CryoFall Review / Test

Zap zockt CryoFall Review / Test – The postapocalyptic 2D Survival MMORPG in test

What is CryoFall? In this CryoFall Review, I introduce the game and tell you my opinion about it. CryoFall is a 2D Survival MMORPG in a post-apocalyptic world. It offers PvE and PvP worlds as well as an extensive crafting system.

This post is available here as text, but there is also a YouTube video (German voiceover, subtitles in many different languages). So you can choose how you want to enjoy it.

Cryofall Review Video:

(German voiceover, subtitles in many different languages)

CryoFall Review Intro

Hi there, here is the Zap, in this episode I want to introduce you to the survival game CryoFall. I will show you in detail what the game has to offer and of course, give you some of my opinions. And then hopefully you’ll be able to decide for yourself whether you would like to enjoy the game or not.

Cryofall – Foreword

Cryofall is a 2D MMO with role-playing elements in a science fiction world after a nuclear war. It is developed by AtomicForge Studios for the German publisher Daedalic Entertainment. Cryofall is currently still in early access, which means the development is far from finished.

So everything I write here is still subject to constant change. The game is far from finished, please consider this. And accordingly, updates are coming out regularly, not only with new content but also with completely new game features.

The game currently costs 19,99€ on Steam. I was kindly given a free trial copy by the publisher, thanks again for that. However, this will not influence my reporting and rating.

Buy CryoFall – cheaper at Gamesplanet.com
(Advertising / Affiliate Link)

Buy CryoFall now for less at

buy now

At Gamesplanet you usually get a discount on the games, so you save some money, and I get a small commission for your purchase, so you support my work, without it costing you anything extra

2D Survival MMORPG

2D? In times of extensive 3D titles, this approach is a deterrent for many. The graphics are simple, but also not ugly. And if you can’t play without pompous 3D worlds, Cryofall won’t be for you. But graphics aren’t everything, there are many extremely pretty games, but they don’t offer depth and quickly get boring.

But once you’ve gotten involved with Cryofall’s simplified look, you’ll get the exact opposite of some overly emphasized graphic-based games. The game follows the opposite approach, graphics should be functional, but the gameplay is very complex.

It offers a surprising depth of play that you wouldn’t expect at first glance. And at the same time, it has a relaxing and cozy way, which is at least uses for me to relax. And in PvP, it can also lead to adrenaline and action.

Apart from the missing 3D graphics Cryofall offers quite similar gameplay to Ark or Conan Exiles. These games are often very action-packed, but also full of bugs and you need a reasonably good computer to get them to work. Cryofall is here rather the output for minimalists as far as technology is concerned.

Gametype – What is Cryofall?

The world of Cryofall is roughly a bit like Fallout or similar titles like Metro or Stalker. The world was almost completely destroyed by nuclear strikes, the last survivors fight for their meager lives by all means, against the difficult vegetation, and in PvP also against the other survivors.

You start, like in most survival games, with more or less nothing. You collect resources, build your first simple stone tools out of those, and you keep adding new things. And little by little you learn to build more and more advanced equipment and buildings and to advance into more dangerous areas. Basically, you start in the Stone Age and after some time you get firearms and even science fiction energy weapons and cybernetic implants.

Since the latest CryoFall PvE update, the game also offers different servers, which are separated into PvP and PvE worlds. On these servers hundreds of players can run around simultaneously, hunt and collect together, build and write together or fight against each other on a PvP server. On top of that, this game is customizable with mods.

Character Creation

There are of course male and female characters to choose from, different faces, hairstyles, and other special features such as beards, different eyes, etc… Female characters have the same body as the male ones, which is a bit disturbing in the beginning. But if you wear armor after a while, it’s hardly noticeable.

Character Stats

There are 4 basic characteristics, life, endurance, hunger, thirst. This seems quite simple. But then you can learn a total of 16 skills, which you first have to discover step by step through using them, and then over time, you can increase them up to level 20, also through using them. So you get better at exactly the things you often do. If you don’t do something, you can’t do it that well either.

In addition, there are also 8 types of resistances, in addition to impact and bullet protection, there are also resistances to fire, acid, cold, electricity, radiation, or even PSI forces. And so you will also be able to cause these types of damage over time and meet enemies who attack you with them. Of course, you can also change your values with potions and similar things.

