This is what Mouthwashing should have been. In fact, MOLE is a perfect hybrid of that game and Iron Lung, growing into something all its own while simultaneously filtering out all the impurities. This is basically short narrative horror perfected and it's one of my favourite experiences of the year.
Player are thrust in the heavy-duty boots as Viktor, the navigator of a drilling vessel boring deep beneath the earth of an unspecified Slavic country in the search of another missing vessel that went missing while following the Signal, a mysterious frequency that is believed to be the source of all that's going to hell on the surface. It's immediately apparent that something is not right on the vessel itself, but the mission has to be pursued, for more than one reason. The setup is perfect. Much like Iron Lung, it instantly builds intrigue and mood with but a few nervous brush strokes. You don't know the specifics of the country that's on the surface (also because, while fairly grounded at times, there are hints of utter strangeness, such as cassettes being the cornerstone for almost any kind of technology), what is wrong exactly or even what you're really looking for, but you're instantly glued to the screen, hungry for more. And you put together the pieces while being in an horrible drilling coffin, claustrophobic to all hell (again, much like Iron Lung). At the same time, though, you're also unraveling a story of personal tragedy, madness and death that reminded me of Mouthwashing from a couple of years back. The main differences from these games is that the setting, while vague, is much more realized and satisfying than Iron Lung, and the tragic and shocking moments are also accompanied by strong writing and poignant emotional tone, in a way that really made me feel for the protagonist (much unlike Mouthwashing). The story doesn't really break new ground (eheh) with any one element, but the way they're blended together, the absolutely perfect pacing and length, the degree of expertise and the flashes of weirdness make MOLE one for the history books.
Surprisingly, the three-something hours of runtime also feature some actual gameplay in them, and gameplay that feels "fun" and complementary to the experience (Mouthwashing's awful chase sequences say hello). There are a couple of run ins with a monster that are quite tense, but they're very effectively and subtly guided, so you should probably cruise through them in one go, making them unnerving but not pace-stopping. Rest of the time, you might be tasked to solve puzzles (tactile, interactive puzzles a là Frictional games, good call), mainly related to the operation of the Vessel. Indeed, many of the actions you have to take are to effectively guide the vessel to the Signal and taking care of malfunctions and obstacles. The amount of stuff you have to do is surprisingly varied, and even though you have to repeat some routine operations a bunch of times, more often than not there is a surprise or a rogue variable to keep things fresh. The "non autopilot sequence" (if you know you know) is particularly great. That was definitely a surprise, as I was fully expecting a horror walking sim but MOLE manages to impress even in this regard.
The game looks fantastic. It's a retro style that's fairly common by now, but everything is very detailed and the grounded yet strange art direction is brilliant. The atmosphere is suffocating and oppressive, and while sometimes the game goes way too dark, other times it accomplishes that goal by employing striking, dramatic lighting or spatial trickery to catch you off guard. Once again, it's very expertly executed. Audio is in a similar ballpark, as it's not that original, but perfectly calibrated to immerse you and giving you the cold sweat at times. What little music is there is effective, too.
At the end of the day, MOLE proves that some striking ideas can really make familiar concepts shine, if you know what you're doing. This is an utterly captivating, scary and very sad story that will haunt me for a good long while.
