Just when you thought you might get a moment to give your arms a rest, developer The Game Bakers has unveiled On the Trail, a series of free DLC releases for climbing hit Cairn that’s set to begin this “summer”.
Cairn, as a reminder, follows the adventures of professional climber Aava as she begins her ascent of the perilous Mount Kami. It’s journey that takes her across a beautiful near-future landscape of meticulously framed vistas and dizzyingly vertiginous drops – all providing a soothing backdrop for what is, in reality, a surprisingly challenging game.
Progress unfolds across a series of plateaus, each presenting a fresh rock face to parse, as you hunt for a hopefully navigable route hidden among the mountain’s many ledges and crevices. And then you’ll begin your careful ascent, inching up one limb at a time – which is where my impatience rapidly became my undoing. But if you’re of a more measured disposition, you’ll likely be delighted to hear more Cairn is now on the way.
The Game Bakers has announced a series of free DLC that’s arriving under the banner ‘On the Trail’. Things get underway this “summer” with the first release, Deep Water, promising three new climbing locations and “fresh challenges” as players follow in the, uh, arm steps of a legendary climber.
As its name suggests, Dark Water an aquatically minded update, specifically introducing water soloing. What’s that, you say? Well, as someone who’s never climbed anything more exciting than a staircase in real-life, you’re speaking to the wrong person, but The Game Bakers says players “can now climb over water, without the consequences of plummeting to their death”. Oh, and Aava’s agent Marco is being added as a playable character too.
So that’s Cairn’s free On the Trail DLC then, arriving – in part at least – this summer. And for another perspective on The Game Bakers’ mighty climber, Eurogamer contributor Lewis Gordon had some thoughts about its “kinder, more generous” take on masocore earlier this year.
