METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
Game
Game2017
The Long Dark
Developer Hinterland Studio Inc.
The Long Dark is a 2017 survival video game developed and published by Hinterland. The player assumes the roles of crash-landed bush pilot Will Mackenzie and medical doctor Astrid Greenwood who must survive the frigid Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. The game received seed financing from the Canada Media Fund, and further funding was secured through a successful Kickstarter campaign in October 2013. An… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
391 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 7, 2026 · last updated Oct 7, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
67
Fresh
180 positive · 90 negative
95% range 61–72%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 180 | 90 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
121 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
110,245 of 124,040 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 391 · most liked firstPlease stop banning and silencing people for making criticism of your game. Refusing the community feedback by banning these individuals even in reddit is not a goodfaith action. Though I love the game, for this reason, I can not give it a thumbs up since the developer team is outright dictatorial.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve owned The Long Dark since 2014, back when it first launched into early access, and for a very long time I considered it my favorite game of all time. That’s what makes writing this review so frustrating. Let me be clear: the game itself is not bad. In fact, at its best, The Long Dark is one of the most atmospheric and immersive survival experiences ever made. The quiet isolation, the art style, the slow, methodical gameplay loop, it’s something special. I’ve had plenty of genuinely…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this game. It's one of my go-to games. I have issues with seizures and when I reached out to the company about accessibility options they worked with me and added the warning at the beginning of the game. I appreciate everything they put into the game and updates they have done. Survival is my favorite.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →God knows, I loved — and still love — this game. It’s a peculiar one: slow-paced, sometimes illogical from a realistic point of view, but it creates a world and atmosphere of its own. Yet the further things go, the more the developers distance themselves from the players. The game is technically still unfinished. Players have been waiting for the final episode of the story for more than four years now. What are the developers doing? They’ve split the sandbox and the story into two separate…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been a while since I did a charity stream on Twitch, but I'm feeling the urge again. Tomorrow (Sunday) 11 am to 2 pm Eastern I'll be playing "The Long Dark" -- an old game but a new fave, to benefit NY Common Pantry. Join me for giveaways and (probably) horrible death! tilt.fyi/YVoFdn7Efo
unlabelledView post →Loved it back when i bought it. I have enough games on backlog, so i was pretty laid back about the hilariously absurd development time of what... 12 years now? if i recall correctly, the dev decided to take a year off to move to a different engine mid project. seems now they have done it again. i don't use mods, so i don't care about them breaking the experience of every player still sticking to their project. Also, corona happened? I don't exactly see how that is a problem for work that can…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After 5 years, the Long Dark Episode 5 finally comes out. I've had this game for a very long time and I have to say that Episode 5 is probably the most single piece of embarrassing game content I have ever played. I actually cannot believe just how bad this experience was and it's to a point where it actually doubled back to being a comedy. We had softlocks, broken mechanics, unskippable 15 minute cutscenes ended with them saying "the long dark" like it was the hardest drop they've ever done,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hinterland sells itself as one of the "Good Guy" studios. I supported The Long Dark from it's first release 13 years ago, great little game, and I enjoyed the first set of stories and survival mode. Then they stopped work on the main game and moved onto DLC, leaving the main game unfinished. After they finished their DLC money, they moved onto Long Dark 2. A month before Long Dark 2 was due to release they released the final part of the original game: incredibly badly tested, the new…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Time for a new intro here I guess? I'm Raphael van Lierop, founder and creative director at Hinterland. I work with fantastic folks, making THE LONG DARK. I've been a game director, writer, & system + narrative designer for yrs, including ~12 in AAA and 12+ running an independent III studio.