---

CryoFall Review: Combat

The combat in Cryofall is still relatively simple at the moment. There are punch and firearms, but no extensive character skills yet.

The first enemies are often escaping animals, sometimes you have to run after them to kill them. However, this changes quickly, and then the beasts often bite back quite hard. Here you need not only better weapons and armor, but also healing plants, remedies and possibly splints, and more complex treatment methods to cure poisoning, nausea, radiation, pain, or crippling.

Of course, there are also a lot of small remedies that you can take to improve your fighting power and resistance for a short time.

The fauna begins with small chickens or snakes, then rises over wolves, wild boars, bears, dinosaur-like beasts, and later in the contaminated ruins await other mutated dangers, such as giant scorpions.

Here I have to say that the combat system is not the great strength of the game. It’s very simple right now and you just click most opponents to death. Sometimes you have to run away because your HP goes down too fast, but then your opponents don’t chase you too long. And if an animal is injured too badly, it tries to flee, so you have to run after it.

The missing skills do their part. The system works, but innovation is different. I hope the developers have planned more here, the game is young and of course, there are still some developments going on.

On the other hand, this simplicity is also somehow a part of what makes this game so minimalistic and where the feeling of relaxation comes from. So maybe you shouldn’t wish for too many expansions of the fight, maybe you’d lose that relaxed feeling.

CryoFall Test: The World

The world of Cryofall is quite big, I haven’t been able to fully uncover the map in my more than 20-hour test so far. The game will later explore the contaminated ruins, except for a small bunker here, or some road remains and old construction machines there, I haven’t found much from this direction yet. Probably because I haven’t been far enough in the world yet. So there is a lot to explore here.

Except for 3 land heights and the limitation by a sea, the world is divided into different climate zones, in which somewhat different plants grow and other animals occur. But in this area, the developers could add a lot more creativity to the game.

The map design is varied, but not overly full of surprises. I would wish for caves, more ruins, and so much more. I suppose it’s on the ToDo list, but the huge world still seems a little too empty, a little too bland. At least this is true for your part, which I could see so far. Maybe there will be more in the farther areas, but the beginning is “useful” but not full of surprises to discover. Much more would be possible here.

CryoFall Review: Technologies

You get learning points for almost everything, you can use them to explore technologies. These technologies have 4 ranks, roughly divided into Stone Age, Iron Age, Modern Age, and Science Fiction. Each technology also has its own skill trees that unlock certain crafting possibilities.

So there are many different techniques to learn, from simple cooking, building construction in the Stone Age, armaments and weaponry in the Iron Age, to firearms and chemicals in modern times, to cybernetics, modern medicine, and energy weapons in the future technologies.

You can lose learning points if you die, at least up to a certain limit. This limit increases with time, but you should always make sure to spend your learning points quickly so that they don’t go up in smoke if you die.

Here, Cryofall is already showing its strengths in this early version. The technology trees are extensive and the whole crafting system is complex for my taste.

Survival and base building

The survival part isn’t overly complex, but you shouldn’t neglect it anyway. Besides hunger and thirst, there are all kinds of poisons, diseases, monsters getting stronger, later also contaminated areas, cripples, poisons, strengthening drugs, and much more.

And to defy all the dangers of this world, we need the aforementioned weapons and armor, a huge selection of food and drink, which can often have positive or negative effects, tons of different tools, weapons, craft stations, and building parts.

We can build a camp, even permanent buildings, but these must be maintained regularly. If we don’t log into the game for a longer period of time, this base expires. But it’s great to be able to share it with other players and manage it together. The game offers very convenient ways to add other players to a group of up to 10 people. And you can also share your house with other players and then build it together and repair it if necessary.

Resources and Crafting

Cryofall offers a wide range of materials that can be processed into many intermediate and end products. Crafting is a very important part of the game.

And for that, you have to go out again and again and collect, process, and of course, organize material into your boxes. Because storage space in the inventory is scarce. There is no weight limit, but only a limited number of places. And since all things only allow certain stack sizes, you quickly reach the limit of the carrying capacity.

In crafting you can’t learn the enormous number of building recipes at the beginning, because you have to acquire the corresponding learning points first. Here Cryofall offers a pleasant learning curve, which does not give too fast access to all possibilities and therefore also offers some permanent motivation because even after some time you can still learn something new.

