Bendy: Lone Survival

If the 1920’s were the roaring twenties, we might, in-fact, be in the roguelike twenties for the turn of the millennium, at least from a videogame perspective. Obviously, rogue-likes have been around for ages, but I can still remember when I first stumbled upon Dead Cells and was blown away by the sheer novelty of deck-building and how captivated I was by the game-play, with each run feeling wholly unique and distinct. Back then, they’d been introduced by other titles like The Binding of Isaac, but it felt like a new fledgling concept waiting to breakthrough in a major way. Hades was arguably the one to do exactly that, and, for good reason, but I still think we’re on the precipice of having a rogue-like blow up in major, mainstream fashion, reaching a similar height to Silksong. Nowadays, rogue-likes have really solidified themselves. Instead of a scrappy up-and-comer trying to prove itself, they are, in-fact, a staple of the videogame genre. As a fan, I am completely all for it and ready to ride this wave out the same way I did when it felt like every other videogame announced was a Souls-like, eagerly adding each one I see I think’s worth even half a damn to my queue. Thus, it makes sense Joey Drew Studios would try to dip their toes into the subgenre, creating Bendy: Lone Wolf.

Bendy: Lone Wolf was originally released under a different name, Boris and the Dark Survival, released in 2020 on Steam and Google Play for a low price-point of only ninety-nine cents. Since then, however, it has received substantial updates and significant polish, all culminating in a larger-scale release, as well as a re-branding, reinforcing its connection to the Bendy franchise. Personally, for anyone who has played Lone Wolf, a game in which you play as Boris and survive maps based largely off Bendy and the Dark Revival, I think we can agree one title makes more sense than the other, but, for marketing purposes, I can certainly understand it.

Bendy: Lone Wolf is a fairly straightforward rogue-like, but it is also one that I think makes a lot of sense and is a good fit for the sub-genre. In general, for rogue-likes, I absolutely appreciate the juggernauts who push the envelope as far as it can be pushed, but, at the same time, I also enjoy a simpler, more arcade-y game-play loop. In Lone Wolf, you play as Boris, navigating the seemingly abandoned cartoon studio, searching for supplies needed for Boris’ survival.

The game-play itself is pretty interesting, feeling like a unique subversion of Bendy and the Dark Revival. Instead of a first-person perspective, you play as Boris in third-person, coupled with a top-down, isometric camera perspective. Boris has an attack button, a block button, and the ability to run, all of which will drain his stamina. The stamina can be replenished by drinking cans of Bacon Soup, obtained at certain vending machines. Having stamina is incredibly important, as well because, without it, you will only be able to walk, which means, if you are spotted by the Ink Demon that is wandering the map, you will not be able to evade him. Throughout the large map, you will encounter standard enemies that can be put away with a few swipes with your plunger, hammer, or whatever weapons you have collected, and, as prefaced, you will encounter the Ink Demon.

The Ink Demon cannot be defeated, instead, you must run from him and take shelter at one of the Little Miracle Stations. After that, he will lose interest and you will once more be able to wander the map and work toward completing your goal. The goal in Bendy: Lone Wolf is to retrieve six items per map, these items stand out as a bright gold and can include anything from a cog to a music box. Once you have retrieved all six items, you now have to book it because The Ink Machine knows exactly where you are and will constantly be in your pursuit. Now, it’s a mad dash back to the elevator, trying to evade The Ink Machine.

Bendy: Lone Wolf challenges you in some pretty interesting ways, I think. The maps you have to go through vary in size and, frankly, it can become real dog gone confusing trying to keep up a sense of navigation, tweaking the camera-angle as you walk is a real easy way to lose true north. Your best friend for tackling this challenge in the game play is the Gent Sticks, little glow sticks you can drop on the floor to mark where you’ve been and other things you want to draw attention toward. Adding to the strategy, since you know the moment you pick up your sixth item, The Ink Demon is going to hightail it after you, it’s always ideal to try and save the item closest to the elevator shaft, that way you can come back for it when you’re ready and drastically improve your chances for success.

