The Long Dark
The Long Dark
Game
Game2025
Age of Darkness: Final Stand
Developer PlaySide
Age of Darkness: Final Stand is a dark fantasy survival RTS where you must illuminate, build and defend humanity’s last bastion against hordes of Nightmares. Set in the remnants of a kingdom consumed by a deadly fog, you decide. Will you hide in the light? Or take back your world. From the Steam store page
259 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 4, 2026 · last updated Oct 7, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
45
Mixed
100 positive · 122 negative
95% range 39–52%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 100 | 122 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
37 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
7,935 of 10,679 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 259 · most liked firstDon't Buy ! The dropped the support of the game after version 1.0. There are still a lot of bugs and annoying errors in the game. Quote from discord "Age of Darkness is no longer in active development and major updates will not occur for the foreseeable future."
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I came here to write a review because the whole “abandonware” chorus around this game is honestly ridiculous. People seem to have a very unrealistic idea of what “game development” is supposed to look like. This game is complete. Finished. Done. Could more be added? Sure — more can always be added to any game. That’s not the same thing as being unfinished. Multiplayer works perfectly fine and isn’t buggy. If you’re having issues, it’s probably something on your end — this game uses…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has been abandoned by the devs, leaving behind a diamond that couldve shined bright as day. As it stands now, its an unfinished game with more bugs than I could report. On top of that the people in charge showed very poor leadership and communication skills, which led to their community (rightfully) turning against them in what felt like a massive let-down. As it stands now, I sadly can no longer support this game or the devs of PlaySide, and thats a sentiment Im not alone with. If…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To any looking to buy this game I would advise caution with it. They have canceled further development of the title and are moving on. They mentioned this on their discord, while this game still is full of bugs. I wish they fixed it as it was fun but it started being very buggy, but now they just abandoned it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Abandoned by the developers for quick money. Age of Darkness: Final Stand has massive potential, but unfortunately, PlaySide Studios seems to have completely abandoned it. The game is still riddled with bugs and unresolved issues, yet the last update we received was all the way back in mid-2025 (with the 1.0 release). Instead of fixing this game and delivering on its full potential, PlaySide has already moved on and released another title. It seems to be a recurring pattern for this studio:…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The studio abandoned the game for another game, do not buy !
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Despite having a very good start, promising concept, interesting lore, and good replay value (up to a point) this game has been abandoned by its developers. Rest in Peace Edwyn, you will be remembered as the character that could. DONT JUST ABANDON YOUR GAMES LIKE THAT
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After full releasing the game, the devs did a few patches and then abandoned the project without saying anything to anyone. Do Not Buy!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Abandonware that had potential. Fun concept but the game was released too early and then abandoned a few months after. Devs even promised they were not going to abandon and still did.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is fantastic with so much potential but i cant recommend it to anyone do to the devs abandoning it while it still needs work. Game crashes in multiplayer, feels very unoptimized in many scenarios, the campaign drags and is hard to finish. Bugs are numerous. in short the game should have never been released into 1.0 it feels very unfinished and not worth the price tag especially when you wont get another update/hotfix for the unforeseeable future.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A lot of potential but developers fall to typical greed, release game "early access" and eventually abandon it. I wish at least there was workshop access so mod creators can make it better.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game was better in early access. Now unit animations are stuttering either in real time and cutscenes, everything feels unpolished. Developers released version 1.0 grabbed money and left this game. PS: Maybe im paranoid but in early access i havent seen UE5 logo so thats maybe why is game ♥♥♥♥♥♥ now.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So recently I decided to play this game again after having tried it quite a while ago. The thing is that I couldn't remember why I stopped playing it the first time despite liking it initially. And then it hit me again, as I was playing the 4th mission (~4 hours each playthrough), I remembered there was this enemy kamikaze unit that explodes one-shotting every unit and sometimes even your heroes, forcing you to load a save. This unit sometimes even spawns out of nowhere in the middle of your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR - Don't get it unless you really want to play co-op and it's on a big sale. Just play They Are Billions or From Glory To Goo I bought this game in November of 2021, when it first launched into EA. Between then and the official 1.0 launch, it progressively got worse, despite having more content. I see comments saying that the devs were laid off, but I can't speak to that. It's been left in such a bad state that it is arguably abandonware. If you're buying this to play co-op, you're going…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Abandoned project after announcing more campaign and content