unlabelledView post →Survival mode is a fine walking simulator for 2014, in 2026 it's embarrassingly feature-poor with basic content and the ability to turn off community despised mechanics hidden behind a DLC pay wall. The story mode is just terrible and not at all worth the time to play it. The Dev's are so uninvested in it, they released new paid DLC content before finishing the story mode you were promised when the game fully released in 2019. For context, I bought this game before 2019, when it was still in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought The Long Dark when it first hit Early Access. Back then I had hopes, dreams, and cartilage in my knees. Fast-forward many winters later and the game is still one of the best survival experiences ever made. The atmosphere is incredible, the quiet isolation is unmatched, and nothing in gaming quite captures the feeling of desperately lighting a match during a blizzard while a wolf judges your life choices from the tree line. It’s brutally fair, deeply immersive, and somehow manages to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After over 500 hours and 10 years, I'm finally going to review this game. Really it's two games, the story campaign and survival mode. I wish I could review them separately because it is two different experiences. The survival mode is one of the best survival sandbox experiences for me. Exploring, gathering supplies, and the entire atmosphere is easy to get lost in and enjoy. It's a five out of five game, and I would find myself coming back to this game every few years just to lose…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In my discussion thread I stated that "I like the survival mode and the first four episodes of wintermute" and I also stated that "the ending is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" because it is. I've waited almost 5 years for the final episode to release only to be met with an unfinished and rushed final, with less than luke warm writing and a cliché ending that left no satisfaction to the player. My thread had no insults or threats, it was neither trolling nor discrimination and it wasn't bypassing any word filters.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This doesn't apply to the whole game-just episode 5. I rarely leave reviews, but I couldn't stay silent here. Episode 5 is awful. You just walk from one spot to another. The point of surviving or scavenging is gone. The dialogue is long and boring. You can't skip it. I've already read everything they say and still have to listen for another 30 seconds while they finish. There should be drama at the end, but it just turns into dull whining because you feel absolutely nothing for the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok, I am in and alive for 13 days - my best game so far. I've finally made a good start. I started slowly. Gathered supplies from the coastal area, made an empty home my safehouse. Hell, I had a fridge with 40Kg of food. I had so much food I was forced to stuff Chocolate Bars and Cooked Meat in Drawers... I even had a special Cabinet with Dog Food only. Then I had endless meds... my bathroom was a pharmacy, antiseptics, antibiotics, and so many bandages I could make a blanket with them. I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game something like 10 years ago now, and it's STILL not finished.... I've had time to fall in love with the game, grow tired of the game, and forget about the game before they've even finished putting the whole story together. To add insult to injury, they've released paid-for DLC and hidden features early supporters expected to see in the base game behind it. Then they announced a second game, all before actually delivering the complete first game. The fact they've been…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →That’ a nice anti-AI disclaimer you got there, Hinterland, it nice to know people are still able to produce ♥♥♥♥♥♥ writing on their own I have been a supporter of The Long Dark since the early access days, back when I was a wee little highschooler. I know Mystery Lake like the back of my hand, I remember the updates, the waiting, the excitement, the growing community. Hours, hundreds, I think, that I have spent playing the game. Community survey I filled out, people I defended the developers…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has taught me many things. The most unusual one would be probably what it's like to slowly die. Darkness, snowstorm, mounting injuries. Hypothermia. Exhaustion. You hear your heart slow down, letting out its final beats. And yet, you fight; look for shelter, warmth, anything that'd let you live just a moment longer. Desperately. Against all odds. Seconds feel like minutes. Vision gets blurry. And then you ingloriously fade into the Long Dark. ...alright, that's a little…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Came back to this many years after beating episode 4 and playing survival for 200 days to be amazed that this game doesn't have jumping. Survival mode is fun and the amount of times I nearly died but somehow lived made the time spent in it worth it. Now,story mode...episode 4 and 5 are a total disaster. So many years in the making and you left many people with a facepalm and a sequel bait. The main villain is straight from a Disney movie with his monologues and how unkillable he is (kept going…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Twelve years since the Alpha. Twelve. And this is the final result. It's difficult to explain just how deeply disappointing this final product is considering the length of time and the amount of incredible, glowing support the game has gotten from the community over those long years. The Survival mode is good, might even say very good for those of a certain temperament. But it falls short of something really great that it had the potential to be, and sadly has crossed from fascinating to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely an awful and unfinished game from some of the worst developers I've ever encountered. Remember that this game is still not finished after 9 years and they had the audacity to release side games and DLC for it. When I complained about that in a completely civil manner I was banned from their discussion boards for, I kid you not, "issuing threats". Liars. They're as pathetic as they are untalented and lazy and the game reflects that. This is a hustle and should be ignored at all costs.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →THE LONG DARK, Episode Five: The Light at the End of All Things is now live on all platforms: PC (Steam, EGS, GoG), Xbox (One, Series X/S), PlayStation (4 & 5), and Steamdeck. Switch will be joining ASAP. Go and enjoy the game! If you already own THE LONG DARK, Episode Five is a free update.
