Baby, its cold outside
Arctic Awakening starts with a plane crash and drops you into the frozen north with nothing but a therapy robot for company. From there it leans into atmosphere, mystery, and companionship to carry you through a five-chapter story. It’s not a survival simulator; it’s not a pure walking sim instead it’s somewhere in between. That middle ground works in its favor most of the time, even if the game doesn’t fully escape the shadow of its inspirations.
The Arctic wilderness is stunning and oppressive in equal measure. The sound of howling wind, snow crunching underfoot, the way fog rolls in and swallows everything; it’s immersive in a way that keeps you glued even when not much is happening. Firewatch gave us stylized beauty in the Wyoming forest; The Long Dark gave us harsh survival in Canada’s backcountry. Arctic Awakening finds its identity in the loneliness of frozen tundra mixed with strange sci-fi structures poking out of the landscape. The result is eerie, unsettling, and pretty at the same time.
MSRP: $24.99
Platforms: PC (reviewed), Xbox, PlayStation
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
Alfie, your floating therapy bot, is probably the most important piece of the game outside of the environment itself. At first, he comes across as comic relief; a chatty drone meant to fill the silence. But over time, your relationship with him develops. He frustrates you, supports you, and even challenges you. Think of Firewatch’s Delilah over the radio, but instead of disembodied voice, it’s a hovering machine constantly buzzing at your side. It doesn’t always land, but when it does, it adds real texture to the experience.
The game is broken into five chapters, each about two hours. That’s a sweet spot for a mid-tier game. You can knock one out in a single evening, sit with it, and then come back for the next without losing momentum. Each chapter escalates the tension just enough, and while not every plot point is shocking, the pacing helps keep the experience engaging. This is not The Long Dark. You’re not juggling thirst, hunger, body temperature, and wolves at every step. Arctic Awakening sprinkles in environmental obstacles, storms, blocked paths, and some minor survival flavor but it never asks you to manage spreadsheets of resources. That makes it far more approachable if you like atmosphere and story but don’t want to stress over micromanagement.
Stop me if you have heard this one before; Plane crash. Lost co-pilot. Strange happenings in the Arctic. The structure of Arctic Awakening will feel familiar to anyone who’s played narrative adventures before. It doesn’t mean the story is bad it’s serviceable and has some emotional punch but it rarely surprises. Where Firewatch had you constantly second-guessing what was real, Arctic Awakening tends to play things straighter.
Arctic Awakening is a solid mid-tier narrative adventure that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It nails atmosphere, gives you a memorable companion, and packages everything into a format that’s easy to pick up and finish. It won’t wow you with innovation, and it’s not going to become a genre-defining classic, but it doesn’t need to. If you’re craving the loneliness and mystery of Firewatch but with a colder, stranger backdrop, this is a good pick. If you admire The Long Dark but bounced off its punishing survival mechanics, Arctic Awakening might hit the sweet spot. It’s a game that feels like spending a weekend in the cold; you won’t stay forever, but while you’re there, it’s an experience worth having.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
