The Flame in The Flood is a game from a group of veteran developers who were behind big AAA titles such as Bioshock, Halo, and even the Guitar Hero franchise. They left behind the security of their salaries to create a new studio called The Molasses Flood, and The Flame In The Flood is their first title. How does this sophomore effort fare on this improved PlayStation 4 version? Read our The Flame in The Flood: Complete Edition review to find out!
The team put in as much of their own savings as they could into creating the game, and when they needed a bit more financial help for the final push, they took the game to Kickstarter. They asked backers for $150,000, and they had a very successful campaign, achieving over $250,000. They also managed to hit several stretch goals including raft customization and Endless mode. The PS4 stretch goal was set at a very high $300,000 stretch goal, and was never met, which made me think we’d never be playing the game on PlayStation 4. But thanks to the help of Curve Digital, I’m now writing this The Flame in The Flood: Complete Edition review!
The Flame In The Flood is a procedurally generated survival roguelike with permadeath. You play as a young woman called Scout, and you can choose between two dogs to accompany on your journey. Aesop is the default dog, but you can decide to have Daisy join you if you wish. As per the roguelike elements, the game is all about survival. You’ll try to make it for as long as possible, learning from your mistakes. Each time you die the environments change which makes it so that every run is a new experience.
There are two modes for playing the game. You have the Campaign Mode for which you can choose your difficulty setting. The easiest setting has checkpoints while higher difficulty settings have less supplies and no checkpoints – this is for those who want a challenge. There is also Endless Mode which is the same roguelike elements with no end in sight for the game… that is until death catches up with you.
In the game, your task is to look for the mysterious radio signal down the river. Along the way you will visit various places and end up camping for the night to refill your health meter as you craft stuff, eat food and drink fresh water – you must use the water filter to purify polluted water.
At the bottom of the screen, you have four icons: hunger, thirst, camp, and body temperature. If you are hungry or thirsty, the meters will start to drop. If it rains and you’ll feel cold, and your body temperature will drop. And if you get too tired your camp meter will drop. During your adventure, you’ll need to keep a close eye on all icons to stay alive.
But that is not all! You also have to survive the natural predators in your path. You’ll run into wolves and other animals that can kill you in a blink. There’s even a trophy for dying in every possible way, so death by predator is certainly on the list. So far I’ve managed to die by starvation, drowning, wolf bite, thirst… there’s plenty of ways to die in this one!
You’ll spend a lot of time riding your raft through a wide range of locations that will remind you of some well-known real life locations. When playing on easy, you’ll trigger a checkpoint as soon as you reach a new location. If you happen to die, you’ll get to restart from said checkpoint. Each location has several smaller areas for you to visit. You’ll end up searching for materials and loot in empty buildings as you find a spot to camp. There are some NPC in the gme that will share with you some valuable info on the game’s story, so the more you play, the more you’ll find out about this release.
As for the crafting side of things, there are many crafting items to discover as well as several schematics. Once you have the necessary ingredients to make, say, a bandage, it will become unlocked, and you’ll be able to craft it. You can make pretty much anything, from food to weapons to adding space to your inventory.
You can upgrade and repair your raft at a Marina. Marinas are not in ample supply so you need to keep your raft in reasonable condition for as long as you possibly can until you are able to fix or upgrade it. The river has plenty of obstacles and hazards such as rocks, and logs that will damage your raft. You should stay far away from rapids if you want to be able to control the raft, or else you’ll end up in trouble.
The Flame in the Flood: Complete Edition is a much bigger game than I originally realized, and its Platinum trophy is one that will challenge even the most experienced of trophy hunters. There’s plenty to do in this game and a ton of content to experience!
This being the complete edition means that on top of the main game, you’ll also be able to access a brand new Director’s Commentary that will allow you to learn more about the game’s design and development. You’ll also get a lovely dynamic theme, two avatars and lots of gameplay improvements that rebalance the game.
As you can see, this is the definitive version of the game. The graphics are great and I loved the art style of the game. There’s a lot of crafting to do, several locations to explore, and many hazards and deadly animals to avoid. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I highly recommend that you buy The Flame in the Flood: Complete Edition on PS4!
Disclaimer
This The Flame in the Flood: Complete Edition review is based on a PS4 copy provided by Curve Digital.
