The Forever Winter is a different breed of extraction shooter. Unlike in Escape From Tarkov or Hunt Showdown, where breaking stealth has plenty of benefits, going loud is rarely the best course of action. Caught in an apocalyptic conflict between two giant, warring megacorporations, the safest play is to keep your head down, scavenge for the resources you need to stay alive among the rubble, and only open fire if it’s absolutely necessary. But in The Forever Winter December update, that’s all changed, courtesy of new playable character, Gunhead.
In case the name didn’t give it away, Gunhead has a gun for a head. There are several weapon variants that the latest member of The Forever Winter cast can choose from to sit atop his shoulders – and that feature is further bolstered by the fact he can make use of every gun type available if you choose to spec him that way. This makes him one of the most versatile options in the survival game yet. He’s also tall – even when crouched, he’ll still be at a similar height to his fellow scavs.
Also included in the December update is a brand-new area to explore, the Frozen Swamp, and another quest giver named Lordoss who will deliver additional missions. A new consumable called the Drill Device can be used to break into locked areas.
One of the most divisive aspects, the water management, has been further tweaked. The water thieves have been rebalanced to make fighting them easier, and there are new turrets to help you defend your base against invasion. There’s even an option to generate water more passively over time, and a special invasion-proof storage vault.
There’s also an increase to the Prestige cap. Beyond that, expect plenty of bug fixes and tweaks, performance upgrades, a wealth of new sound effects, improved UI interaction for controller users, and balance changes to enemy accuracy and weapon damage.
The Forever Winter December update is out now, and you can grab the game at a 20% discount until Thursday January 2, so expect to pay $31.99 / £19.99 for your copy. There’s also a free demo available to download if you want to try it first.
Whether you’re looking for the best co-op games to play with friends, or love hunting for that next upgrade in the best RPGs on PC, we’ve got you covered.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.