If you thought Among Us was the best survival game where you cannot even trust your fellow players, then just wait until you get a look at Project Winter by developer Other Ocean Interactive.
Here is the game description: “Cut off from all external communications, stranded in an icy tundra, and surrounded by a thick blanket of paranoia and suspicion, the eight-person multiplayer world of Project Winter abandons players in the freezing wilderness where they must work together to escape the approaching blizzard as well as the deathly intentions of fellow team members.”
You create your low poly character and set out with seven strangers to find and collect loot from the local structures. The map is randomly generated, but the game helps you understand what you need to do. You will fulfil objectives, leading up to your eventual rescue. However, if you are the traitor, you will need to sabotage the rescue at all costs. This takes a great deal of strategy and subterfuge. Traitors also receive supply drops to aid them on their mission. Be careful not to be seen opening them, or risk being exposed, exiled, or even killed.
Solo players do not tend to last long in the cold, unforgiving, wilderness. You find them along your journey, taken by the frost, hunger, or as a bear’s dinner. This is a complicated part of the game that makes it so exciting. You need to work with others to gain access to structures and objects, but you won’t know who they truly are: friend or foe. You can spend a long time with a character, only to be betrayed once the two of you are alone far away from the main cabin.
There are some familiar mechanics from open world survival games, such as crafting. You can make your own weapons and tools to help you in your session. You will also need to be mindful of your stats, namely health, heat, and hunger. You are surely going to freeze to death when a blizzard arrives if you are without a campfire. Strangely enough, you can collect hearts from fallen players and eat them for substantial stat rejuvenation. This may be the first playthrough I’ve seen that cannibalism is not frowned upon.
I also wanted to mention the importance of the radios. Everyone gets a radio and can use the push-to-talk feature. There is also a field for proximity so you can talk to players in person. But the radio, when it sounds off, has a color and/or name displayed to reveal who is talking. In a master play of deception, traitors can take advantage of total strangers and commit the art of identity theft. I have not seen this done, but the option is out there. How would you know if the voice on the radio was truly a person you have never met? I will leave you with that paranoid thought!
This is a fun experience! A session can last a while, but there is so much replayability. No one has a specific role or class, besides survivor or traitor, but that makes everyone involved that much more critical to how the session will play out. I have seen traitors wait until the very last minute to sabotage the rescue by mowing everyone down at the rescue site with guns. I would love to share this experience with my group of friends, but joining random lobbies is where the fun is! I think I would give this game a 9 out of 10.
Check Out the Project Winter Trailer:
Project Winter is available now on Xbox consoles and the Windows 10 Store, as well as being free to download for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. To stay up to date with the latest news, follow Project Winter/Other Ocean on the game’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord.
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I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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