Road To Vostok presents a fictional, post-apocalyptic version of Finland, comprising of the landscape that contains the Russian border. During my time spent in this harsh, rural environment, I really got a taste for how unforgiving it can be. However, armed with some persistence and an iron will to survive against the odds, I slowly but surely got to see more and more of what this early access title has to offer.
If you have played titles like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in the past, then you may have a rough idea of the gameplay systems that Road to Vostok has to offer. Think of it as a survival-sim roguelike, where each time you venture out into the unknown, you return with more plentiful bounties and a little more knowledge of what is out there and how to handle it.
First and foremost, I am pleased to report that despite Road to Vostok being an early access indie title, it ran buttery smooth for the most part on my rig. I experienced a frame rate dip once in a specific area, but overall, the technical performance is absolutely solid, especially considering it comes from a relatively unknown developer.
Antti Leinonen is the name of the solo developer responsible for Road to Vostok, and he has done a great job of making sure that his game runs well, so he has to be commended for that. Leinonen’s passion for both this genre and this part of the world shines through in every aspect of the experience. You can feel how much of his real-world lived experience and his personal gaming taste has been poured into this vision.
If you are looking for a layered, detailed narrative, then Road to Vostok likely won’t be the title for you. Other than a brief introduction to the game via a transistor radio, there isn’t much else here in terms of story, at least in its current state. Obviously, the game is still in early access and more plot elements may be added in the future, but at the time of writing, Road to Vostok is more concerned with atmosphere and mood.
In that regard, the game delivers in spades. The atmosphere in this game is thick, and the tension during certain moments could be cut with a knife. There have been horror games that haven’t made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in the way that Road to Vostok has. So much of this atmosphere comes from the game’s sound design, which is utterly phenomenal.
The player starts off the game in a small cabin, which essentially acts as your operations hub for the duration of your time in post-apocalyptic Finland. You must venture out of your cabin for the first time with a limited selection of randomly generated supplies and weapons. From here, you are on your own. You will have to feed, rest, heal and hydrate your character while you explore to keep him in optimal condition.
Each run that you complete allows you to store your bounties and supplies from the outside world in your cabin’s storage units. When you sleep in bed, the game saves, meaning that if you head out again the following day and get killed, the only things you will lose are the items you are carrying on your person, but your stash will be saved for the next time you load up and head out.
Speaking of taking bullets, Road to Vostok’s gunplay is not the fast-paced experience you might expect from a first-person shooter. It is, however, extremely intense. The guns handle well and adhere to a strict realism in terms of their use. For example, to switch from automatic to semi-auto on an SMG, you must manually trigger the switch on the weapon, before loading it into a suitable magazine, and only then can you fire your weapon.
This level of realism also applies when you are on the receiving end of gunfire. Getting shot in this game is no joke. Even if you win the gunfight and sustain a gunshot, that wound will continue to bleed and your health will continue to deplete until you treat it with a bandage and your health won’t increase until you apply a tourniquet and take some medicine.
On top of this, you’ll need to remember to scavenge for food and juice to keep yourself fed and hydrated, as well as ensuring your character gets plenty of rest. This level of detailed realism is what takes Road to Vostok from being a survival FPS, to something closer to a life-sim rogue-like. It is also the element most likely to put more casual players off the game.
This is a shame, because there are some really great moments to experience in Road to Vostok, even in its current early access state. As I have alluded to several times, the enemy encounters in the game can be extremely thrilling and nail-biting. These cat and mouse moments are so exhilarating that they are worth the price of admission alone.
Road to Vostok is at its peak when you are crouched with your gun drawn, listening carefully for footsteps as you and the enemy stalk each other through a cramped, abandoned home. Leaning around corners to check for camping enemies while you hold your breath and get ready to squeeze the trigger is a rush every time. The scarcity of ammo makes these life-or-death moments even more twitchy and consequential.
Hopefully, more will be added to the game over time. Some Last of Us-style environmental storytelling would feel right at home in the post-apocalyptic world of Road to Vostok, maybe in the form of notes or diaries the player could discover. It would be really cool to learn more about what caused the brutal, survival-of-the-fittest nature that is required to thrive in this harsh apocalypse.
Perhaps you could uncover the source of the EMP blast that destroyed electronics across the region. Maybe looting, reloading, healing, and eating animations could be added, while enemies could be given more personality and individual backstories instead of feeling like generic bandits. Taking the life of a fellow survivor in circumstances similar to the player’s would carry far more weight than killing yet another nameless bot.
Even so, the high points of the game vastly outweigh the lacklustre ones. Antti Leinonen has done a phenomenal job crafting an experience that feels vast, intense, harsh, and full of potential. At its $15 asking price, Road to Vostok is well worth checking out. Hopefully enough players are willing to stick with the harsh learning curve that the game presents and are not turned off by the relentless, unforgiving nature of the gunplay and enemy AI.
Road to Vostok may be a solo-developed indie game, but its future looks extremely bright, and the foundations already in place give it enormous potential. If you are looking for a tense, gritty, realistic world to jump into and act out your rural survivalist fantasies, then you could do a lot worse than Road to Vostok.
This game was reviewed on PC.
