story" of this game, arguably its main selling point, consists of scattered quotes from the Bible and Albert Camus's "Myth of Sisyphus."”

  • emotional

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game delivers a deeply emotional experience through memorable characters and touching moments, encouraging both intellectual and emotional growth. Its atmospheric storytelling effectively mirrors the protagonist's emotional journey, leaving a lasting impact on players.

    • “The story struck an emotional chord, with memorable characters and touching moments that lingered after I turned the console off.”
    • “It is a deep and atmospheric game where the physical burden on the protagonist's shoulders metaphorically reflects his emotional state.”
    • “The essence of the game is to challenge the player for intellectual and emotional growth.”

  • grinding

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in this game is widely criticized for being repetitive, slow, and tedious, making the overall experience feel more like a chore than engaging or thought-provoking.

    • “Repetitive and slow, this game’s heavy philosophy feels more tedious than thought-provoking.”
    • “Extremely tedious and uninteresting gameplay coupled with nauseating visual effects.”

  • humor

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor is characterized by hilarious tumbles and epic fails, delivering heavy-hitter fun that provides a consistently entertaining and laughter-filled experience.

    • “Hilarious tumbles, epic fails, and heavy-hitter fun - it's a load of laughs you won't want to drop!”

  • replayability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game offers good replayability through alternate achievements and the opportunity for speedrunning, supported by a stable, bug-free experience.

    • “There is also replayability for the alternate achievements as well as the potential to speedrun this game as it doesn't appear to have any game-breaking bugs on the surface.”

  • optimization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game is reported to be completely unoptimized, resulting in poor performance and potential technical issues.

    • “Completely unoptimized.”

  • stability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game experiences a few minor bugs and glitches that can occasionally impact the overall stability and user experience.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Heavy Burden is a open world platformer game. Common tags for Heavy Burden include first-person, indie, psychological, exploration, abstract and others.

Heavy Burden is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Windows and others.

Heavy Burden was released on September 11, 2023.

Heavy Burden was developed by WRG.

Heavy Burden has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Heavy Burden for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Heavy Burden is a single player game.

Similar games include Sisyphus Reborn, Cairn, PLANET ALPHA, Shape of the World, Genesis Noir and others.