TL:DR This game has a lot of potential, but certain aspects of the CURRENT version makes it feel like the devs are focusing on the wrong parts. Because of that, I can't recommend it now, but I'd keep an eye out for the full release (whenever it comes).

Idiotic. Punishing players for not playing your game by taking away their progress? Not even EA has thought of that. Do you expect your players to never play another game? Your game has potential Fun Dog Studios, but it's not that good. Remove the inventory reset, and only reset the vendors/facilities.

Holy framedrops. How is this game harder to run than RDR2 or Elden Ring??? No matter how strong your pc is, don't expect stable performance unless you sacrifice some fidelity.

AS OF NOW, AI is abysmal. They get stuck on objects or eachother constantly and indefinitely, spawn right in front / behind you, sometimes they spot you from a mile away, and sometimes they're as blind as a bat. The enemy design and variety is great, but they're incredibly inconsistent and unintuitive, which is a big no-no in a stealth game.

The game screams at you about how you're the lowly scav, the underdog that should avoid a fight at any cost, lest you get riddled with bullets by the super-soldier militaries that you face. And yet, there are practically no tools to help you with stealth. Sure there are silencers, but where are the smoke grenades? Some sort of noisemaker to distract enemies? A cloaking device, just normal camouflage even? Stealth in this game is already incredibly basic (and as mentioned above: inconsistent), how could you forget to add more... anything to it?

Then on the other hand, there are many instances where the game FORCES you to fight against immeasurable odds. Timed extractions spawning enemies that home-in on your location, special loot broadcasting your position to every enemy... It seems the developers can't decide whether their game is about stealth with combat as a last resort, or combat with stealth as an option.

I'm putting all these in the same segment since I can describe them all in the same way: The idea, when it works, is great, but it BARELY works.

The movement is supposed to be clunky, I get that. But your character gets stuck on everything, vaulting has a 50/50 chance of not working, collisions for objects are a mere suggestion (both ways). You'll find yourself getting stuck on an invisible object, or walking mid-air on some unseen piece of terrain.

Combat isn't as bad, you're not supposed to be fighting and therefore you're super weak and guns are relatively hard to use. Strong kick, slow reloads, ammo is heavy. But whoever designed the weird 3rd person to first person ADS / shoulder aim to... closer shoulder aim (?????) mechanics needs to be barred from making video games. It goes from realistic clunkiness to just disorienting frustration. Not to mention that you can't even switch shoulders. In a 3rd person stealth game.

Looting has the least amount of problems, with the only big one being that it's hard to pick specific containers to loot when there's a lot of them close together, since there is some difference between what you're aiming at and what the game prompts you to open. Weird, but hopefully fixable. The only other complain I've had is that certain "rare" loot spawnpoints are very predictable, making the whole point of the game moot, since you can just do the same "safe" route and get a ton of resources.


The game features a relatively detailed weapon customization system for (almost) every gun you can get. It's not Tarkov levels of gunsmithing, but there is enough variety in weapon parts to mix and match to your hearts content.

There is a storyline that's being told through a series of quests that explain some of the "rules" of this world, and explore some newer events that are taking place. The story and idea behind the game are convoluted in a good way, and seem to have quite some effort put into them. It's rare to see a game like this have lore worth following.

The atmosphere, and art design of pretty much everything in the game is PEAK. You'll constantly be reminded of the enormous scale of this endless war happening around you, and everything you see just screams desolation. It's obvious that the most talented people in the dev team are the artists, and they flex their talent at every corner.

Unfortunately looks alone will not save the game, so my advice to Fun Dog Studios is: Stop adding new half-baked content and FIX the existing half-baked maps, equipment and mechanics. The game AS OF NOW has so much jank that it feels like a concept demo, barely playable and only there to show what it could be, but it's being sold as early access for ~30€.

Honestly, the game itself, while EXTREMELY rough around the edges right now, has potential to be very good. BUT, the whole water system being tied to real time completely kills the experience for me. Basically, the more you play, the more invested you are. The more invested you are, the more you have to play to make sure you don't lose that time investment. Because of this I just don't want to play it anymore. I don't want to sink anymore time into a game that is going to force me to keep logging in to complete a chore so I don't lose hours and hours of progress.

The game is going to end up on my list of games i never touch again, which is a shame. The world building and atmosphere here are phenomenal, but, I can't subject myself to a system that tries to force me to come back to it at regular intervals to complete a chore otherwise they wipe my progress. If the water system being tied to real world time changes I will immediately change my review. The game, outside of the real time water mechanics, is a good game. But, I cant bring myself to recommend this game to anyone while it has this mechanic that has absolutely no respect for you or your time. Much less can I bring myself to ever pick it up again unless this changes.

The game has a great graphic design, runs reasonably well on high-end machinery and the environments are spectacular. However, it feels too early access at the moment. Too many things can be improved, particularly AI enemies. They're so stupidly overpowered and hitbox-dependent that the instant your presence is detected you end up dead.

A game with a lot of potential, including a steep learning curve, but cannot be recommended at the moment.

PLEASE OPTIMIZE THIS GAME its has such amazing lore and art style but it runs and looks like garbage, My system is beyond the minimum system requirements and still I have to run this game at half resolution while only getting 30 fps with frame drops constantly. I don't want to hurt this game with a bad review because it has such a tiny player base, but it has a low player count because NOBODY CAN RUN YOUR GAME

This game has all of the ingredients to be one of my all time favorites. The art and characters are great, the gameplay is unique and fascinating, and it has an amazing soundtrack. So why the negative review? The game is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ terrible to try to get into.

