Review: Another Dawn

Another Dawn is the latest game from indie developer studio KR Games, and is focused on survival gameplay that sees the player having to stay alive by eating and drinking, but also evading or fending off enemies. It is officially optimized for Microsoft's Xbox Series X, so expectations have for sure been high. I'm definitely a fan of the genre, but I've yet to see one lately that really has given me that "wow" feeling. Is Another Dawn that game? Well, I've got some news for you.

Platform: Xbox Series X.

Visuals & performance

I don't know where to start, honestly, and it kind of breaks my heart that things are this way, but...Another Dawn, ESPECIALLY on an Xbox One S, but even on the world's most powerful console (Xbox Series X), is a complete mess.

For starters, I'm not even sure the game is running in a native 4K resolution, and while it is at many times actually pretty stable in terms of framerate performance, it doesn't change the fact that the game does still suffer from an inconsistent one from time to time, with the last level suffering the most. The game looks like a high-resolution Xbox 360 game at best, with AI enemies that are simply very dumb, to the point where they almost overcome you due to it.

Cause, as far as I know, AI isn't supposed to shoot into the ground just cause they've seen me underneath them, and I'm pretty sure that they're not supposed to shoot at me backwards as they're running forward. Not only is the game generally an unpleasant sight, unstable and downright bad, it's also incomplete in the form of there being actual parts of the terrain/enviroment that is missing. Plain and simple character designs, dull shadows, generic level design, and playdough-like textures is the norm in Another Dawn, unfortunately.

Keep in mind, this game is OPTIMIZED for the Xbox Series X, yet plays in a way that would only be acceptable if it was free. To make matters worse, it's only around 1-2 hours long AND it is priced at $20. I haven't enjoyed this game in the slightest, and believe me when I say that I have entirely tried to. While so, so bad, I was at least able to complete the game. Audio is sadly as tediously bad as everything mentioned above - nothing is really that unique, and it's all one big pile of bland audio.

It's like they've taken the PC version & quickly ported it over to Xbox Series X without any sort of optimization, made an even worse port for the Xbox One and then called it a day. Cause I can't imagine that they've actually spent any significant time to optimize it. I mean, sure, I fully understand that the developer team isn't big, but it doesn't justify Another Dawn looking and running like this.

Gameplay

The remarkably lousy tale doesn't end with the visuals and performance, as the game is equally as tedious when it comes to its gameplay. Another Dawn is made out to be this adventure-filled Far Cry-inspired experience that sees us venturing far into hostile jungle territory where both human & animal enemy encounters are bound to happen, all while following a seemingly interesting story. The real identity of this game, however, is perhaps more hostile than anything else - a lifeless 1-2 hour long and story-lacking excuse of a game.

Sure, it's almost one month from release as I'm writing this, but I highly doubt that they can do much to change the core experience now. Another Dawn is a first-person survival game with shooting & melee fighting mechanics, but as it's a survival focused game, too, it has a food and drink system as well that requires the player to gather but also use these supplies in order to survive. I have to say that this system might work kind of well, but it's very simple. Drinking from an invisible bottle isn't really the ideal way of showing this system off in, either. There's a decent amount of weapons, but they all behave the same, pretty much.

Controls aren't difficult to understand, but there's something with them that makes them too janky, and don't get me started on the sensitivity. The game just doesn't make sense, in many different ways: shooting, AI IQ, story, and even how long the game lasts. I can't even say much about the story, since there, well...isn't really one. There's basically no voiceovers, there's not much going other than some occassional screams via a walkie-talkie, and really not much else. Unless you count a single living friendly character as much.

There's no indication of who the protagonist is, you never get to see the family that the game's all about until the end, and that's just one of them. As I said, it's about 1-2 hours long and only has a few missions/levels - where the gameplay is mostly all about exploration through linear yet semi-open areas, combat encounters that are all the same, simple & straightforward tasks, and last but not least; an engaging but also not special at all drink/food system.

All in all

I've really tried to like Another Dawn, believe me, I have. However, the game is just simply way too lacking in pretty much every department for it to become even somewhat fun or enjoyable. Unfortunately, I don't think KR Games are able to do much about that now, either. The only real positive thing to say about Another Dawn is that it features very easy achievements, but that's it. It's all the perfect combination of a game that is just plain bad but also very boring - shady gameplay, dissapointing visuals, a next to non-existant story, and overall a completion time of around 1-2 hours. This is arguably one of the worst games I've played, sadly. I do not recommend buying it, especially not for a price of $20.

Another Dawn releases on the 29th of January for both Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It is priced at $20 and is also optimized for the Xbox Series X|S. Are you interested in buying it? That can be done here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/another-dawn/9p1mkz0rq7xm

This review is written by Jesper Ingemansson and is based on his honest opinion about the game.

A review code was provided by KR Games for review purposes.