David Szymanski has been doing small unsettling horror themed titles for a while, but his biggest success, of course, was the fantastic classic FPS revival title DUSK. Somewhat ironic, I suppose, given that it was the polar opposite of what his games were usually about, but thankfully he didn’t decide to abandon his smaller projects because of that success. So after a few years of working with other developers and helping with awesome demo collections and small game compilations (like the awesome Dread X Collection) a new standalone commercial title is now out – Iron Lung. And since I was in the mood, I’ve decided to revisit The Music Machine, that awed me seven years ago, as well.
Iron Lung is a very simple title about being stuck deep underwater (well, under blood technically) in a tiny submarine and piloting it blind. As per classic sci fi or horror short story tradition, the setup itself is dramatic enough to set the mood, establishing a mostly dead universe, a moon with an ocean filled with blood and the titular submarine that piloted by the convicted person who’s not expected to return alive.
So the gameplay is all about using the incomplete map, proximity sensors and your coordinates to figure out where you are and how to get to the next point of interest the game asks you to investigate. Your only way to see what’s outside is via a low resolution camera that takes a very narrow field of view shot of what’s in front of the submarine and does it on a delay. And that’s really it – the rest of the game is all about building tension and feeling of dread using the sounds and sometimes visuals until the game ends. The ending is more underwhelming than I would’ve hoped, but it’s still a really awesome one hour plus experience. If you’re into these sorts of games and don’t expect more of it.
The Music Machine is quite different. It’s a story-driven adventure with a few item uses and puzzles, although some elements of the exploration seem optional. And it’s setup is, yet again, rather unsettling and bizarre as you control a teenage girl, who’s possessed by a spirit of a guy she was friends with, who now wants to kill her in a creative and painful way. So, a lot of the game hangs on both incredibly stylish and strange visuals, as the main characters explore other worlds and the dialogue that happens between them as you investigate locations and during specific story points.
Personally, I loved revisiting the game as much as I loved playing it seven years ago. The weird setup for the story, the cool visuals and rather simple puzzles are still very good, while the dialogue between characters is quite well done. Some might find it grating that it’s not voiced, I don’t usually care as much, as long as the writing is good and gets the point and emotions across, and it most certainly does here. If you’re into these sorts of short one hour plus titles and you like horror being more about the unexplained and dread-driven rather than jump scare heavy, definitely check this game out.