Back to the Dawn Review — Concrete Jungle

Back to the Dawn surprised me. This story-driven indie RPG has been in Early Access development for about two years, and the early copy of the game’s full release I got to play for this review, delivered a remarkably well-polished, incredibly well-written, and gripping narrative adventure set within the walls of the American prison system. Gritty yet restrained, this game is packed with intrigue, mystery, and a struggle to survive within one of the most hostile modern environments there is… a true urban jungle.

In Back to the Dawn, players take part in one of two stories: that of a journalist trying to uncover political corruption or an agent sent deep undercover into the prison system. As Thomas, my campaign saw me framed as I tried to uncover the mayor’s involvement in local pollution. Sent to prison, my political opponents made it as hard as possible to keep me from escaping or getting in contact with my legal representatives, but through a story of intrigue and challenging decisions, I found my way to freedom.

Mechanically speaking, Back to the Dawn is a time-based narrative RPG where you balance stats like hunger, sanity, and lesser concerns like hygiene alongside your relationship with three major prison gangs as well as a wide cast of guards and inmates, all while solving the mysteries of your character’s story and planning your escape. To do so, sometimes you have to play dirty and do things you never would have done on the outside.

Immediately upon my imprisonment, my character Thomas found that to contact his lawyer on the outside, he would need to raise $100—a hefty sum when you’re behind bars. While I could have worked for the prison’s laundry service and earned pennies on the hour, I instead went the more lucrative route and started doing jobs for the prison’s gangs, a dangerous route that often saw me putting my neck out where it didn’t belong and oftentimes getting punished for it.

Anything that can’t be bought or bartered for in Back to the Dawn must be obtained through actions, each requiring a skill check, which the game uses a d20 system for. Random dice rolls are enhanced by your character’s statistics, which you can improve a number of ways while you’re behind bars, such as working out at the gym, watching movies, etc. All of which require money or a relationship with the local gangs. Back to the Dawn does a great job of presenting an “everything for something” mentality behind bars, where nothing comes free, and trying to accomplish one thing will often require you to do three or four other things first.

The game’s writing does not shy away from the dark realities of prison either. You will often have to do things that undermine your comfort or humanity, you will be put in danger if you cross the wrong guy, and characters will make attempts on your life for vending machine money. While the writing never seems gratuitous or upsetting for its own sake, you can expect to feel like you’re really behind bars in this gritty little narrative game, and your survival depends on your wits, your relationships to other characters, and sometimes keeping your head low.

In stark contrast to this shockingly dark story is the game’s world and art style, which depicts everyone as cute, fluffy anthropomorphic animals living in a reality as equally cruel and corrupt as our own. The hierarchy of power and violence within prison is made all the more dramatic when you play as a tiny little fox and an alligator, elephant, or gorilla has beef with you.

Another pleasant surprise about the game is the character writing. While most prison stories want to make you feel constantly in danger, which Back to the Dawn certainly does as well, they usually do it by making all the characters feel like antisocial psychos just waiting for an excuse to beat you up. Instead, Back to the Dawn makes each character feel like an actual person, who just wants to make it day by day and each having their own motivations. However, the threat of violence is still there, but you can and will build friendships behind these prison walls. It’s ironic that the game portraying all its characters as animals makes them feel so human.

If I had one complaint about Back to the Dawn, it’s that the game can feel directionless early on before you know all the interactions and mechanics available. Specifically, you will find yourself wandering the prison, confined to certain areas, unable to do a quest or a mission until you get something that will only come to you with time. Waiting out that time can be hard if you don’t know about the resting feature, because otherwise, you’re just walking around an open space with nothing to do, waiting for a block to slowly tick down. That’s less of a flaw and more of me not noticing something for a while in my playthrough, but if I didn’t include it this review would feel more like me simply gassing Back to the Dawn up.

Try Hard Guides was provided a Steam code for this PC review of Back to the Dawn. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Back to the Dawn is available on Steam.