unlabelledView post →Stay away from this game. The developers release a terrible episode to end off their story 10 years in development and they're banning people on the community page who dare voice their complaints.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →NO ONE TOLD ME WE’RE GETTING A SEQUEL TO THE LONG DARK??? I frickin love that game omg
unlabelledView post →Thank you to all the fans of THE LONG DARK that were excited to see our sequel announcement at The Game Awards. In case you missed it, you can watch the trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wlt...
unlabelledView post →Just finished the Wintermute story mode out of pure stubbornness. It took the devs almost decade to release these 5 episodes. And at the end of it all... the result isn't just bad - it's one of the worst written pieces of media I had the misfortune of experiencing. The whole thing feels like the first draft that never got edited or revised. It should be studied how can a team of creatives have all this time and resources, and end up with such a boring, trite, painful story.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Long Dark is currently 66% off on Steam, so I'll re-up my recommendation of it as a truly unique experience. No other game gives you the feeling of being alone in the Canadian wilderness, with the elements as your greatest foe. It's incredibly immersive, atmospheric and offers tons of depth.
unlabelledView post →Survival Mode — 10/10 If you're into sandbox and survival games, I definitely recommend this. You're looking at 200+ hours of slow, quiet, and atmospheric survival in a winter setting with a great ambient. You absolutely need to buy the DLC, as it adds a ton of new content. One of the best gaming experiences I've had in years. Wintermute — 4/10 The story mode, however, is a problem. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it to either newcomers or experienced survivors. The main issue is that it's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+ good atmosphere + vast map with unique locations +/- realistic in some aspects, but not at all in others +/- challenging which can be good or bad if you like it - there's a glaring lack of content outside of the idea of pure survival, with you being unable to do things you would immediately think of for survival, and that is a big problem for a game which tries to do exactly the survival part - critique is not tolerated by the devs which is noticable because they're outspoken at the same…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →From their Dev Diary 30th of August 2026: “...one of the things we’ve been considering as we plan out the business strategy for the new DLCs, is that we’ve priced ourselves into a bit of a corner with TLD. Since we started offering Survival Mode as a standalone product (with the launch of the TALEs DLC), the $25.99 CAD/$19.99 USD price of Survival Mode as the “base game” has also influenced what feels like reasonable pricing for our DLCs. We also priced TALES at $25.99 CAD/$19.99 USD to ensure…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have owned this game for almost 10 years and it is still unfinished. Devs release paid DLC rather than finishing the main game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My portfolio is on cara - cara.app/axl99 So far I have personal work, indie game stuff, mobile game stuff, and some cinematic storyboards from my time on Gears 5 and The Long Dark ep4. There are projects from older jobs that are still under NDA that I'm still not able to show publicly.
