Iron Lung is Absolutely Terrifying

this is

iron

lung

is a recently released horror game that takes place in a rusty submarine and was developed by david zamanski if that name means anything to you you most likely know him as the developer of nightfall yes this is a Little different from what came before Zamanski helped explode the retro shooter resurgence, however he had a great track record creating small horror walking simulation titles. I haven't played them all. I've only played Finger Bones and Moon sliver, not including squirrel stapler, the game where you hunt squirrels and staple them to your wife's decomposing corpse to resurrect her and see the face of God, don't ask, I really like these, the bones though Fingertips are more of a proof of concept and their story isn't quite there, which is probably why it's free, but Moon Sliver really shows what these games are about: they're short experiences that use an interesting low-poly aesthetic with lighting. more modern, as well as a sound design that is terribly good at telling a story and creating a thick and oppressive atmosphere and what could be there is more atmosphere around it than an underwater

iron

lung

it is set in the very distant future it is not the earth The sea you're diving into is an ocean of blood on an alien moon.

Well, humanity apparently spread across the farthest stars, but those stars have been fading and an almighty mass extinction is occurring across the universe called the silent ecstasy, stars twinkling, colonies dying, humanity separating and the most worrying thing is that we don't know why it is happening, then the ocean of blood is discovered and exploring it becomes a priority. Convicted and you have been told that you can earn your freedom by completing this mission. Unfortunately, we are short on equipment, so the submarine you are in is not designed for these depths. To compensate, you are welded inside, even the front window is closed.

Your only method of seeing the outside is with a camera system mounted on the front of the machine. Several key areas of the trench need to be photographed. Go train. What's that? Piloting a submarine is easy. You will learn it. What's the worst that can happen? I should point out now that making a video about the iron lung is a little difficult, not only because you spend the entire game in the same claustrophobic place, so honestly, a lot of this video will look the same, but also because it's very very short experience, it says directly on the store page that it is designed to take less than an hour and I can confirm that since my first playthrough took me exactly 59 minutes, what kind of math genius is this guy?

I was surprised that this game also had a save option. system because Zamanski's other short horror titles don't bother you because you can easily beat it in one session. This might be a deal breaker for you, but the game weighs less than five pounds on Steam, which I think is more than fair where I live. that's less than a takeaway fried chicken and fries and that chicken certainly doesn't last 59 minutes oh no unfortunately both are equally bad for my heart so for those of you interested in the game please note that the length of this video increases I took up a pretty substantial portion of my playtime alone and you might want to dive into the spoiler chat which won't come until much later, but still, if you think a sub-hour adventure It's worth the price of admission, so do it.

Plus, you can always play it again, who knows what's out there, but to make it easier for you, how about I put my conclusions at the beginning and we work backwards from them? Iron Lung is a wonderful horror experience, it makes good use of mechanics. of operating a rusty little submarine without stuffing things, it is the perfect length for what it sets out to do, it has, like the other Zomanski games, an excellent atmosphere that manages to keep you captivated, although the story is light, it manages to make you personally involved. I recommend it if any of this sounds like your problem, if any of you need more convincing, let's go over these points, the number one excellent mechanic, so this is not a walking simulator, it is a kind of underwater simulator where your cockpit main has everything you need.

Know the coordinates of your current position, the current heading of your submarine, your oxygen inside the submarine and this measures the depth you are at. It looks pretty low right now and behind you is the deep water imaging station taking pictures of whatever you are currently on. in front of your submarine and there is even a reliable fire extinguisher for mental well-being everything you need to operate a submarine you are given a paper map to help you navigate and by help I mean it is your only method of navigation that you are on soldier Remember you have to look at those coordinates in front of you, pull out the map and then determine where you are in these caverns and you know this map isn't exactly high resolution you're basically operating on a 2D grid and thank goodness. because navigating a cave in 3D would probably drive you crazy, so you adjust your course and move forward or backward, then you check on your map where you are and what adjustments you need to make and continue on, you need to get to these specific areas and aim your Submarine in the right direction and then take a photo.

