PHB Quickie: “Survival: Distress Signal” Overview

Hi Gs,

Episode 3 came fairly quickly after episode 2 of Survival, but the release date was delayed by a day so they could fix bugs — this is the first time that had ever happened, too. So, did the extra day pay off, or was the episode a wreck? Let’s find out! You can check out the last two overviews for Survival here, or view the PHB’s full guide (with pictures) for Survival here.

The most noteworthy thing about this episode is the environment, and everything that makes it up. The soundtrack surprised me, and even though I had already heard it, it really contributed to the environment. The sounds were also very nicely put together, and everything was brought to a new level of eerie this time around.

The layout of the island was quite different than the past episodes, and it was built to a grander scale. Everything was fine tuned, and attention to detail was a big factor in the island.

In my past overview, I mentioned the continuity between the episodes, and here it just shows even more, and perhaps a little more subtly. You find a manifest, which is a catalog for the cargo/passengers on a plane or ship. On the manifest is listed the various items that you have been collecting throughout the adventure — meaning that someone had passed through everywhere you had been!

I was surprised to find that when playing it I felt that it was pretty educational, more so than usual, and more obvious. To assemble the radio, you have to find zinc and copper, and while you find the zinc in an old box, the copper is found by searching through a collector coin bag. You may know that they stopped making pennies copper in 1982 — so you have to find the one from 1981 — genius!

As for the story, right around now does the story really pick up. We learn that a passenger of a Mews Airline plane, Max McGullicutty, has been stranded on the island. We don’t meet him, but on the manifest is a small note saying “Don’t trust MVB”. MVB stands for Myron Van Buren, and from our speculation about him, it seems like he’s going to be the antagonist of the adventure.

The Survival series seems to get better every episode — I rate this episode 5 out of 5 stars. 🙂

-HPuterpop