Infernal Radiation, strange and complicated title by the Polish indie studio Asmodev, is officially out of the early access phase and this is our review
The title, the first release of Asmodev, is available for purchase and download on Steam and other platforms. The Priest Simulator developers, showing a strange and perverse propensity towards games involving priests and exorcists (in fact), in parallel with their main project have developed the indie in question. Let’s find out about Infernal Radiation in this weird, weird review.
An exorcist to save the world
Let’s start by saying that Infernal Radiation is an Action RPG with turn-based combat, with some elements in real time. The game is about a place (presumably an island) called Halloween Island, where scientists have found a new and dark source of energy. To power Halloween Island, a power plant was built that has its roots directly from the heart of hell, from which it extracts souls to power the reactor.
But when a nuclear accident devastates the plant, infernal radiation (hence the name of the game) infects the inhabitants of the earth. Consequently, all the victims of the explosion are possessed by “evil”. To solve this situation we need an exorcist, and this is where our adventure begins.
A Strange Sense of Humor – Infernal Radiation Review
Asmodev’s game is a “peculiar” title, so to speak. Set in a world that combines gothic with rather peculiar fantasy elements, Infernal Radiation is immediately full of horror and black-humor. In addition to what has just been said, the humorous vein that the developers wanted to give to the game, and which probably distinguishes them , is clearly evident .
The problem is that the humor in question leaves us a little dumbfounded, and playing we are not sure how to take the game. Often the humor is “wrong” or in any case well hidden among elements that are difficult to interpret, and throughout the game session we naturally ask ourselves “are they serious, or are they making fun of me?”. To date, the answer is not yet clear.
From the artistic choices, to a technical sector that we suspect has been left insufficient to contribute to this sort of perverse humor, the game takes place in the wake of the asylum films made famous by dear old Yotobi . We do not struggle to find similarities (alas) with “The Worst Horror Movie Ever Made” and other masterpieces of the genre, and we are not sure if this is a pro or a con.
A Slightly Weird Exorcist – Infernal Radiation Review
As already mentioned, the game is about the exploits of our exorcist committed to “purifying” Halloween Island of corruption and contamination caused by the nuclear explosion. A sort of hellish Chernobyl, so to speak. To do this, it will be necessary to defeat about 20 powerful bosses that we will find along the way, which one after the other will try to take you out. It must be said that the rich catalog and the artistic choice of the bosses, despite being decidedly bizarre, we do not mind. Between legs without the rest of the body and possessed beds, challenging bosses one after the other gives a good pace to the game, which despite the hundreds of problems entertains and amuses.
But if the bosses have fun, the combat modes aren’t the most exciting. The combat system is a kind of “turn based attack launch” where you can attack with what looks like a spell (probably) and at the same time parry enemy attacks with a barrier. Nothing more, nothing less. This is probably the main problem with the game, which sees the player compulsively repeating the same action over and over again , for all the bosses. In this regard, although the bosses are strange and completely different from each other, in the end the differences are reduced to a mere change of skin, with the attacks and animations all the same for the 20+ characters.
And the technical sector… – Infernal Radiation Review
After several hours of play, and several bosses faced, we continue to wonder if the developers are making fun of us. The technical sector certainly contributes to throwing fuel on the fire of a game that is difficult to interpret. Here too it is not clear whether the technical-artistic sector of the game was chosen and created in this way to contribute to the sense of general “cringe”, or because of the limited means of the studio.
Even with bugs we are in pretty good shape, with triggers and colliders often not working as they actually should. The graphics look like that of a PlayStation 2 game (hardly PlayStation 3), the music has nothing to do with the game and the whole general mood seems like a huge joke. It probably is, and for the duration of the session we keep asking ourselves.
The Search for an Answer – Infernal Radiation Review
Once the game is closed, confused and disoriented by what I had just witnessed, I decide to do a little research on the Internet to understand if I had actually misunderstood the game, and on how to regulate myself in the review phase. But the research, which brought very few results, did nothing but fuel my doubts and indecisions. In addition to the 15 positive votes received by the game on Steam, probably attributed by the developers themselves, there is only one review, which translated quotes:
Infernal Radiation is a game that deserves a chance. The game is packed with impressive graphics, music, history and humor. The future of this study looks bright. 8.5 / 10.
Almost sure it is a troll, I decide to check the description of the game to clear my mind and get an idea in conclusion, before devoting myself to writing. Arrived in the appropriate section of Steam, I find the icing on the cake that you find below at the end of the paragraph. Confused and disoriented, I sit at my desk and start writing, not knowing for sure where to go.
Conclusions
Summing up something so twisted and perverse is not easy at all. Infernal Radiation can be taken as a joke , as a poor game, as a specimen produced asylum, or as all things put together. Despite this, a game of this kind proposed on Steam at 8.19 euros (even the price is strange) cannot be justified and we struggle to find a reason to recommend the purchase to readers. If you are a fan of the asylum genre and want to have fun for a couple of hours, Infernal Radiation could be worth the price of the ticket, but let’s get things straight: lower your expectations to the minimum wage. Infernal Radiation is available for PC, Linux, Mac and Nintendo Switch.
