Cairn Review (PS5)

Next to jumping, shooting, and dodge-rolling, climbing is an activity we spend an awful lot of time doing in modern games. It's sometimes surprising how few adventures dedicate themselves solely to this act, overcoming obstacles big and small by hauling yourself over them.

While it's not the only game to ever do it, Cairn is one such title that's all about the climb. You play as an expert mountaineer with one goal: reach the summit of Mount Kami.

It sounds simple enough before you learn it's a feat nobody has ever achieved, and that Kami is notoriously deadly, having claimed the lives of hundreds of climbers before you.

However, Aava is as determined as Kami is tall, and the game is mostly about this uncompromising desire. Can you really do it?

Well, using Cairn's unique climbing system, it's certainly fun to try. The game's clambering has no baked-in animation, relying on physics and procedural movement for a more realistic, grounded feel.

This, combined with tactile feedback, makes for a stern challenge, but it's super satisfying to conquer each leg of the journey.

You direct each of Aava's limbs in turn to scramble up the side of cliffs, reaching for holds and cracks in the rock to hoist yourself higher. It might feel a little unusual at first (and there's definitely some slightly iffy collision detection in places), but it quickly becomes intuitive.

We like that there's very little visual clutter when you're climbing, and you can rely on Aava herself to determine how you're doing. Her limbs will begin to shake as they become strained, meaning you need to quickly find a more comfortable position or risk your stamina draining fast.

You start the game with an ample supply of pitons, which allow you to effectively create checkpoints during a climb that'll save you from falling to your doom. These are essential tools that allow you to take a breather mid-climb.

The game also uses music sparingly, almost never accompanying your climbing with anything other than environmental sounds like the wind and rustling leaves. It elevates the feeling of isolation and danger.

It doesn't take long at all for things to go very wrong, so planning your route and climbing carefully is an important part of the game. Fortunately, you can zoom out at any time to evaluate your path.

Equally important is staying healthy, and the game's survival mechanics are really nicely balanced. You need to stay on top of warmth, hunger, and thirst as well as Aava's health, and these provide a slight extra layer of tension.

However, if you explore your surroundings fully and take advantage of the many camp sites dotted around the mountain, you shouldn't ever find yourself in a dire situation with no food or water. You'll need to eat, drink, and rest, but Cairn isn't so punishing you'll be constantly fretting about these things.

Basically, so long as your backpack is full of supplies, you have the freedom to explore as much as you want, and doing so is usually worth it.

While your goal is always to move up Mount Kami, you should bear in mind you can climb basically anywhere. There are no prescribed routes, and taking detours to explore areas off to one side usually results in interesting discoveries, like rare consumables or valuable new equipment.

As mentioned, there are specific spots where you're able to save your game and set up your bivouac. Inside, you can sleep to heal wounds, cook meals with your supplies, tape up your fingers to improve your grip, and fix broken pitons. You can also choose to wait for bad weather to pass, as climbing in wet conditions is of course much tougher.

Because there's no right or wrong way to proceed up the mountain, Cairn has a good sense of freedom. It doesn't matter how long you take, or how widely you explore, and again, it behooves you to take in as much as you can.

In terms of narrative, it's fairly subtle. Aava is alone for the majority of her journey, and so has little reason to talk.

As a consequence, you mostly get to know her through messages she receives from other people, or how new characters react to her as she progresses up the mountain. The result is a main character that feels standoffish even to the player, echoing how she interacts with others in the game.

In some ways it's quite cleverly done; we still had questions as the credits rolled, but that feels appropriate given how Aava spends most of the game avoiding others and their enquiries.

We can deal with a slightly frustrating story, but Cairn's technical performance was, at least initially, a tough pill to swallow.

Playing on a standard PS5, the game has an unlocked frame rate, meaning it runs buttery smooth in the small climbing gym where you begin the game. However, as soon as you reach the outdoors and Mount Kami looms large on the horizon, it almost never makes it above 30 frames-per-second.

This isn't a huge problem, as you're moving at a slow pace 99 per cent of the time anyway, but it is a noticeable fall from that tutorial area. It's a shame it doesn't manage a smoother, more consistent level of performance.