As beautiful as it is punishing, PUBG creator's survival game Prologue finally arrives in early access

On the surface, Prologue looks like a simple, rudimentary survival game, but I can assure you it's anything but. The debut project from PlayerUnknown Productions, spearheaded by Mr. PUBG himself, Brendan Greene, Prologue serves up massive, procedurally generated, realistically simulated wildernesses for you to explore and survive in. While there's no elaborate base building, tamable monsters, or intense combat like many of its peers, there's a stripped back savagery and eerie loneliness to Prologue that can become really infectious. After months of playtests, it's now time for the next big step - early access has arrived.

At the core of Prologue is its map generation tech. At the start of each run, a realistic-feeling but totally original 64km² world will be created. Cabins, including the one that you begin each game inside, will also be randomly dotted throughout the landscape. On every map there will also be one weather station, with a tall tower adorned with a red flashing light. The goal is simple - leave the cabin and navigate the terrain to reach the weather station. While that sounds easy, it's anything but.

There are no mini maps or overworld markers to help you cross the woodlands, cliffs, rivers, and quagmires that lie ahead of you. You'll have to use a compass, map, and other tools to chart the right path. You've also got to make sure you scavenge or bring enough supplies with you to stave off thirst and hunger, while also watching your temperature - extreme weather systems can roll in, and if you're not inside a cabin, huddled around a fire, or wearing warm enough clothes, you could meet a frosty demise.

It's an unforgiving experience, and with the world changing every time you try another run while your inventory resets, you can't even resort to map memory and optimized loadouts to gradually improve. Thinking on your feet and becoming a survival master is the only way to conquer Go Wayback.

However, some new features and modes arrive alongside Prologue's early access launch that cater to those wanting more or less punishment. First, custom settings will let you tune the experience exactly how you want it - dial weather systems and survival parameters down to make things easier, or give yourself endless night time blizzards if you want to really test yourself. There's also an endless mode called Objective: Survive, which ditches the end goal of the weather tower and instead tasks you with simply holding out as long as possible. On the other end of the challenge spectrum, Free Roam will let you simply boot up a new world and explore at your own pace - a great way to learn about different terrains, get to grips with different tools, or simply take some stunning environmental photography.

A map editor also arrives with early access, letting you import designs that Prologue's procedural generation brain can then transform into an actual landscape. It's impressive stuff.

Prologue is out right now in early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

While a lot of new features arrive today, there's plenty more to come. As we reported earlier in the week, PlayerUnknown Productions has an ambitious Prologue roadmap that features everything from more cooking options, to living waterways that can freeze over in extremely cold weather, to Steam Deck support.