You don't have to be in exactly the right place to complete the objectives, but honestly, I was trying to do it. It's satisfactory. You know, it's like putting just the right amount of fuel in your car without the horrors of fuel prices and then you get a nice grainy photograph of something good, it's full objective anyway, move on to the next one. I like that the map doesn't really have an indicator of where you are, you actually have to orient yourself and that keeps things going. super attractive, but you can actually do more when navigating, let's say the proximity sensor activates while passing through a tight space, you know what's happening, but it's not exactly a clear picture of what's happening, you can take a Photograph what's in front of you and then figure out how you need to navigate from there.

These photos are from a real environment outside your submarine. The game doesn't lie to you and there are no limits to the number of photos you can take, so you can go crazy. With it, it's really fun and engaging to pilot this thing, you know when it's not, oh, it's so bad, don't worry, you don't have to do too much maintenance on the sub, it's a rusty piece of junk and it's barely holding together, But it should last until we finish, maybe God, why is that noise? Oh my, the length of the game also works in its favor here, there's enough mechanical intrigue to stay fresh without it feeling stale or repetitive, it honestly made me wish for another game like this but bigger and deeper, but that's not it. what this game tries to be.

I guess I'll have to settle for Subnautica if I want more underwater adventures number two. Excellent atmosphere. You are deep in an ocean of blood on an alien moon. I think it's worth repeating because the game really wants you to feel like that's exactly where you are, the noise of the submarine moving through the water, uh or the hema, whatever, it's fantastic, when you think about it, for all intents and purposes. , you should feel like you. You're not moving, you're just in a box, but the sound really makes you feel like you are and the noise of the machinery around you really influences the atmosphere.

Look at these photos too. You know the developer has spent a lot of time searching. in deep sea videos oh why did I put this? It's not just the noises of you piloting the decaying metal death trap that will envelop you, but also the sound of the ocean cascading around you and maybe what else is there, I don't know. I like hearing that, that makes me really uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I'm stuck down here with that and you know it's not always the same noise. What the hell is out there? I would also be remiss without mentioning the music also composed by David Zamanski.

It's not exactly melodic but its drone vibe really fits the mood, which is just that wonderful extra part that sums up everything it says on the store page which was inspired by the soundtrack that Aubry Hodges made for the soundtrack of doom ps1 and n64 and I believe it, finally we have The fact that the game seems like a personal investment and it is complicated to talk about this, but I will do my best in this game. You don't control a submarine, you control a person who controls a submarine. I mentioned before that you're a convict. and that completing this mission will give you your freedom in a letter that you can find in the submarine.

You have a few choice words about that arrangement. Not exactly an optimistic outlook. Here you always remember that you are a human being when you play this game. You could have just sat in one place and had all the controls here for you, just click on them with the mouse cursor or even use the keyboard for hotkeys and things like that and navigate or swim, whatever you do a submarine, but it's not necessary, you have to look and press these buttons manually to control your boat, you even have to turn around, go to the back of the boat to press the button to take pictures, this is explicitly trying to remind you which is not. you only control one person, but also that you are alone, it's just that you think about the summary of the story beforehand, how it talked about the death and disappearance of humanity, leaving only those who were outside the world to survive as they could, You're not alone in this submarine in the dark You're also alone in the universe You're trying to recover and survive something you can't even comprehend Hope is as illusory as starlight Yes, that's what it feels like And you move through the ocean of blood and shots The photographs of things you can't even understand somehow make you understand this situation more and more as you go, although the backstory and the gameplay do not necessarily match, they feel that they complement each other wonderfully, they reflect each other each other, but like I said, there's not really much narrative, there's a reason I keep using the word experience when I talk about this, the game wants to convey feelings of dread, it doesn't have characters representing their struggles and it feels like that. out.

It's not necessary and that would be out of place in a time where you're a convict locked up in a submarine believing you've been sent to die for the sake of a humanity desperately trying to survive somewhere that's starting to feel both. unfathomable and hostile, I hope this has managed to convince you that this game is worth playing, it's not a lot of time, but as you can probably tell, I got a lot out of it, but honestly, there's still more I want to talk about. satisfied just talking to the ghosts here, a horror game is as tense as the tricks it can perform and the iron lung has some beats in this game that take you on a journey and I want to detail the emotional journey I took. the blood sea is literally me detailing what basically the entire game is and how each moment makes you feel as a player, so you know spoilers.

