UnReal World: URW Review

Finland, the iron age. A time before medieval rule, kingdoms, or warlords even knew Finland existed. Pagan gods were the only rulers, and free tribes roamed the wilderness, often on the knifes edge between prosperity and death. UnReal World, or simply URW, is a harsh reminder of how difficult and uncontrollable life was, and still is for people living in the 'wild'.

URW is a work in progress available for public beta and pre-purchase, created by two absolutely hardcore Finn dudes. Sami Maaranen and Erkka Lehmus are not only programmers, but do this survivalist stuff for real. Erkka lives full time in a self-sustaining country collective (like one of those 'pilgrim experience' villages you probably went on a field trip to, only full time and for real). He has a degree in theoretical philosophy, whatever that is. Sami is a pen-and-paper RPGer that spent most of his childhood running around the forests, making his own bows, and later, immersing himself in primitive survival and craftsman skills. He's also the head programmer, working on machines about a decade old.

URW is a RPG, similar to a dungeon crawler, only you're not, y'know, in a dungeon. The interface is not the easiest thing in the world to pick up, but the extensive encyclopedia and in-game help will have you familiar with things within a few play-through. And yes, you will be playing through this game quite a few times. The free demo version gives you six in-game days to survive. You'll be lucky to survive more then two on your first few tries. However, URW is not a game that's trying to kill you. It's more of a case of you failing to survive.

The game is quite realistic, and some people may be turned off by that. You need to be constantly wary of food, water, and shelter. Animals are not generally actively aggressive (unless you walk right into them), but be wary. You can be killed by a squirrel if it scores a particularly lucky hit. Take it from me, squirrel bites freaking hurt.

Character creation is quite in-depth, allowing you to choose a tribal affiliation (which effects starting 'skill' stats), physical and mental stats (determines by random dice roll, but don't worry, you have endless re-rolls), and then five specialization categories, where you can improve your starting skills.

The graphics are simple, but we are not here for pretty pictures. The complexity and depth of the game is the draw, as is the unique nature of it. Where many survival games are very linear, URW is completely open-ended. You can hunker down and build a house on the edge of a lovely pond and farm turnips, or go a-questing for adventure, burning villages down, slaughtering cattle, and finding interesting ways to die. Games can last a few minutes, or many, many hours of play-time.

The game's web page is simple, but gives you all the necessary info. Thoth's URW page is a fan-made FAQ and information site, that also includes a custom tile set should you feel like changing the graphics around a bit. The forums are active, and quite helpful if you have any questions.