unlabelledView post →This game is so pretty I love you The Long Dark
unlabelledView post →The appeal of The Long Dark is in the management of your food, water, and clothing while travelling by landmark. When you reach shelter during a storm, the feeling is extremely cozy. Why thumbs down? This is the worst told story I've seen in my life. I play the survival mode a lot and its really good. The store page for The Long Dark is mostly about their story mode and I want you to have reasonable expectations about what that looks like. There are five chapters. Chapter 1 is very good and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are countless reviews that already give words to the way I feel about this game, so I will keep this short. I used to love it. I waited for Episode 5 since the second I finished Number 4, five long years. The fact that I will not finish playing Episode 5 should be enough to show how genuinely disappointing the experience has been so far. What a complete joke. I'd have rather never seen the game finished than have it end with whatever that clownery is. I simply don't want a game I used…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is so sad. I have been waiting for years to finish this really looking forward to it. I have spent with the game for more than 780 hours before the last episode came. And the last episode is probably the worst. There is so many bugs, there is so many bad design decisions. As if someone wanted to finish it fast without too much effort. For example it makes no sense to collect or build things, cure skins or so. To keep things for later in houses. Because the story-line is so limited that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I can't believe how much time I have in this game, and now I have to write a bad review. The final story chapter is just flat out unacceptable. They've kept us waiting for FIVE YEARS for this, and its a broken, half baked mess. As of writing this review I can't even finish the story because my character is stuck in a room with all the doors glitched shut, after I reloaded a save after falling through the floor. This was CLEARLY an expansion they have not been working on for 5 years, this is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Long wait for last story episode that's a buggy mess. Sat through an unskippable 20 min cutscene only to fall through world then get trapped in a room on a save load.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had bought this game a while back. Played it once, then stopped. One day, I started to dislike playing video games, then I saw this in my library and went, "What the hell, why not?" Several months later, it's one of my most played games on steam. It revived my love for video games. Thank you Long Dark, for showing me how to enjoy this hobby again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yesterday, the team at @hinterland.bsky.social announced our next game: BLACKFROST, The Long Dark 2. Here is the announcement trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wlt...
unlabelledView post →9/10 – I Went Outside Once and Immediately Regretted It The Long Dark is a survival game about being alone in the frozen wilderness. It succeeds. You are cold. You are hungry. You are tired. You are constantly one bad decision away from becoming a snow-covered cautionary tale. There are no zombies. No monsters. No aliens. Just weather, wildlife, and your own terrible planning. Every match you strike feels important. Every can of food feels like treasure. Every blizzard feels personal.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We’re happy to announce that THE LONG DARK is now officially available on the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles! If you own the game on Xbox One, you will be automatically upgraded to the Xbox Series version for your Series X or Series S, no purchase required! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxxr...
unlabelledView post →I highly recommend the survival mode and the first three seasons of the campaign (Wintermute). Because I disliked the fifth season's story so much I'm going to say spoilers. I really want to recommend this game but the fourth and fifth (finale) seasons are so very poorly written and downright stupid at times in the cutscenes and decision making of the characters (especially their handling of the game's villain, Mathis and his cringe henchman). MacKenzie has SO MANY opportunities to save the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been waiting more than 10 years for the release of Wintermute's final Episode 5. I love the standalone survival mode, and have spent over 1800 hours tromping around the silent apocalypse. Episodes 1-4 varied in quality, but were generally pretty good. Hell, Hinterland went back and COMPLETELY revamped Episode 1 long after initial release, and it was really a great improvement! I wanted Episode 5 to do justice to everything which came before. But after years of radio silence, unaddressed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't do this often, hell I don't think I've ever written a review before, but I have waited years for this game to end, only for it to be pure garbage, Episode 5 was a rushed, unfinished, pile of steaming crap. Every other episode in this game has had a lovely amount of exploration for you to do, things to find, missions to unravel, but here, you go from point A, press your mouse button repeatedly, then go to point B, and do it over again. They made contradictions to the story they already…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So, so close to a positive review, but I cannot in any way support this company anymore. Extremely toxic and sloppy moderation paired with no accountability. The forums appear to be full of praise. Why? They ban everything else. Use Reddit if you want to have a discussion about the game. The critics of your game are a resource, not an annoyance. Good devs realize this. Get a new leader. Good luck.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am most likely in the minority of players of this game who ended up playing exclusively story mode, which I have now completed after about 50 hours of gameplay, which is much more than I'd usually put into games like this. That is an endorsement, and I have to say I liked a lot of story mode. The core gameplay of the long dark is very cool. Brutal survival mechanics, in depth crafting, and a perfect pacing and atmosphere. The game is so dreadfully slow. Making you spend hours walking, taking…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Exciting!! You can now get an Enhanced version of THE LONG DARK for Xbox Series X and Series S consoles. If you already own the game on Xbox, this is a free upgrade! www.xbox.com/en-US/games/...
