During Sony’s most recent State of Play stream, an original game was revealed among the many sequels and ports. Away: The Survival Series was teased and has since been the subject of adoration by fans who enjoy the immersion into nature and the adorable protagonist, a nimble sugar glider.
Developer Breaking Walls describes the game as inspired by nature documentaries, which should be immediately recognizable in the reveal trailer. Trouble brews when a cataclysmic storm sweeps through the planet that threatens to destroy everything, and you must escape the oncoming danger to find sanctuary.
If the reveal trailer is any indication of the actual gameplay, it is clear that as a sugar glider you will have access to an immensely agile body that can climb with ease and glide swiftly through the air. At the same time, you are far smaller and weaker than other creatures that may wish you harm. Speed and strategy will be the cornerstones needed to either outsmart or outright defeat those enemies.
The soundtrack also sounds fantastic, at least from the little we were given in the trailer. The developers tout that Mike Raznick, an experienced, multi-award winning composer that has created the music that sets the tone for their world. This is exciting news, as fans of Raznick’s work will recognize his familiar music from the nature documentaries Planet Earth II and Life.
Watching the trailer also reminds one of another game with similar themes. Ori and the Blind Forest was released in 2015 and has since had various rereleases with additional content and features. In that game, the player controls a fictional creature not unlike a sugar glider, that is fast, agile, and can also glide, in a manner of speaking. The game was far more cartoonish in appearance and was a 2D side scrolling puzzle game, not an immerse 3D world. Still, fans that enjoyed the emotional journey in Ori and the Blind Forest are sure to notice similar feelings in Away: The Survival Story.
Both the PS4 and Steam will offer the game, although the official release date has yet to be determined. The team has spent the past three years in developing the game, and news of an official date is expected shortly.
