REVIEW : Endling – Extinction is Forever (PC)
No, it’s not fire; it’s a fox. She struggles to flee the falling house around her, urgently hoping to survive for the sake of the four hearts beating within her stomach. The centuries-old trees turn to ash, and the fox seeks sanctuary on a rocky outcropping. Life sprouts forth amid doom. Four cubs were introduced to a dying world.
Endling: Extinction is Forever’s opening sequences are among the most beautiful I’ve seen in a game. Endling, the debut title from developer Herobeat Studios, follows the last fox on Earth as she struggles to keep her cubs alive in a world that grows more dangerous by the day. With one of your cubs abducted by a hunter, you must balance the obligations of keeping your other cubs alive while also seeking your lost child.
Endling: Extinction is Forever is a side-scrolling survival game developed by Herobeat Studios. Endling’s environmental concerns are great, but the game’s investigation of the subject never gets beyond the surface. Endling’s basic tale and confined gameplay fall short of the promise of the game’s opening minutes, resulting in a dismal and repetitive experience.
DAY BY DAY
Survive. Endling’s major purpose is to achieve this. Survive the pollution that is becoming more prevalent over the day. Survive the people who want to hunt you down and sell your skin for a profit. Survive despite depleting food supplies. The game instils this urge in the player through the use of a day-night cycle. Every night, you leave your refuge to explore the world. As the day approaches, so come greater dangers, and you must return home.
A hunter kidnaps one of your cubs early in the game, but your other three cubs are too immature to fend for themselves. Each day’s limited time must be divided between searching for clues regarding your missing cub and finding prey to feed the three you still have. This dichotomy should lend stress to Endling’s gameplay, but it never delivers on the stakes.
Taking care of the three cubs who are remaining by your side turns out to be a piece of cake. They may go for long periods without eating, and the danger of starvation has little effect on gaming. When the food-tracking bar is empty, a timer will begin above a cub. They will perish if they are not fed before the food runs out. That may seem tense, but it happened only once throughout my four-hour playthrough. That’s because food isn’t particularly scarce in Endling, even though humans are aggressively destroying forests and polluting waterways. To make the most of each day, I found myself running over the map, frequently leaving my cubs unaccompanied, and feeding them only every couple of days when required.
The primary motivation becomes exploring the map in quest of your lost cub. You might pick up on their scent, which will bring you to new regions and hints about where they are. However, no matter how hard you look, you will not discover your cub any faster than another player. Clues about your cub’s whereabouts are only available on specific days. Endling gate prevents players from moving through the plot or map by sealing off vast areas, which means you’ll be retreading the same few roads for days on end while waiting for the next clue to uncover. This could have worked if keeping your other three cubs fed and alive was fascinating or suspenseful in any way. However, for a game that claims “extinction is permanent,” there is no true sense of peril, making the game feel boring.
PLANET’S DYIN
Endling is finally shown to not be a game about the fox and her cubs. The scents you find provide clues to the location of your lost club. Each successive day that a smell becomes available leads to three vignettes depicting the hunter’s adventure after capturing your youngster. You will learn more about the hunter as you uncover additional clues. After his wife dies, the hunter strives to provide for his small daughter by whatever means necessary. A local corporation (the same one responsible for global deforestation and pollution) is rewarding those who bring in fur.
“That nasty man is exactly like you,” the game tells the player. Doesn’t it make you wonder?” The game’s themes of environmentalism and resource scarcity serve as a warning about the human race’s current plight. We are the last of a dwindling species. This inept attempt to pull the rug out from under the player’s feet, on the other hand, rings hollow and devoid of genuine significance.
Environmental concerns are not a new theme in video games. Final Fantasy VII, one of the most successful video games of all time, is a story about the need for direct action against morally corrupt corporations that drain the planet’s lifeforce. “I can hear the planet’s cries,” one character shouts to Cloud. Final Fantasy VII does not shy away from the difficult concerns that come with an environmentally conscious plot, asking each member of the party to confront their role in the world’s doom to effect true change. Barret even vows to save the condors from extinction at the hands of Shinra, realising that he must act to defend the planet’s ecosystem. Endling: Extinction is Forever is a dull experience concealed behind a beautiful visual aesthetic and a meaningless message about humanity’s relationship with the environment.
