Lone Survivor PS Vita Preview - Survival Horror On The Go

What would you do if you were the survivor of a deadly epidemic? You’re low on supplies and you’re stuck inside a boarded up, decrepit apartment complex surrounded by shambling corpses of the infected. Do you stay and rot or do you venture out into the dangerous complex, tempting fate and attracting the mutants to your scent? Thankfully, you’ll be able to decide for yourself once Lone Survivor arrives on PS Vita later this year.

Lone Survivor is an retro-styled indie psychological-survival horror title fusing the adventure, stealth, and platformer genres into one incredibly scary package. The game casts you as a lone survivor (unmistakable because of your iconic surgical mask) of an unknown contagion that wiped out most of the population. You’re low on food and supplies so you must explore and discover useful food and items that will help keep you alive and sane a little while longer.

More on our Lone Survivor PS Vita preview after the break.

As the lone survivor, you’ll have to brave the complex, solve puzzles, and scavenge for useful items while avoiding deadly mutants. Now, being that Lone Survivor is a 2D sidescroller, it’s hard to imagine how the player would be able to hide from hideous monsters right? It’s actually quite ingenious how Superflat Games designed the game’s stealth mechanics; you can hide in certain parts of the environment and even use items like rotting meat to lure the shambling monsters, giving the game a pseudo-stealth system that works given the game’s dimension. Just like Klei Entertainment’s recent Mark of the Ninja, Lone Survivor makes great use of lighting and other visual cues to give players the feedback they need to know if their character is hidden or in plain sight.

Later in the game you’ll be able to pick up a firearm and (very) limited ammunition and defend yourself but you’ll most likely find yourself either sneaking past or hiding from the mutants in the darker corners of each location. Even when you do get the firearm, the developers keep you at the edge of your seat because even with your flashlight illuminating your immediate location, you’ll find that most of the room is still bathed in darkness, and you never know what’s lurking within.

As for the game’s story, you’ll find oftentimes creepy notes scattered around the complex; each one giving you a piece of the bigger picture. And that’s just the beginning; your character can become low on sleep, can become hungry, and may lose his touch with reality. You can combat these by eating and sleeping when needed, but later on you’ll see and hear things that aren’t there, and you’ll have to question whether the things you see are real or not. You’ll find yourself going through horrific dimensions filled with these creepy shifting walls, horrific ruins, and more. Your character’s fragile mental state will unravel throughout the course of the adventure. As well, you’ll find yourself struggling with a number of choices that you’ll have to make throughout the game’s story, as each choice will shape the rest of your adventure and the ending you’ll acquire.

Developed by London-based Curve Studios instead of original developer Superflat Games, the PS Vita version of Lone Survivor will feature Trophies, Cross-Play support with the PS3, and most importantly, Cross-Buy, meaning that one purchase will net you a PS3 and a PS Vita copy of the game. The game will also ship with new dialogue with characters, new items, new side quests, new music, and a brand-new ending. Lone Survivor is hitting the PS3 and the PS Vita this July.

Find out more about Lone Survivor at http://superflatgames.com/wordpress/