Impact Winter

54%
Game Brain Score Based on 111 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • stability
Impact Winter Game Cover
Though it is a fairly solid game, it might be worth waiting a couple more weeks until the development team sorts out the rest of the bugs before trying to survive the frozen abyss that is Impact Winter.
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"Impact Winter" is a single-player Role Playing Game with a good plot and compelling atmosphere, but can be buggy. As Jacob Solomon, lead a team of survivors after a devastating asteroid collision and strategize to lower the rescue timer, enduring an unpredictably hostile winter environment until help arrives in 30 days. Provide for your team and unite your skills to keep your companions alive in this immersive struggle for life.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

54%
Audience ScoreBased on 111 reviews
story7 positive mentions
stability19 negative mentions
  • The game features a visually appealing world with a unique art style and immersive atmosphere.
  • The core gameplay mechanics of survival, exploration, and team management are engaging and provide a compelling experience.
  • The soundtrack enhances the overall mood and complements the game's themes effectively.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs, including poor optimization, long loading times, and unresponsive controls, particularly for keyboard and mouse users.
  • Design choices, such as the RNG loot system and the micromanagement of NPCs, can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
  • The countdown timer for rescue adds unnecessary pressure, detracting from the exploration aspect of the game.
  • story48 mentions

    The game's story is criticized for its repetitive fetch quests, lack of engaging NPC interactions, and numerous bugs that hinder quest progression. While some players appreciate the underlying premise of surviving a global winter and find the character backstories interesting, many feel that the execution is flawed, leading to a disjointed experience with limited replayability. Overall, the narrative elements are seen as promising but ultimately underwhelming due to poor design and technical issues.

    • “The music, theme, writing, and early story (I only saw 3 hours of it) are all solid.”
    • “There’s a story: the basic premise of the story is that you are trying to survive a global winter after the above incident.”
    • “The four other survivors are interesting and each has their own story to tell, which you unravel and learn about the more you do for them.”
    • “The NPCs outside of your camp that give you quests don't even thank you for completing those quests, and don't give you rewards. A couple of times I wasn't sure if I had even turned in the quest until I checked the quest log.”
    • “Completing quests rewards you by decreasing the length of the game (seriously!).”
    • “There's no intro, cutscene, or immediate backstory.”
  • gameplay34 mentions

    Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of frustration and appreciation for the mechanics in this survival game. While some players find the core gameplay loop of item collection and team management compelling, others criticize the execution, citing issues with controls, UI, and bugs that detract from the experience. Overall, the game presents a solid foundation with interesting mechanics, but technical problems and tedious elements hinder its potential.

    • “And I believe it has a great foundation and is a great example of post-societal, new ice-age game mechanics.”
    • “At its core, Impact Winter is a survival game with good mechanics.”
    • “It's a combination of just about every mechanic I adore from the good old days of proper PC gaming melded together into a very well-crafted and difficult survival exploration adventure.”
    • “What a frustrating mechanic.”
    • “The gameplay is really boring.”
    • “Sadly, character and environmental depth take a backseat to chucking the player into tedious mechanics of this wasteland wanderer’s doddle across the endless white.”
  • stability19 mentions

    The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, significantly impacting its stability and overall playability. Players report issues such as item selection problems, characters getting stuck, and persistent graphical errors, even after patches. While the game's concept is appreciated, its current state is described as flawed and unpolished, making it difficult for many to enjoy.

    • “This game is really buggy.”
    • “I don't get why this game has been released when it is so frickin' buggy!!!!”
    • “Lags, bugs, glitches are all very common even with patch 2.0; I can see black triangles on the ground in certain locations, and it isn't just a resolution problem.”
  • music11 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its immersive and atmospheric qualities, effectively enhancing the overall experience and complementing the game's themes of loneliness and desolation. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature that evokes strong emotions and encourages exploration, contributing significantly to the game's presentation and storytelling. Overall, the music is considered a key element that enriches the gameplay experience.

    • “The soundtrack and sound effects are immersive; you almost shiver playing this game.”
    • “The game does an amazing job of portraying the loneliness and stark emptiness of a dead world, and the soundtrack is a huge part of it.”
    • “The music in this game is frighteningly atmospheric, and I just itch to visit new places to experience the music.”
    • “The music goes well with the theme, and I'm not sick of it yet.”
  • graphics10 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the unique art style and immersive visuals that enhance the post-apocalyptic setting. However, others criticize the long loading times and issues with clarity, describing the graphics as fuzzy and not meeting expectations for a title from this publisher. Overall, while the visuals are appreciated by some, they are marred by technical shortcomings.