On top of that, there is a very extensive farming system. In the course of time, you will find numerous vegetables and fruit varieties, which you can also plant in your warehouse. These have to be watered and fertilized regularly so that they grow properly.

Then one should also mention that everything in Cryofall is actually subject to decay. Weapons, tools, and if you don’t log in every day, even the houses, all of them lose their durability, and at some point, the stuff crumbles and you have to provide for supplies. Better if you have well-filled storage boxes at that time.

In my opinion, the complex crafting system is a very strong point of the game. The developers have already done a good job here.

Quests and Content

In the beginning, an almost never-ending stream of tutorial quests starts, but of course it ends sometime after all. But there are really a lot of quests and you get a good introduction to the game. On top of that, you get a big boost in learning points that make it easier to learn the first technologies. And to be honest, I might have found out some of the connections much later without the tutorial quests.

In any case, one can say that these tutorial quests are well done and leave only a few questions unanswered. You won’t be left out in the rain to discover the complex relationships between resources and skills.

But apart from that, there are probably not so many tasks yet. I have now tested Cryofall for a little over 20 hours and am still a long way from being able to do everything and I have only been able to see a part of the world.

More Reviews by Zap zockt?

You can find more reviews here

Server, Mods, and Modding

Cryofall offers separate PvP and PvE servers for each continent of the world. But everyone can open his own server and use his own settings for it. For example, you can make a server that you only share with your friends, or indirectly start a solo game for yourself at home. In the Wiki to the game, there is a detailed instruction for it, I will link this with the source references.

In addition, Cryofall is built in the RenKei engine developed by AtomicTorch and this is more or less open-source. This makes Cryofall completely customizable, anyone can install mods on their own server and create their own mods, so all doors are wide open for modding.

State of the game

Cryofall is in early access and actually still in an alpha state. The graphics will probably not suddenly change to 3D, this may still change in quality, but not the basic system. But everything else on the game is Work In Progress. Everything can still be extended and rebuilt, and the developers listen very closely to the players and their ideas and wishes.

Cryofall already works very well from that point on. Here and there there there are server lags, but they can be found in every online game. Otherwise, Cryofall didn’t even crash in about 20h or there was no serious bug that would have prevented me from playing further.

CryoFall Review: Conclusion – Opinion

Finding a final opinion on Cryofall is difficult. The 2D graphic is already an Entry Blocker. That probably happens to many players, me too. But if you overcome this hurdle, you will get gameplay that can captivate if you like the survival mechanics.

The fights aren’t that exciting yet, but they work. The gameplay itself is very nice, relaxing, and cozy, and if you like it, you might find a lot of fun here. Also, the setting, the unfolding depth in crafting, and the way it is implemented are quite appealing for friends of Survival game mechanics, I think.

And when you get involved with the game, it also creates a certain addictive factor. You want to quickly improve this one talent, harvest the fields, and maybe build another melting furnace, or find out what’s going on in the northeast of the map. There’s a lot to do in the game, despite the early stages of development. But for a really long-term MMO over weeks and months, there is still a lot of content missing.

For PvP players, this rating may be even more positive. Because there is always a lot to repair and you can spend time attacking and plundering other bases. Here there is a lot of content due to the players’ opposition to each other.

In PvE, you just explore the map, level up your character, and try to teach him everything. This can take 20-30 hours. But then at some point, the whole motivation is gone. Here it needs even more depth for real PvE long-term fun.

It’s not a finished game yet and I also think that the price for the content offered so far could be a bit lower. For the 19,99 €, it doesn’t offer enough in my eyes yet. Whoever finds the project interesting should perhaps see this more as an investment in the future of the game. But otherwise, I would try to wait for a discount. But don’t take this the wrong way. It’s absolutely not a bad game, far from it. If the game is further refined with the previous diligence, it can very soon be worth the 20 €.

Outro

You can find more reviews, guides, tips, and tricks for other games on the YT Channel main page. I would be happy if you write your opinion about the game or this review in the comments or on my blog page zapzockt.de. I will be happy to discuss it with you. My little Creator heart is happy about Likes and Abos and otherwise, I wish you a great day, have a good time, ciao ciao, your Zap

Links and sources:

http://cryofall.com/
http://wiki.atomictorch.com/Main_Page
https://store.steampowered.com/app/829590/CryoFall/

Follow ZapZockt on Social Media:

---