Savage Lands
- February 4, 2015
- Signal Studios
- 9h median play time
"Savage Lands" is a fantasy survival game with open-world exploration and a deep, brutal environment. Players can choose to survive solo or in co-op mode with up to 2 players. The game features a gritty atmosphere, tough enemies, and the need for constant resource gathering and crafting. However, it also has numerous bugs, requires a lot of grinding, and has been criticized for its intrusive ads. Despite this, it offers a highly emotional and immersive experience.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game has a lot of potential and has seen significant improvements since the new developers took over.
- The crafting system is straightforward and enjoyable, allowing players to create a variety of items and gear.
- The atmosphere is immersive, with a unique blend of survival and exploration elements.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, making it frustrating to play at times.
- The AI is often clunky, with enemies displaying poor pathfinding and attack patterns.
- There is a lack of clear direction and guidance for new players, making it difficult to understand how to progress.
- graphics403 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players describing them as outdated, clunky, and unpolished, often comparing them to titles from previous console generations. While some appreciate the game's art style and atmosphere, others criticize the lack of optimization and the presence of graphical glitches, leading to a generally low perception of visual quality. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the graphics are not the game's strong suit, they do not detract significantly from the overall gameplay experience for those who prioritize content and mechanics over visual fidelity.
“The graphics are gorgeous, the enemies are fun, and the devs are very active and constantly improving the game.”
“Beautiful game, graphics and scenery are stunning.”
“The graphics look good, I get some frame stutter, have been fooling around with the settings, I have an 8 core processor running at 3.4, 16 gigs of 2400 ram, asus 370 strix 4 gigs.. so, don't think it's my hardware.”
“Graphics: 6/10 - I don't normally care about graphics, but this game has terrible ones.”
“The graphics are unpolished, the textures stretched and mushified, grass is flat like paper, the contrast between the ground, objects, and sky is very odd, old style, it conflicts, it's not easy on the eyes.”
“The graphics look like they are from around 2008, I'm talking about first generation PS3 games, worse than Fallout.”
- gameplay334 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its clunky mechanics, poor graphics, and excessive grinding. While some find the survival elements and crafting mechanics engaging, others feel that the overall experience is marred by bugs, lack of depth, and repetitive tasks. Despite its potential, many reviewers suggest that the game still requires significant improvements to its core gameplay and mechanics to be truly enjoyable.
“The gameplay is fun but as it's early access it is severely lacking items and monsters.”
“I love how the environment seamlessly integrates with the gameplay.”
“The approach to the genre, the setting, and the core gameplay mechanics are good and fun, and the game has huge potential.”
“My entire gameplay experience was just wolf murder simulator and grinding out ores to progress the achievements.”
“The gameplay is really not state-of-the-art; stuff falls into and on the ground when farming or sorting your inventory, and there are barely any features to handle inventory like auto-stacking.”
“The world is deep and interesting, but the game is so riddled with bugs and bad gameplay that it is honestly unplayable.”
- story154 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is often described as simplistic and difficult to follow, primarily conveyed through scattered notes and texts, which some players find intriguing while others consider it lacking depth. While there are elements of lore and a basic narrative structure, many reviewers express a desire for a more cohesive and engaging storyline, as well as clearer objectives and quests to enhance the gameplay experience. Overall, the story has potential but currently feels underdeveloped, leaving players wanting more substantial content and direction.
“The game has a solid core with its story being better than most survival games, and its crafting menu is vast.”
“Great lore and well thought out placement of lore objects, notes, etc. There is an actual story here which a lot of survival games miss the mark on.”
“The story right now is actually pretty interesting, and I find that finishing the pieces of the story is what keeps me playing through the general slog that this game can be.”
“Story: 5/10 - this is generous considering how hard it is to follow the story.”
“Not much story, pretty boring maps almost without landmarks which makes navigation awfully difficult.”
“The gameplay is shit, the graphics are nothing special and the story is non-existent.”
- optimization144 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been a significant concern among players, with many reporting high system requirements and poor performance even on capable hardware. While some users note improvements in stability and graphics performance over time, frequent bugs and frame rate drops persist, particularly in resource-heavy areas. Overall, the game is still considered poorly optimized, limiting its accessibility to players with lower-end systems and requiring ongoing updates to address these issues.
“While it's not perfect (yet), I can now play the game reliably without it crashing, having detrimental performance issues, or other odd things that I remember having.”
“The new devs have made some great progress improving performance and fixing bugs since they took over.”
“Fired it up today and found it to be wonderfully coherent, optimized to a night and day difference from before, and genuinely fun and exciting.”
“This game must not be very optimized.”
“The game has performance issues, demanding extreme hardware even if it's not that graphical at all, has a lot of bugs, some of them critical to the playability like resources not respawning in multiplayer, and the worst of it all, it says early access but it's like that for years.”
“Without proper rendering optimizations, the game is currently unplayable.”
- stability106 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 90 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting persistent bugs, glitches, and performance issues that detract from the overall experience. While some users note improvements over time and find the game enjoyable despite its flaws, others describe it as unplayable due to frequent crashes and clunky mechanics. Overall, the game appears to be in a state of ongoing development, with a significant number of players expressing frustration over its lack of polish and stability.
“The devs keep constantly updated and the game so far runs great.”
“The old map is solid and complete and is a great way to learn the game in a relatively bug-free environment.”
“In my experience, the game is pretty bug-free at the time of writing.”
“Still buggy 3 years after I put it down.”