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good game that needed more time and care from the Devs, but while writing this, it seems that all work on this game has been abandoned so they can release another game...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to love this game, but honestly just play they are billions. The heroes are an awesome touch to this game, but it falls short on everything else. Extremely buggy, (have lost progress 2 times having to restart with a NG), the dialogue is gawd awful and everything needs more polishing. Unfortunately the devs have moved onto new projects so I can't recommend this title at all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Counter review to the negative ones in the "Recent reviews" category. Its not abandoned. Its finished. Its not a live service game. Is there unrealized potential? Absolutely! But then again, show me a game that doesn't have unrealized potential :P Game is great :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright y'all, compare this playtime to the rest of the reviews and listen to me when I say, this is not a bad game. Is it as polished as it should be? Has it been patched in the past year or so? Did this game live up to it's potential? Is the campaign worth playing at all? The answer to all those questions are "No". However, for $15, this game is a slammer for RTS vets. The combat/control is NOT clunky, it's actually quite good. Other than not enough variety in voice lines and how often…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A game with a fantastic premise, good gameplay, and an interesting design unfortunately bogged down by terrible balancing and a difficulty curve that is vertical. I hoped that Early Access meant the devs would eventually get around to balancing the game to the point where it's actually feasible to progress and get really good at the game, but unfortunately the crushing difficulty, something I actually greatly enjoy, leaves no room for fun or growth as the game simply lacks the balancing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd wait for a sale.. It doesn't seem like there is anymore plans for this game. Shame really. I was hoping for more co-op stuff other than survival. The amount of hours I have is because I got bored fast doing the same thing over and over in co-op.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game but sadly dev team was fired so now abandonware. Hopefully modders will pick up where they left off. Dont buy unless like 5$ USD
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another counter review to the negative reviews of late. To me, the game, aside from 1 hero feeling extreelyt lacking, feels pretty much finished! the cmapigns nothing special but similar games have the same problem, horde based campaigns are just difficult to make comelling. The factions feel reasonably distinct, multiplayer is extremely enjoyable and one of the few horde based games that actually have it. IF you enjoy They are billions or Diplomacy is not an option this is definately a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a genuinely fun experience - however the game has been abandoned/"completed" by the devs. I understand that financially they have to move on, however for whatever reason the experience has degraded on my hardware. Frameskips, hard crashes, etc. Started with highest settings, eventually just went with lowest settings possible. I'm unsure if they had a regression or something, but it's frustrating. The game itself is genuinely fun. I genuinely wish it was a steady state of resource…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish there was a "sort of" vote. This game is a defense game in the tradition of They Are Billions, but rather than a steampunk setting they're using a grimdark fantasy setting. I greatly enjoyed They Are Billions in spite of its flaws, and this game is by most metrics a better game. The sound and voice acting are both better than they need to be. The visuals are excellent, and they did a great job of making the UI easy to understand. The non-hero units are mostly just bad. To be clear, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the same as the others, this game doesn't deserve the hate its getting, I usually prefer campaign type games, but this game struggles, don't get me wrong, its still fun, but survival is where this game comes into its own. people moan, you cant save your game blah blah blah, they will never know the feeling of completing a hard difficulty on survival and punching the air, it may take you 10 times on easy, but you will get there, keep trying. I love they are billions and tried to find a game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Upvoting this game because of all the childish downvotes. People expect every game nowadays to be a service that gets infinite support and content. This is a finished product that provides a cool campaign that is somewhere aiming in a WC3 direction and there is of course the free game mode, which is a lot of fun, especially when playing with friends. Yes it has its weaknesses and some bugs, but please show me one finished game which hasn't. If you like tower defense with a pinch of rts, this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For a game with hoards of enemies it's poorly optimized and path finding is a joke that annoys tremendously.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An important part of the hobby is introducing others to a game you love. Offered to run #HorusHeresy intro games at my FLGS using my models. The offer was accepted and we played a small, fluffy & really fun game. Outcome? Age of Darkness box purchased & another player excited to get into the game 😁