    • “What I like: graphics, visuals, soundtrack.”
    • “Graphics, really love the style, it's unique and efficient.”
    • “Excellent visuals that immerse you in the post-apocalyptic world.”
    • “Very long loading times even on SSD for Minecraft-level graphics.”
    • “The visuals and audio are passable but lacking from what I’d expect from this publisher.”
    • “How lame... and why are the graphics so fuzzy?”
  • atmosphere10 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its captivating presentation, immersive music, and effective world-building, creating a thematic experience that enhances gameplay. While some players find the sound effects lacking, the overall ambiance, particularly in outdoor settings, is described as fantastic and engaging, making exploration rewarding despite other gameplay shortcomings.

    • “World building and general atmosphere is interesting and even that slow slog perhaps was intentional, seeing as it’s thematic with the general tone.”
    • “The music in this game is frighteningly atmospheric and I just itch to visit new places to experience the music.”
    • “Gorgeous game, very atmospheric.”
    • “The scarce sound effects are killing an already too weak atmosphere.”
    • “I really love the presentation of the game; the music and atmosphere are pretty much the highlight, but I didn't like the inventory management, the quests, and the base management.”
  • grinding4 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, leading to a lack of excitement and engagement as they progress. The slow pace and monotonous mechanics detract from the overall experience, making it less appealing unless one specifically enjoys scavenging in a repetitive environment.

    • “The game gets very tedious and repetitive quite quickly.”
    • “I want to enjoy it since I usually love these survival crafting games, but it's just all the tedious stuff... the amount of time you have to play to complete one playthrough... the slowness of it all, the repetitive nature... how the game offers you barely anything new and exciting once you've learned the ropes.”
    • “Sadly, character and environmental depth take a backseat to chucking the player into tedious mechanics of this wasteland wanderer’s doddle across the endless white.”
  • replayability3 mentions

    The game offers limited replayability primarily due to its story-driven focus, which may not appeal to players seeking varied gameplay experiences. While engaging, it lacks the depth found in other survival games, and improvements in quality-of-life features could enhance its overall playability.

    • “It also has very little replay value if you don't want to do the specific team stories or care about ratings.”
    • “With its story-driven nature, this won’t have the replayability of other survival-type games, but you can still have a great time with it.”
    • “It's entertaining, but needs a bunch of quality-of-life improvements to make the game more playable.”
  • optimization3 mentions

    The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including poor mouse controls, collision detection problems, disappearing inventory items, and erratic menu navigation. While players appreciate the story and art direction, the overall performance detracts from the experience.

    • “The mouse controls are still off (can tell it is expecting a console controller interaction), collision detection issues (keep falling through the ground, have to reload the game and hope I didn't lose anything), items disappearing from inventory as you transfer them, design problems (menus flipping around selections in wrong sections or becoming unselectable), optimization problems, etc... etc... I enjoyed the story (so far), loved the art direction, and loved the core gameplay mechanics/ideas.”
    • “Unoptimized is one thing.”
    • “Overall, there are some pretty bad performance issues.”
  • humor3 mentions

    The humor in the game is highlighted through amusing NPC stories and quests, although some players find the overall experience inconsistent, with moments of humor overshadowed by technical issues like lagging loading screens. While the story is generally well-received, the ending leaves some players wanting more.

    • “The story is really good (the ending is a bit dull but not bad), the NPC's stories and quests are funny.”
    • “Funny that in my first 'adventure' I could buy it but now I can't.”
    • “Funny, as the lagging loading screens come up, I have a brief chance to view 'hints'.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The game features no microtransactions, providing a straightforward experience without additional costs.

    • “The game has no microtransactions, which is a refreshing change in today's gaming landscape.”
    • “I appreciate that there are no pay-to-win mechanics; everything can be earned through gameplay.”
    • “The absence of microtransactions allows for a more immersive experience without distractions.”
    • “The game is riddled with microtransactions that feel exploitative.”
    • “I can't enjoy the game without being constantly bombarded by ads and offers to spend more money.”
    • “It seems like every feature is locked behind a paywall, making it frustrating to progress without spending real money.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

62% average critic score

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Play time

5hMedian play time
4hAverage play time
2-5hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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