Imagine The Last Of Us with twin stick controls combined with a roguelite progression system - that's TLS:A in a nutshell.

The attention to detail and level of challenge in this game are impressive - I believe this is an underrated hidden gem, but I can also understand why it isn't super popular. It's hard, and the learning curve can be punishing, particularly in the first few runs where you will most likely think you're doing great one moment, then make one wrong move and find yourself dead in the blink of an eye.

The brutality of the game gives is an additional souls-like flavour; precision and alertness are everything and you'll need to get very familiar with dodge rolls, melee strike speeds and stamina management to stand a chance in close combat (this is essential due to sparse ammunition)

No other game has made me feel like I'm in an episode of The Walking Dead as much as this - the sneaking, looting, risk assessment/judgement calls, high-stakes combat, figuring out how to escape alerted herds.

The crafting system is highly reminiscent of The Last of Us, so if you enjoy the survival horror/crafting loop of TLOU, you will most likely enjoy TLS:A too.

It's not a game for everyone - I had a few rage-quit moments where I died to something frustrating like a trap and lost a bunch of progress, but thankfully this frustration is balanced out by the levelling and "supply" systems that allow you to carry over character progression and not make the run feel like a total loss. XP is gained permanently, so you can upgrade your character between each run, and if you carry supplies back to your car while in the field, these will be "banked" as currency you can spend at the start of your next run to unlock items, classes and XP boosts.

I still haven't finished the game, but I think I'm fairly close at almost 17 hours in - so it's a reasonably long game - this length will vary a lot depending on your skill level. I'm ok at shooters but not the best at crafting/survival games, so I'd say my skill level is about medium for reference.

All-in-all, I think this game deserves more love than it gets. Con Artist Games are amazing developers and I've had a lot of fun playing every release they've got on steam. I hope they keep making more!