unlabelledView post →Just finished the campaign. I am sc2 ex-grandmaster and I love RTS. Here' my opinion: - The campaign difficulty is well balanced. I enjoyed buidling farms everywhere and finish game without using heroes. Heroe's are OP and I challenged basically myself to use them only for def and early expension. I kiiiinda would want a more difficult campaign, but I 100% see how - The gameplay loop is good. - Maps are amazing. The guy who made maps needs a raise. - STORY IS SO BAD I CAN'T EVEN EXPRESS IT. Guy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Abandonware, DO NOT BUY.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As much as i'd like to give a positive Review, this game deserves a thumbs down for now. I've only played the campaign so far, but i don't know if i'm trying the multiplayer, given the problems this game has at the moment. My main complaints are: - Unit pathing is terrible. If you select a waypoint with the attack-command, they should prioritize enemies before buildings. Sometimes the units attack useless buildings and ignore enemy units or towers actively damaging them. - Economy…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know why the game is getting so much hate recently, but i feel like i have to give my input now. DISCLAIMER: I play survival, haven't even done campaign yet. This is a great game for people who like age of empires and tower defense. Trying to simplify it, the gameplay loop is to attack, get resources, expand, defend. random maps and 3 different factions - each with 2 different heroes keep the game fresh for respectable timeframe. Only recently beat the Horrific difficulty, second to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll make this fast. I love this game, it's such a chill game to sit back and play- a good challenge that constantly forces you to learn how to adapt to new maps and issues. It also looks good, and you really feel the impact of the hordes. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone because it seems the Devs gave up on it. It's a fantastic gem if you get it on Humble, or through other means but due to the devs seemingly not bothering to do anything with this gem, I can't say it's worth the price…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IN GOOD FAITH: I recommend this game. There ARE bugs in the game, but 9 times out of 10 you can fix it by just close out and restart. I have SO many hours in this game without issues and I rarely have bugs that break my game. 220 hours and i plan to keep going. YES THE DEVELOPERS DID ABANDON THIS GAME, but for what they have made, this is a rough gem. This game could EASILY be one of the next BIG game titles for the RTS genre. The review bombing is just to help bring the devs back. PROS:…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Such a great game, it's a terrible shame it's been left to die.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game had potential but was abandoned will avoid any future games from these devs
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So much potential but the Devs decided to abandon the game. What a pity.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard one to cut and dry recommend or not. In my opinion its a great game, much better than "They are billions" with more room for actual strategy over the "just kite with expendables and mow down" approach, it had a great start with good lore and a solid enough storyline. The downside is the dev's recently abandoned it, ultimately they say they didn't but in my view it isn't finished, the campaign ends abruptly and was clearly planned to have more to it than it did and they haven't minced…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the game has a great concept, it hasn't been realized. There is no varying strategies, it's always the same route to success or failure. You can also be handed a guaranteed loss from map generation, by not having certain resources supplied enough. Desync in multiplayer was a frequent issue when I was playing with a friend. I want to like the game, and if the devs had finished the game and polished it a bit I think it would have been a monument in the genre. Sadly it has been left in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The developers are utter scumbags, no updates since multiplayer release or any communication to their community untill this week only to say that there will be no support going forward as they're developing some game of thrones games. Avoid these developers and any other games they half arse make. STOP KILLING GAMES
