The Flame In The Flood (Steam, Xbox One)
Set in a beaten-up, soggy post-apocalyptic American South, The Flame in the Flood is a roguelike survival game that tasks players with surviving a raft journey down a raging river. Humanity is clinging onto the edge by its fingertips, leaving behind a dangerous work of hungry wild animals and warped survivors.
Somewhat reminiscent of similarly damp flood movie, Beasts of the Southern Wild, we’re presented by a warped yet eerily plausible world gone mad. It’s despondent stuff, as the effects of Hurricane Katrina encompassed states rather than cities, each turn of the river bringing fresh new nightmares and troubles.
In terms of gameplay, you have to manage your hunger, thirst, temperature and need to sleep – not to mention surviving the horrors the river throws at you. A strikingly pretty game – deep somnolent blues punctuated by explosions of orange – The Flame in the Flood demands your attention, too. The only flies in the ointment are an awkward inventory system and some iffy control decisions, but the overall game feels like little else out there.
