| Developer | Publisher | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Herobeat Studios | HandyGames | Microsoft Windows-Xbox One-Nintendo Switch-PlayStation 4 |
Endling: Extinction is Forever is a 3D side scroller survival game where you control a female fox. The idea of controlling a cute four-legged animal in a dystopian world may seem fresh, but when you have two similar games with the same theme in front of you, it becomes a bit complicated. Endling was released on the same day and at the price as the famous game, Stray. Stray has a wider scale both in terms of gameplay and graphics so It was able to draw huge attention. This situation made Endling, for all its value, a little neglected. However, we can easily say Endling has suitable quality even though it doesn’t have the ambition of Stray.
The word Endling means “an individual living thing that is the last survivor of its species or subspecies and whose death consequently means the extinction of that species or subspecies”; As the title says, extinction is forever. So you have to keep the mother fox and her cubs alive from dangers. However, the game is not just about the extinction of a particular animal. Rather, it is a warning to us humans that we are destroying nature in general.
The main idea of this title is to show these important environmental issues in the form of an emotional experience. This has been successfully done with the help of a simple but compelling story and an innovative graphic style. Of course, if we look at the global audience, we may hear Herobeat Studios cannot lecture all the people around the world, particularly in developing countries. Especially because even foxes themselves have to hunt smaller animals to survive. However, we praise the developer’s intentions.
As said, here you control a female fox. The game has a fiery and exciting start with an escape objective which is accompanied by breathtaking scenes of destruction. But then the game slows down and the struggle to survive in everyday life begins. After escaping from the fire, the fox gives birth to four cubs, whose color you can choose. At the very beginning, one of the cubs is stolen by a Scavenger, who is the villain, and finding him becomes the main plot.
Unlike many other survival titles, you will not have numerous troubles surviving. You have to discover food, which is not too tough to find. Food is distributed enough on the map. With the help of a sniffing mechanic, you can find both food and important story scenes. There are threats such as traps or other animals that if you run recklessly, you may be caught by them and kill your cubs. Of course, most hazards aren’t immediately fatal, but some things like the Scavenger can kill you with only one gunshot. Therefore, hiding and moving stealthily play an important role in this game.
You must return to your nest at the end of each night and explore for food tomorrow again. This process becomes repetitive very soon, and if it were not for the story, the game would become boring fast. But the curiosity about what people might do to nature the next day or what will be the fate of those cute foxes always provides enough motivation to continue. Endling is not very long and ends in around five hours.
The main strength here is the stunning atmosphere. The artistic graphic style and vivid colors cover the lack of high technical graphics. But more importantly, there is a beautiful dynamic environment you can explore. The more you advance in days, the map undergoes more changes, such as cutting down trees, changing seasons, etc. Also, the tragic events of the story highlight the incredible atmosphere even more.
Finally, we can say Endling is not very rich in terms of content for its price, but it has a beautiful impression. We applaud the game developer’s Ideas, but we hope their next work will either be more reasonably priced or offer more content.
The review code was provided by the publisher
| GAMEPLAY | ART | VALUE |
|---|---|---|
| 70% | 90% | 60% |