INFERNIUM

7/10

[h1]INSPIRED LEVEL DESIGN WITH INTERCONNECTED WORLDS[/h1] [i]Infernium[/i] is a game that I have discovered by chance, while surfing the internet. The demo convinced me to purchase this title developed by Carlos Coronado. It is a survival/puzzle game. Enigmas are intuitive and easy to solve. I personally do not like over complicated brain teasers, as they make me frustrated, therefore under this department this piece of art is just perfect for me. There are different kinds of enemies that need to be approached in different ways, giving more variety to the gameplay. The character that we play, will gain different powers along the adventure, helping us to proceed. There are 17 different worlds and you can visit them in the order that you prefer. The developer never forces you to take a fixed path, therefore you have a lot of freedom. I was actually surprised about how seamlessly connected these levels are. I have enjoyed the ethereal look of various landscapes and I was immersed in this big and strange fantasy world. At the very beginning a short tutorial explains the basics of the gameplay, but you need to figure out the rest, including strategies to avoid enemies and how to open certain paths in order to have safe passages in case of death. I enjoyed this mechanic, because it made the game more challenging and rewarding. The sound design is good, one of my favourite locations is for sure the floating castle. The developer nailed the dreamy and surreal mood with choirs that you can hear on the first phase of the level, not to mention the noise of the lava in Crimson river or the desolating wind in the desert level. [h1]PERMADEATH SYSTEM AND ARENAS[/h1] By default [i]Infernium[/i] has a permadeath system: once you die for more than 25 times, it is game over. Thankfully, you can disable this option, but I personally did not like this element at all. All the arenas that involve cloaks are more trial and error, and do not really involve much skills to beat, more luck and patience honestly. I do not think that putting this element was very fair. There are some areas that are truly challenging, but in the end beatable, while others are too complicated. The developer gave the possibility to disable enemies. However, I think that Coronado should have balanced things better here. The game also has a story that you can read on notes that you will find scattered along different levels. I had to go to the official wiki to understand what the plot was about. I would have handled it differently, maybe with some narration or by placing notes in a more organized order. If you are interested in deepening the lore, I suggest just visiting the official website. It will clarify the context. [h1]FINAL VERDICT[/h1] This title is not for everyone, a lot of people can just consider [i]Infernium[/i] another weird and senseless indie game. I personally enjoyed it and considering that it was developed for the most part by only one guy, I have nothing but praise for the result achieved. For sure there is a lot of creativity behind it. More people should play it and I am sorry that this title will probably remain within a certain niche of people. I recommend the purchase, and support this minor developer, help him to grow, so he can make more games for us all.