Beyond your set objective, your progression is also based on collecting other items spread throughout each map, ones that aren’t mandatory and are also randomly generated throughout the map – they’re tucked away in lockers, bathroom stalls, and anything else you can interact with.

It was rewarding trying to uncover exactly what makes Bendy: Lone Wolf tick, and even if it doesn’t reinvent the wheel or offer a whole lot of depth to uncover beyond its initial game-play loop, it was a fun, satisfying experience that worked excellently as a companion-piece to Bendy and the Dark Revival.

The biggest criticism I have toward Bendy: Lone Wolf is also one of the biggest strengths it has going for it, in that it is simple and pretty easy-going, in spite of what may sound like a fast-paced, high-intensity rogue-like. It doesn’t ever truly evolve and build upon itself in any concrete way. Instead, it largely retains the same core concept with little variation beyond it. This is fine, but, it did feel like it started to grate on me a little bit by the end. It is estimated that Bendy: Lone Wolf takes the average-person about 9 hours to complete, which is a number that could vary considerably given how certain things are randomly generated and how, sometimes, later runs become far longer and more maze-like, and if you lose, you leave empty-handed. When I first started, I had every intention of going for the Platinum trophy on Bendy: Lone Wolf, but, after fourteen hours logged, I have pretty well had my fill for the time being. I don’t feel very strongly about any criticism I have for it, per se, because I recognize it as a simple, fun game with a fun, unique game-play loop that takes elements of the mainline series and applies them to the rogue-like format, but what it takes to successfully complete the main story requires you to spend a lot of time with it. If I had stopped about halfway through, a lot of what I disliked wouldn’t have been so apparent.

Game play, in general, is pretty slow. The fighting mechanics are sluggish and awkward, with delayed attacking and delayed blocking that makes every death from a regular enemy feel cheaper as a result. The Ink Demon isn’t present enough on the map, and yet, is exactly as present as the game-play will allow him to be. He moves like he is swimming through molasses and it feels like the only time he becomes a factor is at the end of each round when you have to make the mad dash toward the elevator shaft. Otherwise, he is incredibly easy to avoid altogether. The regular enemies are also incredibly easy to deal with, in spite of what I said about the fighting – once you get the hang of it and learn to pick your spot for attack, the only reason you’ll ever die from them is because you got in too much of a hurry. Once you realize these two things, you start to really appreciate how much of your time is spent walking around, picking up items, and not doing much else – it isn’t noticeable in the first couple of levels, because it is usually done in around ten minutes or less, but when you find yourself toward the last level where the map feels like it goes on and on and on, the tediousness will start to set in. Likewise, the feeling of frustration evoked from losing in one of these runs will begin to increase. It isn’t that it’s too hard, because it isn’t. Even on the very last level, not a whole lot changes about what you have to do. Instead, they just add more and more rooms to scavenge and look through. This in itself does make it a little more difficult because you will encounter times when you can’t find a collectible anywhere close to the elevator shaft and are forced to either hope for a hail mary or strategize a path you can take to find your way back without running into The Ink Demon, but that only covers the final portion of the game-play. The rest of the time starts to feel like time sunk, just walking, walking, walking, and it’s that death by a thousand cuts that starts to bring Lone Wolf down. If they had intended it to be at this length, I wish they would have added considerably more variety to it, different skills you can defend yourself with, and different ways that the enemies can attack you, at its current state, which requires you to complete the same maps a few times over, the sum of its parts adds up to something that feels too padded and tedious.

Still though, and most of all, I think it is important to say I had fun with my time with Bendy: Lone Wolf. I played it side-by-side with Bendy and the Dark Revival, and as much as I did enjoy Dark Revival, and would say it’s a pound-for-pound superior game altogether, you’d be surprised to find out how much I found myself playing Dark Revival and pining for the strategy and general straightforward, arcade charm that Lone Wolf provides.