Aside from being a very passionate vegan, I am also a big fan of video games. I am a very firm believer in that a good video game can be just as comforting and rewarding as a good book. As much as I love curling up with a good book, I have found that video games give me that same level of escapism and comfort whilst being able to deeply involve me within a rich story with detailed characters. I do not think that all games need to tell fantastic stories – I love Heavy Rain just as much as I love Animal Crossing – but I also believe that some of the best stories of modern day have been told through the medium of a video game. The Last of Us is one of the biggest examples of this, where the game really did take the genre of a story based game to the next level.
Endling: Extinction is Forever is one of those games that stays with you once you have finished it. I will not go into too much detail about the actual story of the game, as I do not want to spoil any of it if you are tempted to play this game. However I will say that the story is engaging and poignant and left me sobbing at many instances. This game is an important game that touches on some very serious issues, so be warned that this will not be a heart warming piece of escapism.
You play as the last mother fox on earth and you are searching for one of your cubs that was kidnapped (pup-napped?) by a human. You will spend the game following clues on where your missing cub is, all whilst trying to keep your remaining cubs alive by hunting for food and avoiding the many threats. The game works on a day cycle, where each new session starts at the beginning of the night. There is a timer that will appear to show you how much time has passed, and you are warned to get back to your den before the sun rises. granted nothing happens to you if you are still outside by the time the sun rises, but as dawn grows closer more threats appear and it can make navigating quite tricky. I admit that when I first started playing, I struggled to find the right balance between exploring for the story and exploring to find food, because yes, your remaining cubs can die of starvation. They can also be hunted by owls and you can be killed by bear traps.
The game will also include little question mark icons on your map that if explored will lead to more background information for the world, highlight a new threat or a new friend, or show where a new skill can be learned. I would say that it is worth exploring as many of these as possible, as they do help create a bigger picture of the world you are in, plus it helps to make as many friends as you can find. That being said, when exploring, do so with caution as friendly people are still quite rare in this harsh world.
You can make friends as you explore, including with other animals that are also seemingly the last of their kind. You can also meet some kind humans who will give you extra pieces of food and even a few head scratches. It is interesting to note however that the majority of these people seem to be refugees of some sort – they are wearing a big backpack or wearing a gas mask to protect them from the poisonous gases that are emanating from the local powerplant. They will also help you travel between locations and at times add a bit more background to the world you are in.
That being said your main enemy in this game is known as the Furrier, a skinny man in a gas mask who seems to hunt all animals for their fur. See him and you run. There is also the Scavenger, who can kill you in one shot from his very big gun. He doesn’t chase you, but he will stand in a stationary position usually close to your safe den and you have to sneak past him to reach certain story goals or move to new locations. Do not get caught in his light, as he will shoot you and instantly kill you.
Now there is zero dialogue in this game, yet I never really noticed this. The animation is done so beautifully that the developers are able to tell a thought provoking and engaging story with body language and gestures, so words really are not needed. the music adds to this ambience and helps to create an incredibly engaging world, as well as letting you know when there is a threat or a friend nearby.
The game play itself is quite basic. the game is a 3D side scrolling game, however it is done in such a way that it doesn’t feel like a side scroller. The map is not very large which makes exploring quite easy, however certain foes will close routes off on certain days whilst friends will open up different pathways for you to explore. The areas you explore also give more background to the story itself, even in the signage used and the trash that piles up with each day that passes. The game somehow strikes a balance of being very subtle in the details, yet being loud and clear in its message.
This game is not a very long game – It is roughly 4 hours as it took me only about 2 or 3 sittings to complete. This also likely depends on how quickly you progress through each day. Technically speaking you do not need to return to your den before the night ends, but as the day approaches more threats become present so it makes navigating quite challenging at times. But even though it is a short game, this game has stayed with me and quite frankly left me a bit of a mess by the time I finished it.
The game is made by the Spanish company Herobeat Studios and at the end of the game they show a little message that states that the game touches on topics that were very important to the makers. This really does show in the game. The game mainly touches on the destruction that we humans have had on the planet, and the result this will have on every living being. As you play through the game, the water ways will become more polluted with trash before some areas turning into thick oil patches. The forest as I mention is reduced to a barren wasteland and as the game progresses, more and more food is found thrown out in plastic trash bags that are just left to litter the area. The humans in the game – that are not the main bad guys of the furrier and the scavenger – will either ignore you completely or try and grab you. It is heavily implied throughout the game that food is scarce everywhere, including for the humans, so the humans will try to grab you to either eat you or sell you for much needed supplies. Towards the end of the game the areas you have explored are no more than wastelands, with poisoned water ways that are thick with trash, dried up grasslands and all trees have been cut down. All of this whilst the lights of the local powerplant blink away in the background.
The message is clear and the imagery is striking. I am not exaggerating when I say that this game made me sob. To see day by day the wilderness be cut back further and further until there is nothing but trash and wasteland left behind is hard to ignore, even when you are now worried about making sure to find enough food to keep your insanely cute and defenceless cubs safe in this world. The entire game is very bittersweet – I again won’t go into any spoilers about the actual story – but from a practical stand point it is a very bleak concept. It is very heavily implied that you and your cubs are the very last of your species, as you never see any other foxes throughout the whole game. So while the focus is on making sure all of your cubs survive to adulthood, it raises the important question about how much hope does this family have? The only surviving foxes are all related, so what are the chances that they could rebuild a fox population? Now the game does end somewhat open ended, which would leave anyone to theorise what happens next in the story. Do they find other foxes? Are they able to find somewhere safe? Or is it just a matter of time before we humans yet again destroy this location and move onto the next? My husband and I spent the rest of the evening pondering on what might happen next, so no doubt you will too once you have finished.
The game deals with deforestation, pollution, climate change, extinction and climate refugees. It deals with the brutality of humans and our treatment of animals. No doubt there are even more issues raised within this game but these were the big ones that I picked up on. This game touches on topics that are very rarely discussed in video games and as such it has been playing on my mind since I finished it four days ago. This is a game that will stick with you, and will make you question what we as a human species are currently doing to the environment and to animals. If you have never stopped to question this, then this game will make you. If however you are like me, and this is really all you think about anyway, I found that this just added more fuel to my fire. It made me want to do more for the environment and to make changes that very night to hopefully stop the world of Endling from becoming a reality.
The game is currently free on PlayStation Plus so I would highly recommend that you check this game out. As I say it is a pretty short game and could be completed in one sitting if you had a quiet day to yourself. If you don’t have a PlayStation account though, the game seems to be around £20-£30 depending on which console you play on. I would say that this game is absolutely worth that price tag, and it is such an important message that I think we soul all play it just for that reason. Price be damned.
Taylor Talks Vegan 