Unnatural selection

Rick Lane charts the rise of the survival game.

Survival games have proved a hardy breed. Their numbers have exploded recently, and they're evolving quickly. From the relatively simple systems explored in Minecraft, survival games have expanded into full-blown simulations, conquering almost every environment imaginable in the process.This month, we're exploring two ofthemostinteresting-lookingexamplesof the genre, which approach the survival idea in very different ways.

Endnight Games' The Forest sees players stranded in a verdant woodland after a plane crash, where they must forage for food and construct shelters while evading a highly aggressive tribe of blue-skinned natives. Ben Falcone, creative director on the project, says the game was inspired by Italian Cannibal Horror films from the 1970s. ‘We wanted to throw players into a world and let them survive. No missions, no real direction, just letting people be creative against a smart enemy threat.'

Corsair Gaming H1500

The H1500 is a rebrand of the Corsair Vengeance 1500 V2 under the new Corsair Gaming division, and it now comes with a yellow and black colour scheme. The colours won't be to everyone’s taste, although they're perhaps a good match for Corsair's 380T (see p46) this month, and the yellow is subtle, rather than overdone.

The headset has its own USB-powered DAC, which uses Dolby technology to provide virtual 7.1 surround sound through its 50mm drivers. The microphone and 3m cable are both non-detachable, so mobile use isn't an option - it's a gaming headset through and through.

Introducing Android Wear

Darien Graham-Smith takes a closer look at Google's smartwatch platform and explains how it works - and what it can do for you.

Three of the watches in this month’s Labs run Android Wear, Coogle’s operating system designed spec! fically for wearables. This isn’t anything close to a full version of Android; there’s no need to run a heavyweight multitasking operating system on a device as simple as a watch. Indeed, trying to do so would doubtless lead to reduced battery life, which is frankly the last thing the current generation of hard ware needs.