One of the many games on the list I was looking to play this year was The Flame In The Flood by Molasses Flood, I have always liked the idea of survival games but haven't really played many of them. It had an interesting look & for little more than €10 I thought why not?
For me I think soup is one of those really underrated foods, it's warm, wholesome & healthy. I won't lie I can be a little picky with the soup I like, some I find are a little bland & others just have too much going on. I would say Minestrone is probably my favorite, I like the tomato base, chunky vegetables & pasta. I usually add a little hot sauce to it & have a toasted sandwich or some soda bread with it - perfect. Playing The Flame In The Flood I found myself asking was this something nice, warm & wholesome, something bland or just something overly complicated?
There is not an overabundance of story in The Flame In The Flood, normally I would say this is a bad thing but in a game like this it doesn't matter. The journey is the most important aspect & in that way you create your own story. You play as a young girl called Scout who is trying to survive in what is left of the world, your only companion is a dog called Aesop.
The game starts you in Camp Pinewood which helps provide you with a handful of supplies & some basics to playing the game before embarking on your journey into the world. Despite the fact you meet very few people on your travels, all of whom are a little crazy or feral you never really feel alone. The game is very heartfelt & I really liked the ending to the campaign. The game having little story is one of it's real charms as I feel it helps not distract you from the most important part of the game - surviving.
The art style used in The Flame In The Flood feels very down beat & bleak which for an end of the world survival style game works well. The only rays of hopefulness is when you see rabbits playing around or when you are travelling down the estuary with the sun shining. I must admit I did not really like the human character designs, looking at them reminded me of the movie Coraline when she goes through the door to the other world. I wonder like with the story was this done on purpose as not to distract from the gameplay itself?
The two regions I liked the most were the industrial & desert regions, something about seeing what the world used to be like & what it could all end up looking like was both interesting & grim. The last area of the game was easily the most impressive & I felt it really added purpose to your journey.
The music has a very folksy, singer song writer sound & suits the style of the game really well. I like the fact the music is not a constant in the game & instead is introduced as things change in the game. I feel because of this it made the score more impactful. The composer was Chuck Ragan & features The Fearless Kin:
Chuck Ragan is an American Singer/Song Writer who is also the vocalist & guitarist in the band Hot Music Water. The band members are; Chris Wollard, Jason Black, George Rebelo & of course Chuck himself. His solo work is vastly different from what he does with the band which have a more punk rock sound. He & they have collaborated with many artists & released multiple albums including; Fuel For The Hate Game, The New What Next & Light It Up.
The Fearless Kin are made up of; Paige, Aimee & The Anderson Family. Curious & wanting to know more about them I looked them up & listened to a song called Stella Jane which I really liked. They are a country family band who are really good, I listened to part of an interview with Aimee & hearing her talking about her passion for music really made me want to hear more of their work. They have one album called Foxes In June which I would highly recommend listening to even if you are not a country fan.
The score is little over thirty minutes & listening to it again gave me pause & I could see that it was actually better than I had originally given it credit for, plus it got my interested in The Fearless Kin. My favorite pieces included; 'The Flame In The Flood', 'Gathering Wood' & 'Land Sick'.
Onto the rabbit meat! The game is a top down survival game, there are two difficulty settings; Traveler & Survivalist & the are two game types; campaign & endless. There are five things that are really important & you must keep an eye on at all times; hunger, thirst, body temperature, sleep & raft condition - failing to be mindful of any of these will bring about your demise. The game is a roguelike which means when you are dead you are dead, well sort of, certain check points throughout the game mean if you do die you can restart there with whatever supplies you had previously.
The only way to get clean water is by making a water filter or waiting for it to rain, you can take the risk & drink polluted water but it may make you sick & find you having to make medicine. The best medicine in the game is tea & there is little it cannot heal. Resources in the games are short but that is not the hard part, the hard part is having space to carry all the randoms things you collect, everything has value. My biggest recommendation is make pouches to expand your inventory as soon as possible.
The animals are ruthless (apart from the bunnies), they can give you lacerations, break bones & even kill you. The deadliest animal is the bear, if you see one avoid it unless you have lots of traps or weapons. I once saw it kill three wolves & a boar without any real effort at all, terrifying.
You will spend a lot of time on your raft, it can be upgraded overtime & I would recommend doing this as soon as possible as it will pay dividends later. Initially it can be tough to control, go with the currents, avoid the rapids or at least until you can make a rudder.
Overall some solid gameplay, while it can be tough at times it can also be massively rewarding, I will likely try the endless mode but I am not sure if I will ever truly be ready for survivalist mode.
So after 18 hours how did I feel? Warm & satisfied, the game could be tough but was very rewarding. The game was full of heart & in many ways I was sad after finishing travelling the 40 miles to get to the final area but at the same time I was happy. The more I played the more I enjoyed it & the constant battle to try & survive. I am happy to give this game 4 out of 5
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