Exclusive: watch the UK military’s chief survival instructor react to ‘Stranded: Alien Dawn’

Haemimont Games has shared footage of John Hudson, the UK military’s chief survival instructor, reacting to the studio’s upcoming simulator Stranded: Alien Dawn — check out the exclusive video here.

In Stranded: Alien Dawn, players are tasked with keeping passengers of a space shuttle alive when their vessel crash-lands on an alien planet.

Ahead of the game’s launch on April 25, Haemimont Games has brought in survival expert John Hudson to react to Stranded: Alien Dawn characters attempting to stay alive after their crash.

While most scenarios in Alien Dawn begin with some of the crew milling about the crash site in shock, Hudson revealed it’s “perfectly normal” for survivors to react poorly.

“75 per cent of us, when confronted with this sort of thing, will be stunned and bewildered — so we’ll be looking for leadership,” shared Hudson. “That’s where the player helps the crew out in a way, because they start to give them goal-directed behaviour.”

However, Hudson later gave the survivors “nine and a half out of 10” for their efforts to stay alive, crediting the group for prioritising shelter and bedding while remaining close to the crash site.

Hudson also stressed the importance of securing fire in the event of a crash, but warned that despite the film tropes, it’s “incredibly difficult” to light a fire by rubbing sticks together.

When some of the crew begin investigating the planet’s alien fauna, Hudson pointed out “the fact they’re also considering level one agriculture means the mindset of the survivors has definitely switched to long-term survival”.

You can watch the full video with Hudson above.

While Stranded: Alien Dawn launched in Early Access last October, the sci-fi survival simulator will launch fully for PC, PlayStation and Xbox next Tuesday (April 25).

NME previewed Stranded: Alien Dawn last year, and praised “how well it serves hardcore micromanagers and casual sim fans alike”.