Should You Buy Road To Vostok?

Road to Vostok is a single-player first-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic setting. The game was just recently released and has a pretty solid rating on Steam. That said, it is currently in early access, so there can be plenty of changes in the future. For more information, you can head over to its Steam page and check it out in detail.

This is a type of game that may attract attention from players of Escape from Tarkov, DayZ, and especially the Stalker franchise. It is a solid release by a single developer, but the question is whether you should buy Road to Vostok or not. Here, I will explain the pros, cons, and my experience of this Road to Vostok in detail, which may help you in deciding whether you should buy this title or not.

I have played the game for a while, and while the experience can be frustrating for a beginner, those who understand the fundamentals early on can actually enjoy it a lot. That said, the fundamentals are not that easy to grasp. The game does not do a very good job of explaining the fundamentals. So, you should check out my beginner tips and tricks guide if you have just started.

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Simple Overview Of Road To Vostok

What impressed me the most about this game is that it was made by a single developer. That is actually very impressive, as it is by no means a small game, and you can spend hours of your time in just the initial area alone. There are three areas in the game, and they are Area 05, Border Zone, and Vostok.

Area 05 is going to be the easiest one of all, and as you go to the other zones, the difficulty will increase significantly. It gets brutal in Vostok. So, for hardcore survival lovers, it is going to be a treat. However, for casual players, it may feel like torture. Also, it is hard to decide how long it takes to beat the game, as it totally depends on the individual’s experience and skill level. It can take someone up to 20 hours, or it can take someone up to 50 hours or even more.

The game does not force you to move to the other zones, but as you continue to explore and loot, you will automatically want to proceed further. So it does not affect your pace, which is actually a very good thing for a survival game like this.

Pros

Here are the pros of Road to Vostok to help you decide whether you should buy it:

Pure Single Player Game

Road to Vostok is a single-player game, so you do not have to worry about campers and similar frustrations. It is a hardcore survival experience where you are alone in this mess, and your opponent is the AI, which gets smarter and stronger as you move up through the zones. You can play at your own pace, and looting buildings is more fun when you do not have to worry about someone crouching in a corner waiting for you.

Decent Variety Of Weapons

There is a variety of weapons available, but the loot is randomized. It purely depends on RNG, so either you can get really lucky or sometimes you cannot find a good weapon at all. That said, even if you collect random loot, you can simply head to the trader and trade the items you do not want for a weapon that suits your needs.

World Reset Mechanic

Also, whenever you enter the shelter and then exit it, the world resets, meaning you can loot the whole area again, which adds replay value.

First Area Is Beginner Friendly

The first area in this game is quite big, and there are tons of loot you can get. You can also store the loot in the shelter, as in the first two areas; if you die, your inventory and equipment are lost, but you still have everything safely stored in the shelter. So, in a single save, multiple runs are possible without losing all your progress.

Sense Of Realism

As the game does not force you to move to the next zone, you can familiarize yourself with the game mechanics in Area 05, which is not that hard to conquer once you understand it. You also get a sense of realism, as getting hit in the head will require you to use a certain item, like a med kit, and simple bandages will not do the job. Similarly, if your bone is broken, you will need a different item to fix that specific injury.

There are also mechanics where your character gets hungry and thirsty quickly if you keep sprinting without giving them a break. Aside from that, the graphics of this game are pretty solid, and I find it hard to believe that a single person made this. There are very few stutters, though there are some FPS drops, but you will not feel them that much during gameplay.

Overall, the experience is quite solid, but of course, this game is not without its cons, and they can be quite frustrating at times.

Cons

Here are the cons of Road to Vostok to help you decide whether you should buy it:

No Co-Op Option

While it is a good thing that it is a single-player game, it should have a co-op option. Playing such games with friends is really fun, especially in areas like the Minefield. That said, it is not that big of a problem, as even as a purely single-player game, it is still enjoyable.

Spotting AI Is Challenging

The other thing I did not like was that it is way too hard to spot the AI. If the enemy has spotted you first and they are nearby, then it is practically game over. Sometimes the enemy will land only headshots, and your character will die before you even have a chance to react. It should be easier to spot enemies, and there should be more support for a stealth approach.

Takes No Hand-Holding Too Far

The game does not hold your hand, which is a good thing, but it also does not tell you much about anything. You have to figure out most of the stuff yourself, and that can sometimes be frustrating. Also, the walk backs to the shelter can become quite frustrating, so having the option to manually save the game would be much better.

World Reset And Damage System Issue

While the world reset is a good mechanic, the bandits spawning again forces you to stay on guard, so you cannot just make the run back normally. As it is hard to discover the AI first, it can become a chore to head back to the shelter just to save your progress and store items.

While the character body part damage system is a good mechanic, it can become annoying really quickly. If you do not have a med kit and the enemy manages to land a headshot, you are basically done. You are most likely going to lose all of the equipment and items you have in your inventory.

Over-Reliance On RNG

I also did not like that you have to waste some of your runs just to understand the game and its routing better. There should be clear access to a map, but even after playing for a really long time, I could not find the map, because finding it is based entirely on RNG.

Adding to that, the game relies too much on the RNG system, which, in my opinion, is a bad thing. That is because even key items are randomized, and there is no specific spot for them. The developer could have made a few fixed locations for these items, so it would save time and effort. However, instead, finding them is purely dependent on RNG. For example, the cellar in the village and the gymnasium in the school both require a key to be opened. However, there is no specific spot for the key, so you have to rely on luck to find it.

Vostok Is Overly Harsh

The last thing that I did not like was that the game does not tell you about Vostok in detail. You cannot really enter the area normally, let alone clear it. There is a certain time window and weather conditions required to enter it. This much should have been made clear in the game itself.

Final Thoughts

While I have enjoyed playing this game, it is not in its perfect shape, and that is completely understandable. Road to Vostok is currently in early access, so having errors and issues is expected. Hopefully, the developer takes the important criticism into consideration and improves the game accordingly over time.

With how many hours I have put into this game, I have honestly enjoyed it. So, someone who is more of a fan of this genre might enjoy it even more than I did. If you are planning to buy it, just do not go into it while comparing it to Escape from Tarkov or Stalker 2. There are too many differences, so it is better to approach it with a fresh and open mind.

Overall, I think the developer has managed to make a pretty solid game that just needs some final touches. Those touches will take time. So, if you are fine with the cons that I have mentioned, then feel free to pick it up. It is not that expensive either, so it may be a steal for you.

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With that, my guide on whether you should buy Road to Vostok concludes. Hopefully, I managed to help you make a decision. If you want to read more opinion pieces, check out the following links:

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