I love horrors. Books, films, games, it doesn’t matter what format, or even if it’s scary, as long as it has a good story I’ll give it a shot. If the story isn’t great, then it best scare the bejaysus out of me, which is no easy task. One of the all-time classics that gets the frights and story right is The Exorcist, and since the film’s release we’ve seen Exorcism featured in all sorts, including Asmodev’s arcade clicker, Infernal Radiation.
A power plant running on hellfire erupts on Halloween Island, and evil demonic possessions begin to take place of everyone who lives there. Arriving via a small boat, you play the part of a Cardinal who has come to save this place, exorcising demons and putting out the hellfire that has spread across the land.
The way you progress through Infernal Radiation’s story is by following a series of notes, that when you stand near them, pop up on the screen like text boxes you’d find in a comic strip. It’s actually a nice touch that fits in with the game’s artwork. But it’s really easy to get lost with this, because they just stay there, so as you run back and forth between locations, you’re constantly going back over old notes.
Ideally, they’d disappear, because I can’t see any use of them once they’ve been read. If the dev wanted to keep them, maybe the Cardinal could have a journal that recorded every note. It would make the game a lot more streamline, and user-friendly. And considering Infernal Radiation has an inventory already, although I use that term loosely, it already has a place a journal could go.
The notes will guide you along your journey anyway, and lead you in the direction of the next demon you have to vanquish. Battling demons is a simple enough concept, but not as easy to master as you may think. As the Cardinal, you have spirit orbs floating around you, and you use these to attack the demons, just by simply clicking your left mouse button. The right button defends you from the demon’s projectiles.
It’s very straight forward, but the demon’s fire dfferent types of projectiles that will have different effects, like Poison which will damage you, or ice that you have to break out of when it freezes you. The attacks are easy enough to defend off, just right click as they approach to redirect them at the demon. However, they everntually come at such quick speed you have to time your defence well, alongside planning the time to strike with your own attacks.
You can’t attack or defend though unless you’re covered n a green glow, trying to do so will prevent you from being able to do anything for a short time, leaving you vulnerable. If you find yourself in a pinch like that though, luckily, you can also get Holy Water in Infernal Radiation, that almost acts as a special attack. You can refill your canteen at the church for no cost, and splash this on your demons to deal damage.
Battles usually last several rounds, and once the demon is defeated, you’ll be rewarded with sins. These along with incense you find on the ground can be used at traders across the map, purchasing special items that can help with health regeneration and more. Likewise, winning battles will also allow you to level up, unlocking skill points to spend which will allow you to increase your stats.
Like I say, it’s a simple system but the one that probably works best in the game. Which sadly, is quite short, it doesn’t take more than a few hours to complete. But, Infernal Radiation is still in Early Access, and the developer has been updating it throughout with patches to fix bugs and make improvements. Hopefully, they continue to polish it up before it is ready to release because although there are some annoyances within, I did quite enjoy playing the game.
Infernal Radiation overall thoughts
You can tell Infernal Radiation is in Early Access. It doesn’t quite feel like the finished article just yet, and there are a few things to tweak to improve what content is there already. But I like the art style, it feels spot-on for the type of game it is, and the combat mechanics whilst being kept simple, are still tough to master, making for a good challenge. If Asmodev keeps working hard on this, I think it could make for a really good game people will enjoy.
Infernal Radiation is developed by Asmodev and published by Art Games Studio S.A. and Ultimate Games S.A. The game is currently available on Steam in Early Access. For more previews of upcoming titles, click right HERE.