Ben Rayner reviews The Flame in the Flood…
Survival isn’t just a word to be banded about in order to make your next movie or game sequel sound more tense and gritty than it’s predecessor. Sure, that’s often how it’s used but it’s actually a skill to be taught, learned and mastered. It’s also an instinct to be nurtured.
This instinct is tough to master though and The Flame in the Flood has taught me that survival isn’t just down to the sure will of wanting to defy death and expire on your own terms, it comes down to smart thinking, forward planning and knowing not to f**k with a bear or wild boar if you aren’t suitably armed as that can only lead to scenes not too dissimilar to ‘that’ bear-rape from The Revenant and we all know how rough a ride that was.
Before I dig into the raw meat and ash cakes of the game, I should explain that roguelikes have eluded my passions for some time now. Yes, I know how well Don’t Starve has done and how many people adore it to pieces but for some reason, I just couldn’t get into it. Really, not at all.
Feeling I was seriously missing out, I rather excitedly raised my hand in order to review The Flame in the Flood, simply because the art style peaked my interest and that little voice inside my head told me that this could be the game to get me into the genre.
Much like I had to really love Bloodborne before I could go back and appreciate Dark Souls (a fact that I’m sure will get me a lot of flack in the comments, but hey. Come get me!)
Stepping into the boots of a weathered girl who already looks to have been through the worst of, or rather waking up by a cozy camp fire ready to begin dictating her survival plan, you and your dog Aesop begin a quest to conquer the elements and ultimately, the River.
While on land, everything plays out in typical survival fashion. Leaving you to collect supplies, craft tools and improved supplies all while fending off feral animals who look as desperate as you to eat what they can and survive one more day in this harsh new world. Apart from the rabbits, perhaps they knew something the rest of the planet didn’t but they still seem so fluffy, and well fed.
Seeing this made me jealous, but after creating a few snares and snatching up a few of these cuties for my lunch seemed to balance out the wrong doings within this universe.
To keep your spirits up and chances of surviving at peak levels, you’ll need to don your Sims cap and keep an eye on your thirst, hunger and temperature but it’s not as simple as grab this, use that. Water carries the risk of parasites and germs giving you sickness as with raw meat. You can handle a small amount of illness, thanks to being such a hardy character, but disregard clean living for too long, and you’re in trouble. Sleep is obviously an important factor too. You can sleep by a camp fire which can be built anywhere, but if you’re left outside in the elements, rain could disturb your slumber and leave you soaked and freezing cold. Something which takes quite some time to recover from and could be the ending chapter to your whole journey.
Death is ever-present in The Flame in the Flood, with more ways to die than you’d care to think about. From the aforementioned cold, lack of sleep and poisoning there’s also infection, starvation, drowning and of course being mauled by wolves, bears and other wild beasts.
You can craft some primitive weapons to fight back or scare them away, if you’re focused enough to spot them in time, but good old fashion plan B is often the best solution.
What is plan B you ask? RUN! RUN AWAY!
Your trials on foot are tough, but they’re actually just a small part of a bigger, more monumental task.
You see, this isn’t a sprawling landscape ready to be traversed from one end to the other on foot. Rather, it’s a vast collection of islands all connected by a wild river that is brutal, harsh and ridiculously difficult to travel down with your initial raft. As time goes on, you can upgrade and tweak your scraps of wood named ‘raft’ of course, giving you some more control and such but it never really gets ‘easy’.
To quote Cleveland Brown, “no one wins, you just do a little better each time” which is an ethos woven into the core of The Flame in the Flood.
The river provides a huge challenge sure, but this isn’t its only gift. The river opens the whole game world up and gives you the motivation to push on simply because you can actually see yourself heading somewhere. Down river.
Instead of an endless grind to essentially out last an invisible clock, you’re pushing to survive that bit longer in order to get further down the river. Further than your last attempt and perhaps even further than the distance you know your friends have ran.
The river flows naturally though. Pushing you from pillar to post, sweeping you forward or grinding you down, with obstacles along the way that could destroy your raft completely. As your raft moves at a snail’s pace, being washed around, you’re in a fight to control where you’ll be taken next.
As islands appear, it’ll take some quick thinking to choose which you’ll land at and fight to make it happen as the rivers rapids could speed you forward but slingshot you past your goal, and there’s no going back.
Each piece of land is procedurally generated, filled with a finite amount of random items and opportunities that may never make an appearance again. Putting added pressure on making the right choice. When you’re desperate for flint to make a fire but the last three islands haven’t had a whiff, you’ll blame yourself for that rash decision to ride the rapids in order to speed things along.
That’s if you don’t end up hurtling into the array of floating cars and houses which look hypnotic as you float down stream but offer nothing but destruction should you get too close.
In true survival style, your space is limited. So while you may have a spell of good luck, finding everything you could ever need, whether you and your canine companion can carry it all is ultimately a different story. You’ll be forced to make some tough choices and hope they don’t return later to bite you in the backside, but it’s not all harsh and brutal mechanics.
Should you die on your travels, anything Aesop was carrying can be used on your next run, almost acting like a checkpoint for your level of preparation.
Visually, The Flame in the Flood is a beautiful mix of bright colours, sketchy lines and melancholic shapes. From the haunting facial expressions of your character as she struggles on, to the school buses and rickety churches that flood the world, giving you a glimpse of what once was.
Night skies tinged with the glow of your camp fire, the floating feathers of crows you’ve shooed away. If Tim Burton was ever in a happy mood while sketching on a napkin, I’m sure this is what he would want to create. It’s beautiful and what initially drew me to the game in the first place.
The Flame in the Flood is a hugely enjoyable survival adventure, that brings the river at its core to life in a truly fascinating way. Throw on endless mode and see how long you can survive the river, for an experience you won’t soon forget.
Rating: 9/10
Ben Rayner
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