Away: The Survival Series

The story mode will be wrapped up within five hours but there is an exploration mode if you haven’t quite had your fill of bugs. Here you’ll be able to take control of other creatures and, as the title suggests, explore. There are short video logs dotted around the place if you want to try to find out more about what happened to the world. Although, once you realise that the other creatures are even harder to control than the sugar glider, and have encountered your fair share of crashes, you’ll probably decide that you don’t actually care that much about the reasons for humanity’s demise.

While AWAY: The Survival Series nails its nature doc narration conceit, it doesn't have anything particularly enlightening to say. The game does sometimes succeed as a straightforward cinematic adventure, but rough controls and a general lack of polish derail the rollercoaster far too often. Playing AWAY can be compelling at times, particularly if you're an animal lover, but you might find queueing up a few episodes of Planet Earth more fulfilling.

AWAY: The Survival Series had a shot at providing something a bit different, but it has a multitude of issues that hold it back. Maybe the number of bugs is supposed to be some meta commentary about the actual creatures in the game, but I doubt it.

As a lover of both wildlife documentaries and videogames I absolutely wanted to fall in love with AWAY, but the rough edges of the gameplay and some bugginess proved just too much of a burr under the saddle to be entirely enjoyable. The frustrating gliding controls, a rogue camera, and a smattering of weird and wonderful bugs throws salt on the rich earth of a great idea. The premise is a marvellous one and I applaud the team at Breaking Walls for doing just that – smashing down another wall of what can be made into a videogame. I hope that the team continues with their ‘Survival Series’ and works to bring more playable nature stories to life in the future – I have every faith that this could be a wonderful franchise with only some refinement.

I wish I had more positive points to speak about, but AWAY: The Survival Series just isn’t that fun to play, and being a video game this is one of the most important aspects for the developers to nail. The experience feels unnaturally empty and shallow, and whilst the good intentions are there, the execution makes it a hard title to recommend spending money on, at least in its current state which feels like an early access title, despite it being a proper release. If this title piques your interest, I would suggest waiting to see what the developers end up fixing and tweaking as they have promised to fix multiple issues and provide constant updates to offer a more polished title.

AWAY: The Survival Series is a great idea that unfortunately was horribly handled in almost every way. The poor handling, uncooperative camera, and bugs are a hell of a combination. Neither the great concept of the game nor the nice graphics could keep me with the game, nor did it convince me to give it a positive rating. I hope that the creators won't break the imaginary stick over the title and will try to fix most of their mistakes, hopefully in the shortest possible time.

The beauty of Away: The Survival Series isn't the gameplay but the journey itself. While it has it's problems with bugs, the environment itself is lovely and the narration and musical score at least give the short expedition a quiet elegance.

Though well-intentioned as an interactive educational documentary about the spectacular lives of sugar gliders, AWAY: The Survival Series simply isn't sufficiently sophisticated or well designed enough to pass muster as a videogame that will keep you coming back. As it is, AWAY: The Survival Series is an attractive, if clunky edutainment title that only the youngest and most inexperienced PlayStation gamers will truly enjoy.

So is AWAY: The Survival Series the definitive nature-based videogame that would impress the likes of even David Attenborough himself? Not quite. There are sadly many details of AWAY that feel unpolished and detract from what could have otherwise been an insightful and engaging adventure. Its lush and detailed world is unfortunately marred by poorly-responsive controls, troublesome platforming, and a camera that spoils the intent of being a cinematic adventure. If these flaws can be overlooked, the detailed world and its myriad creatures offer entertainment that aims to delight players like myself who grew up engrossed by watching nature on the screen.

Just like Ancestors, AWAY: The Survival Series is based on an interesting idea, but the end result is far from being entertaining or even educational. Instead of being a nature documentary it is a rudimentary combination of platformers with a bad combat system and even worse stealth mechanic.