Green Hell Review: Is this Survival Game Worth Playing?

Green Hell is an intricate story that pits players at the mercy of the jungle. Unfortunately, for some players, it can prove to be an unforgiving journey that is too much to handle. Green Hell is a simulation-survival game by Creep Jar released on June 9th, 2021. Official Synopsis: “Green Hell is a sweltering struggle for survival in the Amazonian rainforest. Clinging to life, the player is set on a journey of durability as the effects of solitude wear heavy not only on the body but also the mind. How long can you survive against the dangers of the unknown?”

Green Hell – A Bitter Journey For A Cure

Green Hell is one of the more extreme survival games that you will encounter. In its jungle-like rainforest, you will find just about everything any normal human would need to survive. But, you’ll also find just about everything in a rainforest that can kill you. You aren’t really given a guide on how to survive either. Players will need to trust their own skills, brains, and instincts to be able to survive more than a day in the Green Hell. It’s pretty true to its name. The map is beautiful and boasts vibrant green sceneries wherever you go. It’s beautiful. Once you get the hang of it and stop dying every few minutes, Green Hell proves to be a rich adventure with a lot of positive things going for it. One of the first things you’ll notice about Green Hell is that the controllers are a little clunky when playing on a console. You can tell this game was meant to be played on PC at first, but that doesn’t mean that the controllers will completely turn you off from the game. They just take a little getting used to at first. When investigating your journal, your joystick acts as a cursor. This is the first thing you should know to really get a feel for things. The rest will be explained to you in-game. Sometimes the in-game menus don’t function as they should. This can make things frustrating because you’re going to be checking your journal a lot. And by a lot, we mean that you’ll have your nose in your journal at least once every ten minutes when you first start the game.

Your journal has everything you need to survive. Got bit by a snake? Check your journal to see how to combat the poison and what antidotes are available for you to craft. Need new shelter? Check your journal so you can find the blueprints for an easy-to-make shelter and place them in your world. Need to find out what the next step in the story is and what you should do? Your journal will have the quests and story progression written down as notes from the main character in your journal. All these things are done from the comfort of your journal. So you can imagine the frustration when for some reason it becomes hard to navigate it. It’s rare though and most of the time you’ll be able to make use of it quickly. Where you’re really going to need a helping hand is with the crafting. The crafting is straightforward for building in the world, but for crafting tools it can be a little confusing at first. Building in the world requires you to choose a blueprint from your journal into the real world and gather the necessary materials. You’ll be able to highlight all the materials you need but you will only be able to put them together in a certain order. Something we wish we knew first going in. Crafting tools work a little differently. Here players will need to see the recipes in their journal and then go to their backpack and place those items on a crafting board. Then they will be able to craft them. If that sounds confusing well it is. And we wish we could say it’ll all make sense when you see your backpack, but that’s where the clunkiness really starts. Thankfully, it isn’t impossible to navigate and with enough determination, players can get a feel for it and start to craft relatively quickly.

The environment in Green Hell is beautiful and its ties to the Yabahuaca Tribe make for an interesting dynamic. It’s a typical rainforest filled with a lot of deadly things. Seriously, the most difficult mechanic in Green Hell is staying alive. You have four different health meters that you will need to keep track of. Basically, you’ll need to maintain a healthy influx of carbs, fats, proteins, and water. This can be pretty difficult for players only starting out as finding clean water can be a mission, killing animals isn’t easy of the gate, and getting your carbs in can be tricky with so many poisonous things around. It is incredibly easy to get stomach poisoning in this game which can lead to a quick and easy death. Not to mention that if you get bit by a rattlesnake early on you’re probably going to die. And, if you don’t satisfy your four meters, you’ll likely pass out. Pass out in the rain and you’ll probably die from the cold. Pass out during the day and you might get eaten by a jaguar. And if you even think about passing out overnight then you will wake up full of leeches and parasites. Green Hell lives true to its name. The story itself is interesting enough to keep the player wanting to explore more of the world. The game starts off with you and your wife Mia heading into the rainforest to try and form contact with the Yabahuaca Tribe to try to obtain some knowledge on their medicinal herbs and such. Mia decides that the tribe is trying to communicate with her so she goes alone to form a relationship. Some things happen and bam, you end up alone and confused in the rainforest wondering where Mia and the tribe went. Thus your journey to find Mia and find out just what the island is really about begins.

Green Hell is a great time if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t know what you’re doing it can be incredibly frustrating. If you play with a friend, it’s a lot more forgiving and enjoyable if you’re more of a casual player. But for the players that want to be thrown into a game with incredibly realistic survival mechanics then this game is right up your alley. Green Hell is a great time for players looking for a real challenge and for a game that doesn’t just guide your hand through everything. It has an interesting story and the developers, Creepy Jar, have already released a road map for 2022 so it’s sure to get continued support. Definitely, a game that is worth checking out!