- The game is absolutely horrible for new players
- Optimization is horrendous (I have almost never had trouble with my PC before, and This Game crashes half of the time I try to start the application)
- Maps are fairly decent, but then you need to do anything other than looting and they become an absolute slog to navigate
- The Shaman's aiming animation
- The 3rd quest of the game
- No proper tutorial for 60% of the most important mechanics

I am being fairly hard on this game. It is in early access, and I've only played about 4.3 hours of it, but a game shouldn't need me to play for 20+ hours to have fun playing it. This is mostly just a bucket list of things I wish were better. All of this aside though, this is a great game. I'm kinda just venting because of how hard it is to experience it as a new player. Buy the game, support the devs, play the game. Experience the game for yourself. Don't take my word for it, I've only played for like, 4 hours anyways.

I really love the art direction and "vibe" of this game and wanted to love it, but the metagame (especially the water system!) is so extraordinarily unpleasant for casual players that I just can't recommend it. Avoid unless you're really willing to commit.

Has the potential to be a great game, but it's still a raw egg - buggy, crashy, unfinished mess. Games should really not be allowed to be sold this early in their development. Developers are getting away with not only crowd-sourcing their Beta versions, but having people pay them for the privilege. It has to stop.

I’ve been playing Forever Winter since October, and it has quickly become one of the more immersive survival experiences I’ve encountered. The premise—a post-apocalyptic world locked in an endless nuclear winter—creates a compelling atmosphere where every supply run feels meaningful, everything becomes a formidable adversary.

The game’s resource management and exploration components are thoughtfully designed, providing just the right balance of challenge and reward. Each foray into the above ground hellscape demands planning, whether you’re gathering rations or screaming running from an unkillable Euruskan Grabber. There’s a genuine sense of tension as you scavenge limited supplies, which adds to the overall immersion.

Now, I understand some people are “complaining about pixels on a screen because the other pixels give you more dopamine.” Opinions vary, but in my view, Forever Winter is more about the immersive survival experience than flashy visuals. The aesthetic underscores the bleak reality of a nuclear winter; it’s not supposed to feel warm and colorful—it’s meant to be harsh and isolating.

As an Early Access title, Forever Winter is still evolving, but the developer’s consistent updates and willingness to listen to community feedback inspire confidence in its future. If you’re a fan of atmospheric survival games with an emphasis on strategic resource management and a truly chilling setting, I highly recommend giving Forever Winter a try.

I've played TFW a few months now, and I have to give my recommendation.
The Devs have proven to be true to their word and have been improving the game in many ways ever since launch and I want to see them succeed in making a complete product.
Such improvements include better stealth, reasonable enemy spawns an even making the hated water system easier to manage.
For any new scavs who are considering playing or buying TFW, here's a few recommendations in no particular word:

-If you don't like Early access, you're welcome to avoid until it's in a better state. That said, the Devs are making improvements every time there's a new update and even the Jank is something you can learn to love.

-YOU'RE NOT THE GUY: DON'T PLAY THIS LIKE COD. Enemies contently re-spawn and your goal is not to fight a war. Despite the game's jank, 9 times out of 10 of the deaths I've suffered was because of really bad calls. That said, this game is all about taking calculated risk: enjoy getting smoked from bad decisions " )

-Always grab quest to the areas you're playing in. It's stupid easy to get days of water without grinding too hard.

-If you're worried about water death, utilize the Dev's newest addition of the Secret Stash: it's unaffected and you can put a lot of money in their and keep gotcha boxes/irreplaceable guns in-case you get smoked fighting the water thieves. Also work toward getting turrets installed in your Innards (your main lobby) so if/when water death happens the Water thieves drop like flies. Only get Water bots AFTER you have all the turrets installed so you can leave the game and never worry about water death again.

-XP is more important than money and weapons as you will never lose it: Grind with a gun you like the most (AK47 is great because it also ranks up the RPK and can use free ammunition in the stores).

-Use the character upgrade perks and always Prestige: This is still a weird mechanic but even when it resets my skill points it keeps the game fresh (only your character is faster and has more HP).

-Use suppressors whoever you can (to avoid chain agros). For those guns you can't either keep far away or plan to mow down hoards of enemies.

-AA12 with improved mag is a beast of a shotgun that's gotten me out of all kinds of tight spots, but remember it isn't suppressed. Commit to fighting your way out/ holding your ground once you rain unholy fire upon your enemies.

-Bunco (the scav store owner ) will rip you off every time. Only buy free ammo from him or get other types if you're bleeding with money or have to choice. NEVER SELL TO HIM.


-Don't immediately sell your expensive items unless you want to speed up your money making needs faster. Expensive items are useful in appeasing store owners.

-Shaman is a great starter character. He's got reasonable health and speed. Just don't forget to give the other characters a go to get familiar with their quirks

-Scanners are always a good option. Just be aware they're expensive and you have to buy new ones ever time you die (that said, it makes this a totally different game.

-Work toward getting the Equipment Runner, Medium Equipment Gunrunner and The Rack as soon as you can. Each will help you collect useful large items faster.

-IED's are stupid cheap and can keep enemies from sneaking up on you (just don't be close when it explodes)

-Each map (once you get familier) offers easy ways to grind for water/large items, but Mech Trench feels pretty easy once you plan your route from the elevader.

-Check your donation box for free guns every time you log on. In a pinch they can act as quick money makers.

These are just some of the stuff I've learned playing TFW over the past few months.
It's a great game with potential and what's already there and what's to come is worth the price tag.

Lastly remember: We're already dead.

Not noob friendly, very difficult and not rewarding to play with friends.