Away: The Survival Series

The beauty of Away: The Survival Series isn't the gameplay but the journey itself. While it has it's problems with bugs, the environment itself is lovely and the narration and musical score at least give the short expedition a quiet elegance.

AWAY is a beautiful and educational adventure like no other, but major gameplay mechanics are poorly executed and take away from it being a standout title in the survival genre.

Presented as an animal life documentary, AWAY: The Survival Series aims to educate whilst telling a story about family, hope and perseverance. With a family of adorable sugar gliders at the forefront, Breaking Walls looks to break new ground in this environmental adventure.

There aren’t many things in this increasingly divided world that everyone can still agree on, but Planet Earth is one of them (the BBC series, not the actual planet – that’s as divisive as ever). Who doesn’t enjoy watching animals doing weird things in HD while David Attenborough gently narrates? But what if you could actually control an episode of Planet Earth? To personally eat or be eaten, instead of just watching it play out? That’s the elevator pitch for AWAY: The Survival Series from freshman Montreal-based developer Breaking Walls.

Buggy, broken, and boring, Away: The Survival Series is awful all around.

AWAY: The Survival Series had a shot at providing something a bit different, but it has a multitude of issues that hold it back. Maybe the number of bugs is supposed to be some meta commentary about the actual creatures in the game, but I doubt it.