3/5 ★ – PhatBaby's review of Iron Lung.

This is just a tense, meaty old dose of atmospheric horror. I'm so tired of FNAF rip-offs being the main thing that goes viral in indie horror these days. Nine times out of ten, you'll hear something kinda slaps, and it's a game about Boink Boink the jumping monkey clown who wants you to track down nine bananas in his maze of wacky mirrors. Little do you know, however, that Boink Boink actually has hidden lore that you have to unravel a lengthy cypher to discover... and once you do it's literally always just that Boink Boink ate four children cause he was bored and their souls possess the mirrors or some shit. But Iron Lung isn't about a scuffed child mascot that eats people's faces off. It's about blindly guiding a rusty submarine through an ocean of blood while being stalked by a spooky monster. It sets up a killer concept and a creepy setting, and then just lets you tootle around as it ramps the tension up to a predictable but effective climax. And my favourite part is that it knows its limits. This is a small game. It hasn't got a crazy budget or high-level graphics. But knowing that, it uses audio, atmosphere and gameplay to fully immerse you in its world. As much as you can say that it's got one string to its bow, it's a very good string, and one that more than carries it considering it's such a short experience. Hearing that Markiplier is officially adapting this into a movie has me pretty gassed, not only because the concept and its lore have a ton of potential, but also because Markiplier himself has a lot of potential. People are already clowning on the announcement, but his movie-style projects have always been overflowing with attention to detail, smart writing and unique ideas. He's gonna make an excellent director, but more importantly, if I'm gonna see an indie game in a movie theatre, I want it to be one about escaping giant fish monsters living on the moon.