In this generation, tough as nails games tend to be what a lot of gamers gravitate towards. It makes sense as hard games test players and feel more rewarding than beating a new game in only a few hours with no real challenge. Survival games and titles like Dark Souls tend to be the best bets to tough titles. These are the titles that get your blood rushing and make your hands grip the controller tightly as you struggle to keep you in-game avatar alive. Developer Black Forest Games have tried to take on the difficult task of creating a hybrid game that embodies themes of survival against the elements as well as fighting enemies and trying to avoid death at all means. Titled Fade to Silence, does this interesting game have what it takes to be the next big challenge? Read below as we dissect Fade to Silence in our full review!

Fade to Silence is a third person action/survival title from developer Black Forest Games. Players enter the world of a lone father who is surviving in a wintery hell. Players will need to make use of the land to build new fortifications, find food from wildlife and retake the land from the evil beings that now roam the Earth. Death will come to those who don’t play smart and too many death comes at a hefty price...Survive and fight in Fade to Silence and use the past deaths to make your next run just a tad easier.

Ash is a young man trying to rebuild life for himself and for his daughter. After a strange event, the world was left in ruin and they are forced to endure endless cold weather and powerful blizzards. Making matters worse, a strange foreign species known as the Eldritch plague the land corrupting the trees and wildlife making the environment suitable for them and them alone. Ash must use his survival skills and work alongside a strange being within that can help him reconstruct what was lost. However, is the being within Ash a friend...or a foe waiting for just the right time to strike?

Ironically enough, Souls themed games and/or survival focused titles share a common bond, they can be tough as nails. If you play a title like The Forest you’ll find yourself frustrated often trying to survive every danger the game throws in your character’s face. Yet, there’s a true sense of victory when you build that shelter you’ve been scavenging for or defeat that boss that has maimed you thirty plus times. These two gaming genres seem amazing alone but then you have to wonder...what would these games be like together? That’s where Fade to Silence comes into the forefront. Developed by Black Forest Games and published by THQ Nordic, Fade to Silence aims to give gamers a taste of both survival and souls themed gameplay. Does this formula create the perfected game though? We find out now in our review of Fade to Silence for the PS4!

Fade to Silence throws players into a rather unsettling—and extremely strange—opening sequence. We meet Ash a young father who seemingly has died due to the harsh world outside. A strange mist shaped being though enters Ash and resurrects him to continue an apparent cycle. From here we learn the world seems to have been met with some terrible disaster by beasts known as Eldritch. Now in a seemingly permanent winter, Ash must rebuild his life to save his daughter and save others from the world now gone array. It's an interesting premise to say the least as—just like the Dark Souls series—we are thrown into chaos without much in the way of guidance. It will be up to the player to read up using a survival guide how to find items, kill beasts—though there is a mini tutorial for how combat works—and what items can be used and where. Fade to Silence is like a parent who believes in self-preservation, they will hold your hand for a minute but then let you walk and run on your own...ready or not.

The first things you’ll notice in Fade to Silence are the survival concepts. Players will need to find shelters for resting and cooking as well as survive from the game’s biggest enemy, blizzards which will ravage your health by the second if caught in one. In terms of survival, Fade to Silence works quite well. You’ll need to live off the lands looking for items to build up your base, find NPC survivors who will help you manage your bases and tools to strengthen yourself. It's a very tired and true set up, but it works quite well to push you forward and take risks.

Now we mentioned before but there is a Souls theme to Fade to Silence and that is in combat form. Players will need to kill baddies via weapons that range from axes, torches, knives and even bows. Enemies in Fade to Silence aren’t usually that formidable as you can easily predict their movements and counter them at their weakest but when they surround you and/or find you during a blizzard you’ll realize just how human Ash is. You don’t need to fight every enemy in Fade to Silence and it will be up to you to realize when an enemy should be left alone or needs to be eradicated.

If one wanted to be critical of Fade to Silence, they will notice there’s actually a third gameplay theme to it in the form of roguelike themes. Death in Fade to Silence comes at a harsh penalty. Initially you’ll start off with up to 3 lives and those can be increased after your third death. When you lose a life, there is no harsh penalty at the beginning, instead you just resurrect at the last base you were at and go about making up for the lost progress. Upon the last death though, your body is consumed by the mist-like being and you are given a choice on how to strengthen yourself for the next restart, because yes, folks, you lose all your progress once you reach that last life. You can bring with you perks via your death such as more lives for the next run, keeping some of your lost items and the list goes on. Death is painful in Fade to Silence, but for those who like to feel as if they learn from each death, it can be a reward to make yourself stronger and know how to better handle the next playthrough,

Fade to Silence seems to be the perfect game from how we described it right? Unfortunately, while Fade to Silence truly nails some amazing concepts in game design it also is plagued by some issues that might turn many gamers away. The first big flaw of Fade to Silence is the lack of entertainment. Sure, it's fun to live off the land and fight your way through life as a survivalist, but equally, it gets boring often because there’s very little direction in Fade to Silence despite the interesting narrative. You can see tidbits of story as you sleep and take down Eldritch hives via a boring button mash system, but it’s rare Fade to Silence changes from the first few minutes. Hours in, you’re still living off the land, still trying to find survivors and still killing the same types of enemies. It gets old quickly and becomes almost hypnotic.

Visually and sound wise, Fade to Silence also suffers from inconsistent elements. Sometimes, Fade to Silence looks really good with beautiful wintery vistas and creepy mountain locations. When the cameras zoom into the faces for the occasional narrative moments though, you’ll notice ugly character models and stiff animations that look rather off. You will also notice that Fade to Silence has some atrociously bad voice work that really makes the story come off as a campy more than serious. The demonic voice from your inner companion though sounds pretty great. The OST also works well making for some solid set piece tones.

Our last gripe with Fade to Silence is the numerous—and we mean numerous—bugs. We lost count how many times we’d try to jump on a ledge and end up in the sky falling as we teleported there for some reason. We also found some bugs while walking where enemies would appear then disappear as if magicians. These bugs—at times—were game breaking, but often they just removed us from the immersion. We’re sure a lot of these bugs can be fixed though so we won’t say they are reasons to not buy Fade to Silence.

Fade to Silence isn’t a perfect marriage of genres but it has some rather redeeming qualities. There aren’t any concepts that make Fade to Silence bad, but neither are there many great ones either. Fade to Silence falls in the middle spectrum by being an enjoyable game for those who like both genres but one that can be overlooked if you don’t. There’s something rather intriguing about developer Black Forest Games. They took a shot fusing gameplay idea together and while it wasn’t a bullseye it did land on the board and make for a brutally hard and somewhat flawed experience that works overall.

Fade to Silence might be overlooked by a lot of buyers do to the recent big league of games like Days Gone and Mortal Kombat 11. Yet, for those who prefer survival themed games that truly test your gamer patience, you might truly enjoy Fade to Silence. Yes, it's far from a polished game, but it tries many different gameplay elements that create an overall unique title that has just a few more pros over the cons. What do you folks think? Will you be giving Fade to Silence a try? Let us know in the comments below why or why not and for all your gaming review needs, be sure to keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime!