Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut is an updated release of Lone Survivor, also available on a wider range of platforms. The game has been reworked with a new lighting engine and many locations have tweaked lightning, along with an anamorphic lens flare for the flashlight. The game contains a new title and game over screen, and new music while sleeping and during game over. There are two new locations in the game and the content has been tweaked, along with the introduction of a new sidequest and some easter eggs. In the options there are new gamma and aspect settings. There are also changes to the gameplay with balance tweaks, bug fixes and improvements. For instance, the character will now automatically face the monster when drawing the gun. After completing the game once New Game+ is automatically started. It has six new locations, two new endings, three new songs, over twenty new items, a new enemy, two new sidequests, and new dialogue for all characters in the game, along with a number of new easter eggs.
The PlayStation versions have support for trophies, are Cross-Buy (PS3 – PS Vita), use cloud saves and support multiple languages. The PS3 version has vibration, while for the PS Vita the touch screen can be used to manage the inventory and to access the options screen. On PC this version replaces the default version of the game and was made available for free to owners of the original game.
Lone Survivor is a 2D side-scrolling survival horror game where the player controls a masked protagonist who has to escape from a city ravaged by disease. He has been hiding since the outbreak, but now he is running out of supplies and does not want to die alone. The game uses a graphical style previously explored in Soundless Mountain II by the same developer, with retro graphics with scanlines.
The game combines action with adventure elements. While exploring the environment, some monsters are encountered. These can be shot, though ammo is limited, or scared away with a flare. It is however also possible to hide in certain alcoves or to lure the monsters into a certain direction by placing rotten meat on the ground. To progress a large amount of puzzle solving and exploration through an in-game map is required. The character has access to an inventory where items can be stored. These include tools but also food supplies. Hunger and sleep deprivation are a constant threat. The character needs to return to the initial room regularly and has to find food. This can be a small supplement like cheese crackers, but other options become available when a can opener is found and the gas stove is restored to cook food, and a means to collect water has been discovered. In addition, many locations are dark and they need to be lit with a flashlight, which has only a limited amount of batteries and also attracts monsters. After a while quick passages are discovered to travel around move quickly, using fire exits and magical mirrors.
When the character becomes too tired or is deprived of food, various drugs can be taken but these have additional effects. While sleeping for example they induce nightmares and visions that also reveal more about the story. The game is largely controlled through the keyboard, and items that can be interacted with are highlighted with text when the character passes them.
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