This will be almost like playing, honestly, there won't be much analysis here, but I think it's worth pointing out what the game does and what it does well, if you liked this, pause the video even for a little, download the game and then come back and we can talk about the strange things in these waters or maybe you'll realize the game isn't for you. Whether it's because it's too intense or maybe horror just isn't your thing but you want to know more about it, either way, this is your last chance to leave. I really recommend experiencing it again, but you're the one in charge if you want to listen.

If you want to skip any more words out of my mouth go here if you want to skip all the spoilers okay down the hatch so our first objectives are going pretty well I'm mostly talking about a bunch of weird stuff I can't wrap my head around . okay, I'm here to take photos, not analyze them, so after some complicated navigation here, I can navigate to this target here, no problem, what was that? Well, we've reached our goal, okay, so let's go. and take our photo and um hello, what the hell are you too? What is this?

It may be nothing, but doesn't it seem like something? I take a second photo in exactly the same place. I do not like this. I keep going trying to get the whole incident out of my mind, but it's hard, it's really hard, I get to my next goal, I take the photo, I try not to let it get to me, it's the cover image of the game on the Steam page, after all, I shouldn't get nervous. me and yet my mind is not listening to rational advice at the moment things are tense the road to the next goal is also a bit tight so maybe I'm sweating a little eventually I make it and move on to the next place where I take my photo and Now it could be my brain here, but this doesn't seem quite unnatural, as if it were built almost like a house or abuilding of some kind, but wait a minute, those pillars, didn't I take a photo of them before?

They had curves, so are they pipes or cables or something? What are they? Now I realize they look different, but I don't remember. Then I try, without success, to see it better. No dice, time to go back the way I came. I wish this were the least of my problems. I guess it must have been a blood clot or something. I went back to my console and something is wrong. I'm not at the same coordinates I was before that noise. I sit here looking at my map and my current location for several minutes I really wonder if I would somehow miss moving so far so fast how long was I pressing that button for the next objective more bones maybe some strange things in the background I also take a second photo but there is no change, so there is nothing there, I'm fine, nothing to worry about. anyway, the music scares me and makes me check what's out there.

Maybe I've become a little paranoid. The way forward on the map is unclear, but I think there is a tunnel here. The resolution is a little low, but I've been through blurry parts before. I start to climb the path seems a little precarious so I take a photo to orient myself. I feel extremely uncomfortable. I go through the tunnel or hallway and start heading towards the next objective whose route is stressful to say the least. At least, but I can hear something. I don't think it's the in-game music this time, although the audio changes when I change the orientation of my submarine as if it's coming from a specific location.

The way down is treacherous. I'm browsing with my camera and suddenly things start. getting weird it's not the submarine that's moving and the noise is so loud now i take the photo i think i need to go things are starting to stabilize as i start to move away from the anomaly i'm sure this isn't where i was before resist I need to panic move on to the next goal this photo does nothing to calm me I take more regardless I keep going the path through this tunnel should be clear oh it's that thing again I'm starting to get lost I'm not okay and the panic is The lights They start flashing and as I get closer to the end goal, I suddenly realize that we are taking blood.

I try to calm down. I end up playing a little game to calm my nerves. It's the ultimate goal, so why not get it? exactly correct coordinates just as they need to be perfect this is the name of a demon, I am convinced of this we will have more stories that say that what is left of humanity will never be able to obtain the knowledge we acquired, the species moves on and clings more to a hope that they're not even convinced they can see, so what was all this down here? This thing was actually just a big dumb fish.

What was with all these things under here that almost looked built and what is that anomaly? ocean of blood a former colony of humanity where all the people just burst out and flooded the place with their own juices, i don't know and i'm not going to be a theoretical youtube channel analyzing all the details here, it feels like the kind of something that it must be a mystery forever, not to be answered, which ties into the general hopelessness of the setting, but if you think that's a cop-out, maybe you'd like to hear that there are things in this ocean that aren't. marked on the map that are being discovered, perhaps their answers are somewhere else, who knows what is out there and that is an iron lung.

I really enjoyed it, not every idea needs to be included in a 10 hour campaign and since flash is dead, small projects like this and those made by others are the perfect way to get my fix, worth the price of admission, That's enough horror for now, although I don't think my heart can handle much more or much more fried chicken, yeah it sure is good enough. Joke to get off, why not watch the video? If you only work with your mp3 player, it's not so bad.