Don't Starve Mega Pack Review (PS4)

Well, it's time to pick a character, pack your stuff, and go camping.  Not exactly.  Let's dive into the crazy world of Don't Starve.

Don't starve is kind of a survival horror game, but not really.  There's a horror-like feel, though there's not really anything scary.  Just a little creepy, like Coraline or The Nightmare Before Christmas.  There's definitely some survival going on.  And dying.  Lots and lots of dying.

Your journey begins the moment your character steps through this creepy door.

As you might guess from the title, your goal is to not starve.  You'll have to look for food everywhere you can find it or you WILL starve.  Of course, starving isn't the only way you can die, as you can also be killed by monsters or "animals".  Heck, you can even die from being in the dark.  Nothing special.  Just the dark.

Even worse, you can die while the game is paused.  You can pause the game, but you have just enough time to take a piss before the game decide, "Well, you're dead."  If you want to take a break and not die, you have to exit the game and reload it when you come back.  This is bullshit and makes the game feel a little cumbersome.

No, this isn't a joke.  You WILL die if you leave the game paused.

Your character (whoever you choose) has the ability to create items from things you find around you.  Create weapons to fight and kill monsters and "animals", fires to stave off the dark and cook meat, clothes to wear, and machines that give you the ability to create even more things.  Just make sure you do it in a safe place, because you can be attacked while browsing the menu.

You'll need to make stuff to survive.

You also have the ability to edit every aspect of the world before you start playing.  Don't like the dark?  Turn it off.  Don't like monsters?  Turn them off.  Don't like food?  Heck, turn that off, too.  Conversely, you can turn off the day if you love the dark or increase food if you love food.  There are other things you can manipulate to give yourself the best (or worst) chance to survive.  The choice is yours.

You can literally edit every aspect of the world before diving in.

As mentioned before, you can select a character.  There is a healthy number of creepy-looking protagonists to choose from.  You choice isn't just cosmetic as the each character has at least one unique trait.  For example, there's an opera singer who starts of with a spear, but can only eat meat.  Another character can eat almost anything, but gets hurt by rain.  It's an...interesting selection of characters.

Choose your favorite from 11 characters.

You don't have to go it alone, either.  Just fire up that internet connection and you can try to survive with (or kill) your friends.  You can determine whether it's a dog-eat-dog world or a kumbaya society before you start, so there shouldn't be any surprises.

Whether you want a world fun of friends, bloodthirsty lunatics, or want to go it alone is up to you.

On to the other stuff.  The music is virtually nonexistent.  Outside of the title theme and character select theme, there are little 10-second nothings that pass as music.  Otherwise, it just ambient sounds.  And when the characters speak, they don't speak, so much as they make noise.  Anyone who has ever seen Charlie Brown and heard the adults talk will understand what I mean.

The graphics are delightfully creepy.  They are, however, a little too small.  Your first few forays into the world, you may find it hard to see what's going on.  You'll adjust...if you don't go blind first.

Make sure to watch out in the forests.  An ass-whuppin' could lie behind any tree.

Don't Starve Mega Pack is an interesting game with good replay value.  There are a lot of characters who aren't just the same as everyone.  The ability to alter the world before venturing in gives you the ability to see if you can survive under various conditions.  Also, the world (or at least your starting point) is randomly generated each time you start a new game, so no two play-throughs (to my knowledge) will be the same.  It's not for everyone, but is worth a look if you like creepy things and survival.  Give it a try.