To The Green – The Wild Eight

Survival games are nothing new to Steam, Greenlight in particular. However, there is something definitely compelling about The Wild Eight. It's an isometric co-op survival game with a procedurally-generated world—a string of words we've probably all heard a million times before. Though, The Wild Eight looks to be something with a lot more care and effort put into design than most of what we see these days.

The first thing that The Wild Eight reminded me of was obviously The Long Dark, with the similar setting, art style, and story beginning with a plane crash. Where The Long Dark focuses on solitude and overcoming something by yourself, The Wild Eight is about cooperation. There are far too few games you can play through a story with someone, and The Wild Eight seems like just that, with the extra emphasis on how important relying on friends may be.

You can play the game solo, but the developer Eight Points promises it opens up to be a lot more fun playing with others. You'll take on a role as one of the eight survivors that have just been in a plane crash and must survive until you're rescued. However, more is going on than their seems, as the game has added a dash of the fantastical with some "mysterious entities." 

Crafting is the name of the game in surviving, as you upgrade your gear and weapon to traverse further through the world completing quests as you try to reach the final location of safety in the deep of Alaska's forests. Of course, you'll have to hunt for food, worry about the cold, keep a fire lit at night, and the other stuff we're all used to in these sorts of games. How this all plays with the mysterious creatures and setting will be what makes The Wild Eight stand out, however.

The Wild Eight promises a story full of that mystery as the survivors' plane has crashed in an odd area where fantastical beasts roam and there is a strange inability to reach any other human being over the radio. This is all well and good, and will certainly make me want to hear more, but how well-executed figuring out the mystery will be is, well, a mystery. Eight Points have done their job in getting all of our attention, we'll all just have to wait and see if they can get the job done.

The one big twist that caught most of my attention is the idea that someone within the group of eight survivors may turn on them. For what reason, I don't know. There is always a certain thrill in games where the roles of each player are hidden as friend or foe, and I think applying this to a co-op survival game is a pretty novel idea. It may come across as annoying sometimes, sure, like if that person decides to try to take everyone out near the end of the game, but the drama and affect it can have on each individual players' story is worth the potential grief. 

Most of the other details of The Wild Eight are pretty straightforward and something most gamers should be familiar with, such as the leveling system, survival stuff, etc. Those details and more can be found on the Greenlight page.

If The Wild Eight looks worthy enough, give it a thumbs up on the Greenlight page. If you really, really like the idea of The Wild Eight, check out their Kickstarter campaign they are running as well.

What do you think of The Wild Eight?