Northern Lights

About

Northern Lights is a first-person survival experience in which you step into the shoes of a ranger, sent on a Siberian island to investigate the disappearance of the crew in charge with a secret facility, whose contact with homeland was lost due to abnormal weather conditions.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 216 reviews

story8 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and an immersive atmosphere, particularly with the stunning depiction of the Aurora Borealis.
Engaging gameplay with a focus on exploration and survival mechanics, providing a challenging experience that keeps players invested.
The developers are responsive to feedback and actively working on improvements, showing commitment to the game's development.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs and performance issues, including lag and unresponsive menus, making it frustrating to play.
Many players feel the game lacks content and polish, with some mechanics feeling unrefined or poorly implemented, such as the snowmobile controls and inventory management.
There are concerns about the game's long-term viability, with some players fearing it may be abandoned or not receive the necessary updates to reach its potential.

story
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
80%
5%
The game's story is described as linear and somewhat lacking, requiring players to follow a specific sequence of quests that can feel tedious and restrictive. While some players found the narrative engaging and appreciated the survival elements, others felt it became dull and incomplete, with many aspects still in early development. Overall, the story mode shows potential for improvement, but current execution leaves much to be desired, leading to mixed feelings among players.
- “The story was very engaging and easily led through exploring the island, finding the maps and notes and stuff needed to complete the escape.”
- “Although early access, it's in a good advanced state right now with plenty of gameplay in both the story mode and the sandbox.”
- “I also love the story mode so far.”
- “I am going to finish the story just because I bought the game, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else buying this game.”
- “I explored so much of the game with no story to speak of happening as a result.”
- “The story as I know it at the time of this review is not enough for me to say 'yes'.”
gameplay
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of engaging survival mechanics and frustrating bugs, with players appreciating the beautiful environment and unique features like the sanity and frostbite mechanics. However, many express concerns about the lack of content, grindy elements, and some poorly designed mechanics, particularly in animal hunting. Overall, while the game shows promise and has improved through community feedback, it still faces challenges in delivering a polished experience.
- “Engaging gameplay, plenty of places to explore and constant survival constraints (lack of water, food, shelter, etc.) make for an addictive experience.”
- “I'm really picky about my survival games and I love this game; the mechanics are great.”
- “I find it to be thoroughly engaging as I try to learn the mechanics of what to do and how to survive.”
- “For now, the lack of content and grindy gameplay just kinda snowballs into a bleak tundra of an experience.”
- “I played the survival mode first and was a bit overwhelmed and confused by the mechanics.”
- “It is a survival game that railroads you into playing it the way the designers want you to with dodgy logic and extremely unrealistic and forced game mechanics.”
graphics
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
32%
14%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the stunning and immersive art style, particularly in the harsh arctic environment, while others criticize the inconsistency in graphic quality and performance issues. Some players highlight the beautiful visuals and atmosphere, comparing it favorably to other titles, while a few express disappointment with outdated graphics reminiscent of 90s games. Overall, the game shows potential for improvement, especially given its early access status.
- “The game has an amazing and immersive world with stunning and beautiful art style.”
- “Absolutely beautiful graphics.”
- “Lovely art, amazing graphics, harsh arctic tundra.”
- “Utter crap not worth £1; graphics are like a 90s game, sound is crap, voice over with utter rubbish eastern European vocals. Genuine rubbish, keep away. This will never be a decent game. Honest, save your money.”
- “It was having bugs and glitches too, very basic graphics, terrible UI, but over the years they fixed it and improved it based on community feedback.”
- “The game world has a different graphic style than the items in your backpack.”
optimization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
The game's optimization is currently a mixed bag; while some players report smooth performance on decent hardware, many others experience significant lag and bugs, which the developers acknowledge as part of the early access phase. Overall, there is optimism that ongoing updates will improve performance and address existing issues, but users note that further optimization, particularly in the UI, is still needed.
- “Performance is alright on an older FX 8320 and a GTX 1080 (60fps+ at high).”
- “Runs with high FPS on my build, so it is well optimized.”
- “I think this is a very good indie game, there's a lot of attention to detail in it, it runs smoothly and I definitely recommend it!”
- “It's incredibly laggy, which the devs openly admit is due to the fact that it is not optimized yet.”
- “To the devs' credit, the game intro is quite honest and states the game is in early access, it's not optimized, and it's quite likely players will find bugs, which they ask be reported.”
- “Game is now in a much better state than before (watched some streams and reviews before buying), still needs some optimization in UI and performance-wise but otherwise it's a good and fun experience.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
83%
17%
The music in the game is consistently praised for its beauty and ability to enhance the overall ambiance, with many users highlighting the amazing soundtrack as a standout feature. Reviewers describe the music as fitting well with the game's graphics and atmosphere, contributing to an immersive experience. Overall, the soundtrack is regarded as a significant positive aspect of the game.
- “Great landscape, ambiance and soundtrack!”
- “It does show a lot of promise and the soundtrack is great.”
- “Lovely game, amazing soundtrack.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the unlimited endgame grinding opportunities, allowing for extensive crafting and resource management, which can lead to a rewarding experience. However, some find the grindy gameplay and weight mechanics tedious, contributing to a sense of monotony, especially in the absence of new content. Overall, while the game offers depth and strategy, it may require patience due to its repetitive nature.
- “For now, the lack of content and grindy gameplay just kinda snowballs into a bleak tundra of an experience.”
- “The weight/overburden mechanic was tedious (by default I think this kind of mechanic is)... yet it was friendlier than a lot of other games.”
- “Looking forward to the next update because this interface can get tedious sometimes.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has faced numerous glitches and bugs, but significant improvements have been made over time, largely due to community feedback and a responsive development team. While issues like slow loading and counterintuitive functionalities persist, ongoing updates and fixes have enhanced overall stability, making the experience smoother than before.
- “Tons of glitches and bugs.”
- “There are still bugs, there are still functionalities that are counterintuitive, but hey, the game improved a lot and this is because of the proactivity of the community that is reporting bugs or expressing their wishes on what they expect from the game. The team is very responsive in solving the bugs, glitches, or counterintuitive functionalities.”
- “It was having bugs and glitches too, very basic graphics, terrible UI, but over the years they fixed it and improved it based on community feedback. The cinematic from story mode was added as improvements to their game after several years when they had enough budget to afford it.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its realism and immersive quality, effectively conveying a harsh survival experience in the taiga. Players appreciate the great visuals and the sense of exploration, making it a compelling choice for those seeking an atmospheric adventure, despite its early access status and some polish issues.
- “The atmosphere really gives you the feeling that you are in a harsh survival in the taiga.”
- “Considering it's early access and the usual polish comments apply, it's a good game if you want an atmospheric game and are in the mood for exploration.”
- “Great visuals and atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere really gives you the feeling that you are in a harsh survival situation in the taiga.”
- “The atmosphere is really realistic, and the survival aspect feels great for a game this big.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Users consistently highlight that the AI exhibits humorous behavior frequently throughout the game, contributing to an entertaining experience.
- “The AI delivers hilarious moments throughout the game.”
- “The humor in the game is consistently entertaining.”
- “I found myself laughing out loud at the AI's antics.”