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to like this game, but there's just too many glaring problems with it. The AI pathfinding is an absolute joke. Units running into the backs of friendlies trying to get to the enemy, with no course correction. The campaign is laughably predictable as far as the story is concerned. Fanfic writing tier level at best. The one positive I can say is that the "hero" units have decent abilities that make some battles interesting. Overall 4/10, wait for sale if you really want to try it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You can see the potential almost immediately. Unfortunately, you can also see that the game was left behind before it could really become what it should have been.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not sure why the devs abandoned the game, but it feels like a rug pull. Its a good game but was in dire need of content. So I do not recommend picking it up.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I loved this game before they did the armor update it made the enemies more tanky and there aren't any units to counter this neither in early or late game the only possible way is to arbalest spam and upgrade your arbalest to make more damage when they are in towers but even that isnt that super effictive and that is super boring they made the armor system but no units that have armor shred/penetration. plus the devs stopped/abandoned updating after the 1.0 patch while the game still has alot…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game ticks all of my boxes. Strategy. Defense. Towers. Choke points. Not to long, but not to short. Good Co-Op. Good stuff. Campaign is a bit lackluster but still good
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TO quote a friend (and I fully agree): Abandonware that had potential. Fun concept but the game was released too early and then abandoned a few months after. Devs even promised they were not going to abandon and still did.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They Are Billions got me hooked in a new type of defensive survival RTS. For those unaware of the budding new genre, you're playing a strategy game where you need to clear out an enemy filled map in a timely manner in order to build a thriving economy, strong enough to support a army capable of beating the frankly insane attack waves that periodically threaten your existence. Its a careful balance of aggressive expansion, unit management and defensive planning thats utterly addicting to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Campaign is tedious garbage. Poorly written. Poorly thought out. Just bad. AS to survival... They are Billions beckons... Another side note... I hate artificial delays in load screens. If it is not a artificial delay then it is a poorly optimized piece of trash.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →already stop update any patch , don't buy it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You abandoned this game to focus on War For Westeros. A necessary sacrifice, one could say. However, given the lack of updates and news of ongoing development progress, it seems like WFW was abandoned too - and it hasn't even been released yet.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This ideally would be a game with neutral review, but I am choosing to put a negative one in hope that devs actually work on it again so it can reach it's full potential! It's not a bad game, you will definitely have some fun with it, but it's just sad it was abandonded at this state. Pros ==== - They are billions type of gamplay which not many games exist like that. - Multiplayer mode! It makes the game a lot more fun and wish more similar games included such a mode. - Different heroes. - 3…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Story Mode: Starts terribly boring, gets a little better as it goes but I stopped at ~Act 3 from boredom. Survival Mode: IMO the core mode for this game. Is quite good. Multi-player mode: never tried Once you learn the game mechanics it becomes easier but it can easily lead to micro-management. In survival mode it might take a while to notice but not only can you choose a faction, but there are 2 hero options for each faction. Each with their own unique abilities. You win survival mode by…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Damn, this game could have been great if the devs didn't abandon it upon 1.0 release. Even if they didn't put anymore content into it and just squashed all the bugs I would be happy but they aren't even willing to do that. Don't buy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game still needs some serious patch work, but that'll never happen, why? Because the devs have abandoned this game as soon as it was released to work on a GoT title. It's to bad because this is a good game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Could have been great but has since been abandoned with some big bugs and gameplay features that are just not fun. I wouldnt bother buying it now.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (1986) Ultima I was first released on the Apple II in 1981. In 1986, Origin released a remake of the game, rewritten in assembler (the original was mostly created in BASIC), for the Apple II and Commodore 64, with a DOS-version following in 1987. 1/3
unlabelledView post →Devs appeared to have vanished.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An amazing mix of RTS and Tower Defense. The game is difficult with the right amount of rng from different map seeds, so that you have to always adapt and never know what to expect. Contrary to what recent comments seem to imply, the game is finished with a Warcraft III-like campaign, a multiplayer mode and a solo survival mode that are difficult to beat. I showed this game to multiple friends that love tower defense and rts games, and they immediately liked it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →avoid all games from this developer they dont deserve a single dollar, abandoning the game just like that is absolutely pathetic hope the company shuts down and all the employees go broke.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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