Infernal Radiation Review

Infernal Radiation is the first release of Asmodev. The game is currently available for purchase and download on Steam. A Nintendo Switch version of the game will release during the first half of 2021. The developers at Asmodev has this weird way of showing a strange and perverse propensity towards games involving priests and exorcists. If this already sounds out of your comfort zone, then don’t carry on reading. However, if weird games are your thing, then read further. Here is my Infernal Radiation review on Steam.

ALL YOU NEED IS AN EXORCIST

Let me start by saying that Asmodev’s Infernal Radiation is an Action RPG title with turn-based combat. Take note that some elements are in real time. The game is about a place (presumably an island) called Halloween Island. Here scientists have found a new and dark source of energy. To power Halloween Island, they built a power plant that has its roots directly from the heart of hell.

This power plant extracts souls to power the reactor. However, when a nuclear accident devastates the entire power plant, infernal radiation (hence the name of the game) infects the inhabitants. Consequently, all the victims of the explosion are possessed by “evil”. To solve this situation, you will need an exorcist. This is where your adventure begins!

A PECULIAR TITLE

Asmodev’s game is a “peculiar” title, so to speak. They set the game in a world that combines gothic with rather peculiar fantasy elements. Immediately when you start playing Infernal Radiation, the title is full of horror and dark comedy. Besides what has just been said, the humorous streak that the developers wanted to give to the game is clearly evident. This by far distinguishes the title from other available games.

The problem is that the humor in question leaves me a little dumbfounded. Even while playing, I am not sure how to take the game. Often the humor is “wrong” or well hidden among elements that are difficult to interpret. Throughout the game session, I naturally ask myself, “are they serious, or are they making fun of me?”. To date, the answer is still not yet clear.

To be honest, the developers left the artistic and technical sector of the game very unfinished. I think they put more effort into the perverse humor of the title than anything else. I definitely did not struggle to find similarities with “The Worst Horror Movie Ever Made” and other masterpieces of the genre. However, I am not sure if this is a pro or a con.

HELLISH CHERNOBYL

As already mentioned, the game is about the exploits of your 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 you will find along the way. Take note that every boss is ruthless and will try to kill you! I must say that the rich catalog and the artistic choice of the bosses, although decidedly bizarre, are not bad at all.

Between legs without the rest of the body and possessed beds, challenging bosses one after another gives a good pace to the game. Despite the hundreds of problems in the game, Asmodev’s Infernal Radiation entertains and amuses. However, while the bosses are quite fun, the combat modes aren’t the most exciting. The combat system almost works on the basis of a turn based strategy title. Here you can attack with what looks like a spell and at the same time parry enemy attacks with a barrier.

There is, unfortunately, nothing more and nothing less. This is probably the fundamental problem with the game. You will find yourself compulsively repeating the same action for all the bosses over and over again. Most of the time the bosses are strange and completely different from each other. This is great, but the attacks and animations of all the 20+ characters are the exact same. In the end, the differences are reduced to a mere change of skin.

MEANT FOR PLAYSTATION 2

After several hours of play, and several bosses faced, I still continue to ask myself 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 and 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.

There are just too many bugs, and some aspects of the game rarely work as they actually should. The graphics in Asmodev’s Infernal Radiation do not even compare to a PlayStation 3 game. To be honest, it looks more like a PlayStation 2 game. The music has nothing to do with the game, and the whole general mood seems like a tremendous joke. It probably is!

CONCLUSION

When I completed the game, I was confused and disoriented by what I had just witnessed. I decided to do a little research on the Internet to understand if I had actually misunderstood the game, and on how to regulate myself during the review phase. But the research, which brought very few results, did nothing but fuel my doubts and indecisions.

At the time of writing this Infernal Radiation review, there were 15 positive votes received by the game on Steam. To be honest, the developers probably attributed this to themselves. I say this based on the fact that almost everything in this game does not work. However, please remember that this is just my opinion. You may enjoy games like this. Feel free to reach out to me if your opinion differs.

Do you want to try Asmodev’s Infernal Radiation? What do you think of my Infernal Radiation review on Steam? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Are you interested in more games? Check out our reviews for Chronos Before The Ashes, El Hijo – A Wild West Tale, Haven, DOOM Eternal, Super Meat Boy Forever, and Gears 5: Hivebusters.