unlabelledView post →Waited nearly 5 years for the last episode and it was Horrific. A big ol nothing burger filled with an insane amount of Exposition that says nothing new and told through multiple unskippable cutscenes that can last for 5-10 minutes. Other then that it does have a good survival mode so buy if you looking for a winter survival game and you dont care to play the story. Because my god its the writing horrific towards the end. Also they seem to be banning anyone that criticizes the last episode on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Long Dark is a genuinely good game—which makes it even more impressive how the experience around it gets dragged down by the people running it at Hinterland Studio. Apparently, the real survival challenge isn’t the cold or wildlife, it’s having an opinion that doesn’t perfectly align with the devs. Anything slightly critical seems to mysteriously disappear, and moderation comes across as extremely thin-skinned and fragile. If something this mild counts as “ban-worthy,” then the moderators…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Toronto Guardian thinks THE LONG DARK is one of the greatest Canadian video games of all time. 🇨🇦 torontoguardian.com/2025/07/the-...
unlabelledView post →Would recommend since it's the best survival game of its kind and scratches a vibe no other game can scratch, but I can't help but wonder just how much better the survival mode would be, and indeed how further along The Long Dark 2 would be now, and perhaps how financially better off this company would be, if they didn't waste nearly 10yrs creating a story mode nobody cares about. Why they so desperately wanted a story mode I do not know, the very premise of which violates the games mood as…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thoughtful words about THE LONG DARK from Riley at @aftermath.site. I've always appreciated Riley's views on the game and this analysis of the tension that has always existed between Survival and Story really hits home.
unlabelledView post →Seeming as it's big game list day, here's my personal top ten games of all time. 1. The Long Dark This game makes me feel things. I've never -been- in a video game space in the same way as this one. a masterclass in survival mechanics done right. store.steampowered.com/app/305620/T...
unlabelledView post →A fanart for The Long Dark from 2020 Can't wait for the new game! #art
unlabelledView post →An excellent open-world survival game set during a harsh, freezing winter. The developer continues to add new chapters for free, without locking them behind paid DLC. The developer's attitude toward the players is truly outstanding. I personally spent a huge amount of time playing this game on Nintendo Switch, and I bought the game on Steam simply to support the developer and show my appreciation for the way they treat their players.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played thousands of hours, there is just so much to this game with the main story, and challenges, or you could just play survival mode. I'm 60 this year and still can't enough of The long Dark.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We’re happy to announce that THE LONG DARK is now officially available on the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles! If you own the game on Xbox One, you will be automatically upgraded to the Xbox Series version for your Series X or Series S, no purchase required! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxxr...
unlabelledView post →Great game -- bought it many, many, many years ago... Why is the game still being released... Why are we supposed to be paying for these releases for a game that was sold to us as unfinished... So when we bought the game X-years ago -- we bought it with the intention that you'd finish the game... ...you'd just figure you'd sell it to us instead -- imagine buying a couch -- and you get one bolt/pillow a year... ...this is why people have trust issues with games, developers and publishers. Now…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Such a lovely and beautiful game. That's a true classic survival game for me, by having an open wilderness, abandoned but interesting world, with both predators and prey animals where you will become both :) If you're more into story games than a basic survival, then a wintermute is for you! It was a part of the main game but got transferred as DLC, so you have to pick both to play this intriguing story, learn more about this world and basics of the game. Tales from the Far Territory DLC…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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