While John wallops mammoth monsters with a wicked frying pan and lambasts them with the hell-scorched flames of a jerry-rigged flamethrower, Sam’s kit is more magical in nature. The game’s core loop revolves around integrating the playstyles of these two characters - they have different approaches to puzzles and their own distinct combat builds. Through it all, however, Eastward remains committed to carving out its own distinct identity, and, for the most part, it succeeds spectacularly.Įastward puts you in two different pairs of shoes - the ripped and rugged boots of John the miner and the ethereal slippers of his surrogate daughter, Sam. And yes, there will be occasions during which you will feel as if this is something you have seen before. Yes, it will, often and almost brazenly, be comparable to its vast wealth of influences - it even has a minigame called Earth Born with an internal combat system that is remarkably similar to another relatively popular ‘Earth’ game, with all the necessary ‘mother’ lingo that comes with it.

It is not the first video game to explore what happens when demagogues replace institutions in the wake of cataclysm, converting history into historiography as survivors become philistines not just by necessity, but by design.Īnd yet Eastward is stunningly original to the point of near overambition.

It is not the first video game to juxtapose vibrant colour and vital noise with a thematic core that is much darker. Eastward is not the first video game to pit parent and child against the encroaching apocalypse.

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