You're not alone in this wilderness, but you may be better off if you were.
We understand that survival games are meant to pit you against the odds in a resource-driven battle to live another day, but does that mean they have to be so lonely?
Developer Eight Points doesn't believe that the struggle for survival has to be endured alone, and they're hoping that their debut title The Wild Eight will prove them right.
The Wild Eight is a co-op survival game that made its Kickstarter debut in May. It promised players the chance to join a party of eight regular people that find themselves caught in the wilderness following a tragic plane crash. Stuck in the forests of Alaska, you must now work together to find salvation.
Their efforts are complicated by the presence of "mysterious entities" that don't seem to be part of this world. Creatures such as mutated wolfs hunt you relentlessly while you scrounge together what little resources you have available. Between them and the lack of food and medicine, you're not expected to live long.
It's why developer Eight Points emphasizes taking advantage of the game's co-op features. Playing with other survivors may make resources even more valuable than before, but it also opens up opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable. For instance, with other players assisting you, you are able to receive a defibrillator shock that can resuscitate you even if you are staring at your character's death screen. Of course, you also have to ask if you can really trust the people you play with.
The game's previously released alpha demo suggests that it may indeed be the rare breed of survival game that is capable of keeping the tension high while others are around to help you, but we should have a better idea if this promising title can live up to its fascinating premise when The Wild Eight makes its Steam Early Access debut in the Fall.