History VideoGame / TheLongDark

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Loading screen tips and lore documents mention 'The Collapse' in the early 21st century that made Great Bear Island even more socially and economically isolated from mainland Canada. Some of them also reference the proliferation of electric cars, with rural gas stations outfitted with charging stations. All of the vehicles in the game have gas caps and look to be no younger than the 90's, however, and the computers are all pretty chunky with not a smartphone or tablet to be seen.

The four difficulty levels alter the challenge in significant ways. In Pilgrim (Easy), you are more of an explorer with no wolves attacking you. Just you having the world to explore without danger. Voyageur (Medium) is more balanced where you are part hunter, part survivor and face a reasonable challenge in the game. Stalker (Hard) is where nearly everything is trying to kill you around every corner. Interloper ([[HarderThanHard Hardest]]) is a extreme challenge where only a small amount of supplies are available on the entire map.

* NatureIsNotNice: Despite the breathtaking environments and serene atmosphere, the Canadian wilderness is a brutal place for survival.
* NemeanSkinning: The player can skin several animals in the game to make clothes out of them. Rabbitskin hat or mittens, Deerskin boots and pants, a Wolfskin coat or a Bearskin coat and finally a Mooseskin cloak or backpack. For an added bonus, the Bearskins can also be made into an [[CarcassSleepingBag actual sleeping bag]]. However, each pelt skinned must be dried indoors for days before it can be used.

* OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope: The game's opening screen warns that despite the game's dedication to realism, it should absolutely ''not'' be taken as a substitute for real-life wilderness survival training. It also states that the animals in the game are abnormally aggressive due to the geomagnetic event; in real-life, predators are not murderous human-hating kill-beasts and the development team does not condone the unprovoked killing of wildlife in real life.

* CanadaEh: The game is set in Canada, so characters speak with Canadian accents and several buildings have the Canadian flag waving outside.

''The Long Dark'' is is an immersive first-person SurvivalSandbox and the debut title from Canadian independent developer Hinterland. The game contains certain elements of survival horror stemming from the atmospheric nature of the game and the natural dangers that the player faces. The game is more grounded in reality than most other games in the genre. The game's Steam page emphasizes the fact that there are no zombies, only you vs. the wilderness.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Film/TheGrey Once more into the fray...]]'']]

* MurderByInaction: [[spoiler:Molly's husband was killed by a pack of wolves, and she stood and watched it happen while she was armed with a rifle. He was an abusive sort, you see.]]

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:Molly]] is one. [[spoiler:She's been murdering all of the escaped convicts scattered around the Pleasant Valley, [[DoesNotLikeMen apparently because they are men]].]]

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:Molly]] is one.

* InventoryManagementPuzzle: You can carry up to 30 kg without slowing down. If you get tired, this amount decreases. However, it is generally a good idea to travel light as you burn more calories if you carry more even if it is below the limit. On the other hand, if you leave something behind you have to come back for it once you need it, so it's another one of the tradeoffs you have to consider in this game.

* EndlessGame: Sandbox mode doesn't end, unless you die. There are achievements for surviving for certain lengths of time.

* FissionMailed: [[spoiler: Upon arriving at The Old Bear's cave at the end of The Hunted Part 2, he will charge (while ignoring bullets) and maul you. Instead of dying immediately or regaining conscious and getting back up, you are instead dragged away by the bear into its cave. The challenge ends with a [[BolivianArmyCliffhanger "To be Continued..." screen.]]]]

''The Long Dark'' was released in alpha form for Steam Early Access on September 22, 2014. It was finally released in full on August 1, 2017, with the first 2 episodes of the story campaign unlocked on release, and the remaining 3 episodes to be released at a later date.

* HealingHerb: Rosehip, reishi mushroom, and old man's beard lichen are substitutes to painkillers, antibiotics, and antiseptics, respectively. The former two have to be "prepared" and then brewed to make tea, which makes them heavier to carry than the tablet form of their counterparts. Old man's beard lichen, however, has negligible mass compared to antiseptics which comes in liquid form.

* ArcWords: "Wintermute." It's the title of the campaign, and near the end of Episode 2, Jeremiah asks Will to deliver an important message consisting of this single word.

The story itself focuses on two characters, Will [=McKenzie=] and Astrid Greenwood, a pilot and a doctor, respectively, who were once married and have since gone their separate ways....until one cold, snowy night when Astrid suddenly shows up at Will's front door with a locked hardcase and a request to be flown to Great Bear, a remote, nearly uninhabited region of the Canadian Wilderness. The two take flight in Will's plane against a worsening storm...but while en route a bright green aurora flares up from the north and knocks them from the sky. Now stranded and lost, the two now must reunite while battling everything mother nature has to throw at them, from frigid cold, to hungry wolves and bears, to the strange cosmic phenomenon that has knocked out anything and everything electric, while also unraveling the mystery of what happened to the world around them...and why they are here in the first place. At the end of the day, however, before the sun slips below the horizon and heralds forth freezing temperatures and fierce predators that they ''hope'' their fire can keep at bay through the night, only two real choices remain: Survive, or fade into The Long Dark...

** Fighting a wolf in hand-to-hand combat will almost always result in extreme injury, if not outright death, for the player character. It's impossible to fight back at all against a bear that has you pinned down.

* GoodiesInTheToilets: Subverted. There are no ''goodies'' per se -- just precious, ''precious'' clean water.

* HollywoodDarkness: Averted. Nights in this game are pitch ''dark'', even with a storm lantern equipped you can't see more than a couple feet in front of you if you are located inside a cave or building. Outdoors, however, the snow is reflective enough to make progress possible, if risky.

* FlareGun: A rare weapon found only at the top of Timberwolf Mountain or sometimes in The Ravine and the Carter HYdro Dam. Ammunition is very rare, but its the only way to scare away a charging bear.

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