The Isle - Buyer's Guide

Embark on a prehistoric adventure in The Isle, but be prepared for frequent crashes and bugs. Explore diverse lands, tame dinosaurs, and survive in a harsh environment. Is it worth the frustration?
Fan-art of The Isle

Immerse yourself in the prehistoric world of The Isle, a gritty survival horror game set on mysterious islands. Explore diverse landscapes like dense forests and treacherous mountains while fending off terrifying creatures lurking around every corner. Uncover ancient ruins to piece together past secrets as you struggle to survive in an ever-evolving environment, where mistakes come at a price. Players can choose from numerous unique dinosaurs with varying abilities and engage in massive multiplayer battles against 100+ hungry opponents. The Isle offers two distinct modes: Survival mode for those seeking the ultimate challenge, or Sandbox mode for less intense gameplay experiences. Engage with a global community to unravel an intricate narrative through environmental clues and cooperation. As development progresses, expect exciting additions like playable aquatic and aerial creatures, evolved AI dinosaurs, more biome types, and extensive customization options, making The Isnle a thrilling adventure of survival in the Mesozoic era.

Should I play The Isle in 2024?

The good

Many reviewers praise “The Isle” for its visually stunning graphics and unique concept of playing as dinosaurs. The game offers an experience that stands out in the survival genre, especially for dinosaur enthusiasts. Players appreciate the complexity of the game mechanics and the realism, which provides an addictively brutal experience where death feels imminent but instructive. It’s described as very epic and enjoyable, especially when played with friends, leading to memorable and engaging gaming sessions. Some users found it thrilling to grow their dinosaurs and navigate the harsh world, indicating that the game can be highly satisfying once you get the hang of it.

The bad

Despite the overall positive sentiment, there are several issues highlighted by the community. The game’s development seems slow, with infrequent meaningful updates and numerous bugs/glitches, such as getting stuck in the map or experiencing random FPS drops. Hackers and exploiters are a significant problem, and the Evrima update has particularly negative feedback, with complaints about constant crashes and an unbalanced gameplay experience. The lack of official servers and a small selection of dinosaurs further detracts from the experience. Player interactions can be hostile, and there are concerns about the developers’ handling of criticism and bans. Finally, the game has been in Early Access for nearly a decade, leading some to question if it will ever be fully polished.

Verdict

Should you buy or play “The Isle” in 2024? If you are a die-hard dinosaur fan and enjoy survival games with a unique twist, then “The Isle” might still captivate you with its realistic mechanics and stunning visuals. However, be prepared for a love/hate relationship due to the frequent bugs, slow development, and sometimes toxic player base. If you have friends to play with, this could mitigate some of the frustrations and enhance your experience. 🦖🦕

If you’re looking for a more polished and stable game, you might want to wait until the developers address the current issues and bring the game out of Early Access. Proceed with caution and manage your expectations!



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In-game Screenshot

Screenshot of The Isle

Top image is not real in-game screenshots. Fan-art made by Gamer.se. Some game metadata is coming from RAWG