Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut review

A trying yet worthy horror experience

Review written by
daveoneal

January 1st, 2015

Lone Survivor, a two-dimensional survival-horror game, was originally released on PC and Mac in 2012. It then made its way to the PS3 console, and more recently, the Wii U and PS4. Upon release, the game was a critical success, and for good reason.

Lone Survivor is a worthy and recommended addition to the Wii U's little survival-horror library, joining ZombiU and Resident Evil: Revelations as excellent titles for staying up late and creeping yourself out.

Although the game features two-dimensional graphics and gameplay, this game is true to its genre. You will need to conserve ammunition, food and other resources. You will die often, and if you are wise, you will save quite often. On top of that, the game is downright creepy. Enemies come out of nowhere, and the feeling of isolation and near-helplessness is very strong.

What really sets this game apart is its crazy, cerebral story combined with its brooding horror, which evolves and intensifies as you progress. The protagonist is a man in a surgical mask who has been living in an apartment after an infection caused the majority of humans to turn into flesh-eating creatures. This man decides that he has had enough and wants to escape to a better place.

The problem is, escaping isn't easy. Various doors within the large apartment complex are shut off, either by locks or by infections, which not only take over humans, but take over parts of the building as large organic chasms of death. Food is scarce, and so are the batteries in the protagonist's flashlight. On top of this, the poor fellow has difficulties discerning reality from fiction. He has many hallucinations and I still cannot decide if some parts were really taking place or just happening in the character's mind. The story doesn't seem to make much sense, but it works well as far as its ability to conjure fear and intrigue.

With the story out of the way, the controls are one drawback to this game I would like to mention. They take some getting used to, and they still feel a bit clunky. Whereas the GamePad is excellent for some games and improves the experience, it doesn't really help out in this title. It's not awful by any means, and you will probably get used to it after a while. The right shoulder button is for accessing your hand-gun, and the left shoulder button accesses items like meat, which is used to taunt the infected creatures and evade them. The main buttons access the map, toggle the flashlight, and react to various items and surroundings. The controls aren't poorly designed, just slightly awkward, at least when getting accustomed to them.

The only other drawback is the map system. It takes getting used to as well. Doors appear not only to the left and right, but in front of and behind the character as foreground and background. You may find yourself checking the map often, wondering which direction in which you are going. That said, I am glad this game has map system as it would be impossible to traverse the areas in the game without it.

As far as visuals and sound go, this game performs really well. The pixelated graphics harken back to early-PC games, at least from my perspective. One could argue that this has been overdone in the past few years, but if you like old-school throwback presentation, you will be right at home.

The music is moody, slow and atmospheric, while the sounds feature grunts and groans from whatever lurks around the next corner to devour you. It's typical of survival horror, and as the saying goes: "If it isn't broke, then don't fix it".

I'd say the game has good replay value as well. It takes about four to eight hours to complete, depending on your level of skill and whether or not you complete the side-quests. Lone Survivor also has multiple endings, and if you're a completionist, you may get up to thirty hours or more from this game. This is definitely one of those games worth replaying, as it takes mastery and becomes a better experience as you improve.

Overall, Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut is one of the better titles on the Nintendo eShop. It's a deep experience and good gaming value. If you're up for it, give it a go, turn off the lights, and turn the volume up. Just be prepared to be eaten if you don't starve to death first.