“It's pretty much unplayable now due to glitches and bugs.”
“The game is fucking buggy as hell and all around is a shitty, unenjoyable game.”
- grinding104 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 1 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight that grinding is a significant aspect of the game, often described as tedious and time-consuming, particularly in resource gathering and crafting. While some players appreciate the grind as part of the survival experience, many express frustration over the lack of rewards and the repetitive nature of tasks, leading to a sense of boredom. Overall, the game's grinding mechanics are seen as a double-edged sword, appealing to dedicated players but potentially alienating those seeking a more streamlined experience.
“There's no farming in this game, so you can expect to be dependent on hunting, though it's not a problem.”
“My entire gameplay experience was just wolf murder simulator and grinding out ores to progress the achievements.”
“The final thing I found mildly irritating was I spent 4 hours on the first island... spending all that time grinding to get better gear to beat the 2 bosses to get off the island is a little insane.”
“It is way too clunky and tedious compared to pretty much every survival game ever.”
- atmosphere63 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, immersive, and foreboding qualities, effectively creating a spooky and engaging environment that enhances the survival experience. While some players note that the graphics and animations may not be the best, the overall ambiance, including sound design and environmental details, captivates many and adds depth to gameplay. Despite some criticisms regarding other gameplay elements, the atmosphere remains a standout feature that many reviewers find compelling and promising for future development.
“The atmosphere is enthralling, making those first hours really challenging when you need to get clothed, fed, and find some shelter.”
“The atmosphere of waking up on the shore of a cold, unforgiving island, plagued by undead creatures, and a dragon is truly awe-inspiring.”
“Extremely atmospheric and tons of fun, I highly recommend you play this with friends.”
“The environment atmosphere is dark and foreboding, which does set a spooky tone but also creates moments where you cannot see what you are doing, especially in moments of attack.”
“The atmosphere is bland, animals are scarce, the only sound is the ambient noise of wind and nonexistent birds.”
“Content and basically everything else will come in time and can be added in the future but the atmosphere is something that has to be done right early on.”
- humor23 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding it amusingly broken and chaotic, often laughing at the game's flaws rather than its intended design. While some appreciate the comedic elements of gameplay and interactions with friends, others note that the humor can stem from frustration with the game's mechanics. Overall, players seem to enjoy the lightheartedness and absurdity, making it a fun experience despite its shortcomings.
“I love this game, it's hilariously broken but still fun to play with my friends.”
“10/10 made me laugh more than Goat Simulator or any other game I have ever played.”
“All in all, this game is hilarious if you don't mind dying a few times to get the hang of things.”
- monetization20 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has been overwhelmingly criticized by users, who label it as a "cash grab" and express frustration over its perceived lack of genuine development and progress. Many reviewers feel that the game exploits early access as a means to extract money without delivering substantial content, leading to calls for better consumer protections against such practices. Overall, the sentiment is that the game prioritizes profit over quality, leaving players feeling cheated.
“Because I'm not going to reward lazy cash grab development companies anymore.”
“Early access forever, just a stupid cash grab, no progress at all for years.”
“This game not only isn't good to buy, it shouldn't be on Steam at all; it's a cash grab 100%.”
- music13 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The music aspect of the game received mixed reviews, with some players finding the soundtrack lacking or irritating, leading them to prefer their own music. However, others appreciated the ambient sounds and described the score as excellent and immersive, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. Overall, while opinions vary, the ambient audio is generally well-received, with calls for a soundtrack release from fans.
“This is the best music game I have played since Legend of Zorldo!”
“Furthermore, the music complements the gameplay extremely well.”
“Music: excellent, a nicely done score.”
“The lack of music, or ambient music.”
“I found it irritating and ended up listening to my own music.”
“The soundtrack is kind of meh, but that's forgivable.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is currently limited due to a lack of content, though some players see potential for improvement as the developers continue to optimize it. While one user noted that it has great replayability after recent updates, others feel it still lacks sufficient value for repeated playthroughs. The consensus suggests that future enhancements could significantly boost its replayability.
“The game has great replayability and I expect great things from it for no other reason than how much the devs love this game.”
“This is a fun game, but it has no replay value whatsoever.”
“Like many others have stated, it has potential and will likely reach a more playable state in a few months, but as of now, it lacks content.”
“If the devs ever get the new build more playable, I'll honestly feel like I got 2 games for the price of 1.”
- emotional9 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional experience of the game to be deeply engaging and wholesome, often leading to immersive interactions that resonate on a personal level. Despite some technical shortcomings and a lack of updates since its 2015 release, the game's ability to evoke strong feelings and connections, especially in multiplayer settings, is highlighted as a significant strength. Overall, it is recommended for those seeking emotional depth in their gaming experiences.
“It was probably the most wholesome thing I have sunk twelve hours into.”
“Honestly, if you play games for their immersion and emotional interactions, this game is priceless (especially with a good pair of headphones, as well as a headset as you can hold tab to talk to other players).”
“Overall they actually made me think that digitaldna can really pull off a wholesome title, the graphics were completely adequate.”
- character development2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is perceived as lacking, with outdated character design and minimal narrative progression, resulting in a mediocre rating of 5/10. Players express a desire for a more engaging storyline and greater inclusivity in character options, particularly for female models.
“Character design hasn't been touched since its creation, leaving it far behind the times, though good intentioned updates in other areas have been pushed.”
“Character development: 5/10 (hope to see a storyline develop - and hey, lots of us gamers are girls - we need a female model).”
