Albatroz

Albatroz delivers an emotional journey, but only for the most patient players.

I’ll give the devs some credit; Albatroz is a really unique game, and it’s also better than their previous game, Distortions. But it’s also a really buggy, unpolished and unfocused experience. I didn’t jive with the story, and the gameplay got on my nerves at times. It’s not entirely bad, though; you can clearly see the devs cared about the game like a passion project of sorts. It’s just a clear case of feature creep on something that should have been a lot simpler, a lot more straightforward.

At least Albatroz is a short experience—within about eight hours you’ve already seen most of what it has to offer, unless you accidentally spent the entire time walking in the wrong direction… I cannot recommend Albatroz, primarily due to its poor technical state. Rarely have I encountered such a rough implementation. Long loading times, bugs that obstruct progress, stuttering, and even complete freezes all contribute to a consistently negative experience.

There’s no doubt that this game was created with passion and love, using the personal experiences of the devs to build a fantastic world. The story of Isla and her journey through the land is a beautiful, challenging yet rewarding adventure. Most players interested in investigating and following clues to unearth the story will find it a great experience. Those who were expecting more survival themes may find this to be tedious. The gameplay itself is not reflective of the already-established survival games currently available. Having to eat or drink water every couple of minutes comes across as the stats being very unbalanced. There is no major risk to ignoring these, except for Isla passing out and being put back at a checkpoint. Using intel and maps as a means to move the characters forward in the world and story is done well. This is refreshing to see as it is both challenging and rewarding. The soundtrack had the most effect during my playthrough. It was fantastic throughout the game and captured the overall ambiance quite well. I would love to recommend the game wholeheartedly, but there are just too many issues in making this a comfortable experience for players. Especially at the current price point. Albatroz gets a Thumb Culture Silver Award as most players will like the sound of it but it might not live up to their expectations.

Among Giants signs a proposal that has managed to convince us despite its technical problems. A great adventure in the mythical Albatroz mountain in which nature becomes the main protagonist of the story. Driving, pilgrimage, survival and RPG come together to create a whole that sometimes is sublime, and others, not so much.

Albatroz is an interesting game about a journey of self-discovery, meeting new people, and appreciating good views. It has a lot going for it with its adventure survival gameplay, as it’s more engaging than other walking simulators out there. However, don’t expect an actual, realistic hiking experience. It’s really an RPG built around the foundation of a more lighthearted survival game and basic resource management.