Articles
In mid-July, two games dedicated to animals saw the light of day: we already told you about the cat's adventure in Stray, and now it's time to share our impressions of the post-apocalyptic fox simulator Endling - Extinction is Forever.
The online games from the studio Friv2Online begins with a heartbreaking scene where a fox tries to escape from a raging forest fire, driven by the elements, terrified animals and huge trucks. Soon she manages to get to a safe place, and after a few moments we learn that the heroine saved not only her own life: she gives birth to four fox cubs.
The offspring need to be put on their feet as soon as possible, so the fox does not stay in the den for a long time: at first she makes forays for food alone, and after a couple of days she begins to take the cubs with her - they must learn to hunt and survive. No matter how hard the mother tries, it is not possible to keep track of all the puppies, one of them is kidnapped by a poacher, and the key task of the red heroine is to search for the missing lump.
At the same time, she should not forget about the remaining babies, so every night a small family goes in search of food. Following the tried and new paths, the fox sniffs in the hope of smelling a rabbit, a mouse, or at least wild berries - so the kids can live another day, until the next outing. Hunting does not cause serious difficulties: you just need to sneak up on the prey and grab it with a swift jerk. If only it were, this prey: the world around is scarce in resources, and every night it becomes more and more difficult to find food.
Sometimes during the journey, the mother catches another smell - the same poacher who kidnapped her cub. Following the smell, the heroine reproduces scenes from the opponent's recent past, thus "reading" his story. Surprisingly, the scriptwriters suggest that we put ourselves in the place of the villain, and even sympathize with him a little, hinting that the poacher decided on this act not from a good life.
The friv gameplay of Endling - Extinction is Forever quickly becomes a chore - but what else would you expect from a fox simulator whose whole life is between foraging for food at night and waiting for dusk in the lair during the day? From one outing to the next, the mother fox trains her cubs, protects them from threats and develops new skills in them. By gaining skills, fox cubs learn to jump, dig and hunt, but they can die from hunger, attacks by owls and the hands of people who get out of their homes closer to dawn.
Therefore, here you always need to be on the alert and not relax. A trap - to jump over, a person or an owl - to go around unnoticed, a stray cub - to call so that he does not get lost. And if you are not lucky enough to face the enemy - run as fast as you can or give a fight, but remember that a careless decision can cost the heroine one of the cubs or even her own life.
The struggle for survival continues against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic landscape, the cause of which was humanity, indefatigably consuming natural resources and polluting everything it can reach. The monstrous factory emits acrid smoke into the atmosphere and dumps vile waste into the river. People in gas masks cut down rare trees and catch half-dead fish. And a fox can accidentally put a plastic bag around his neck and wander around as a living personification of the reverse side of the medal of technological progress.
In combination with muted tones and a gloomy atmosphere, this sets you up for complete immersion. Although surviving Endling - Extinction is Forever doesn't feel like hardcore , the friv game makes you worry about the fate of the mother fox and her cubs, even if they are not in danger. Whatever the outcome of the story (and here you can come up with several options for the finale), the future of animals in such a world becomes foggy.
And, what is especially good, even if you are not offended by the environmental message of the game, you will still enjoy the simple but addictive gameplay.