Ultra-hardcore survival shooter Road To Vostok's getting a big new public build

A soldier holds up a sniper rifle for inspection

(Image credit: Road to Vostok)

If the recent rash of survival games failing to make good on their ambitious promises has left you disillusioned, then I’ve good news: Road to Vostok is getting a substantial demo in fall 2023. You’ll be able to see for yourself exactly how the genre's hardcore entry is coming along.

In Road to Vostok, you travel toward the titular region, crossing borders into areas populated with hostile NPCs. The more dangerous the location, the more valuable the loot you'll find. Make it across the next border crossing, and you can trade your haul with shopkeepers for better gear or medical treatment.

Road to Vostok's first demo attracted over 400,000 players, so I’m not the only one keen to dive into this early access game.

Outside of weaponry, in Road to Vostok, there are 10 different health states, a dynamic loot system that ensures gear never spawns in the same location twice, and its placement is physics-based to get you thinking about how to fit valuable items into the containers you have available. Basically, start thinking like a doomsday prepper.

That level of detail is unsurprising as Road to Vostok is the creation of "Antti," a former Finnish army officer and the sole developer behind the project.

"The survival genre has been missing innovation, and there have been so many vaporware projects and false promises over the years, so it's time to bring passion and innovation back to the genre," Antti tells me. To that end, Antti has been transparent with Vostok’s development roadmap and gives the game’s community regular updates on significant milestones and implementations.

"I'm not interested in making any other games, titles, or projects in my career anymore," Antti says, assuring me he’s focused "on making Road to Vostok the best hardcore survival game in the genre. I truly believe that I have the right background, skills, and motivation to make that happen."

You can keep track of Antti's progress on Road to Vostok's website and wishlist the game on Steam in preparation for Public Demo 2.

Phil 'the face' Iwaniuk used to work in magazines. Now he wanders the earth, stopping passers-by to tell them about PC games he remembers from 1998 until their polite smiles turn cold. He also makes ads. Veteran hardware smasher and game botherer of PC Format, Official PlayStation Magazine, PCGamesN, Guardian, Eurogamer, IGN, VG247, and What Gramophone? He won an award once, but he doesn't like to go on about it.

You can get rid of 'the face' bit if you like.

No -Ed.