The cool and rather unique survival-adventure game, The Long Dark, is about to get its third story episode. Developer Hinterland Studio announced the news via Steam, and it looks as though they are planning to launch the Episode 3 in December 2018. Of course, The Long Dark Episode 3 is not the only thing that’s coming.
According to the Hinterland Studio, the third episode of The Long Dark is not the only thing they intend to release. They are also bringing Redux versions of Episode 1 and Episode 2, which are also both going to arrive this winter. The developers were keen to point out that the changes they made in this upcoming Redux editions are so huge, players will not be able to continue from their old progress and may feel compelled to start again.
The third episode of The Long Dark, unveils a new Wintermute experience. We first learned about Wintermute’s existence back in April 2018.
Now, let’s have a look at a list of changes and improvements that are officially coming to the Redux episodes of The Long Dark:
- More open and flexible mission structure, reducing the forced linearity of the story missions; this includes restructuring the side missions and making more of the content optional
- Whole new playable intro sequence for Episode One
- All NPC dialogue is now fully voiced and animated using an entirely new animation system
- All dialogue and narrative scenes are now presented in first-person, using an overhauled dialogue UI
- New major story elements in both Episodes, including a new NPC
- Although the high-level episode story arcs remain as before, almost every story beat, dialogue moment, and mission element has been improved, with about 80% of the dialogue rewritten to accommodate
- Removed the Trust system as it contributed to the “fetch questy” feeling of the first two episodes (we plan to repurpose this system for elsewhere in the game)
- Completely overhauled Bear Hunt mission and added new gameplay (Episode Two)
- Improved tutorial presentation Improved story UI elements
- … and many other fixes and improvements.
Bear in mind that, The Long Dark is going to be available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 4, 2018 in North America, and September 7, 2018 across Europe and other territories. The game grabbed the attention of 2.5 million players already, and it’s been revealed that gamers can now preorder the physical retail edition, as of today.
Here’s a little extra that is promised with physical editions of the game:
Every retail edition box of The Long Dark will include a code to download the game’s Original Soundtrack, as well as a limited edition physical Field Journal. Used by an unnamed survivor on Great Bear Island, this naturalist’s Field Journal includes a map of the Island, as well as plenty of room to log your day’s activities – the perfect companion for any survivor of the Quiet Apocalypse!
Tell us if The Long Dark has caught your attention! Will you be continuing your adventure?
