I want to preface what I'm about to say with the fact that if you like puzzle games where you must entirely find the solution yourself without any hints then this is the game for you. There's more than enough of that to spend hours on.
With that being said, those of you who are like me and want some semblance of (video game) logic toward a conclusion in puzzles, Infra is a test of frustration. For the handful of hours I got through this, every puzzle I found was met with a sense of dread and calling it quits for the day.
The way puzzles are structured are fairly straightforward. You walk into a location, are met with infrastructure that's in serious disrepair, and need to fix it to progress. That's all the guidance you get outside of the odd note here and there. As such, puzzles are less about finding the correct solution and more about finding whatever it is the game wants. To me, that process is grating and makes me feel like I'm walking in circles finding that one thing I didn't interact with.
I completely understand why the developer did this. They wanted Infra's puzzles to feel as realistic as possible, at least within the ability to actually complete them. On the front of uniqueness, there's few games with puzzles quite like it. It's just not for me and, judging by the fact 35% of people have gotten just under halfway through the game, it's not for a lot of people.
Though outside of things that could arguably come down to personal tastes, the voice acting for this game is laughably bad. It's mostly due to Finnish voice actors not speaking their native language which isn't the fault of the actors themselves, but it does make any line delivered feel unnaturally wooden. I almost considered swapping the language at times and just reading the subtitles, which is tough since I tend to have a tough time putting subtitles to emotion.
For what it's worth, there are things Infra gets right. Its world is gorgeous and arguably some of the best Source 1 content we've ever gotten. It also has decent music whenever it interjects. For my tastes though, it isn't enough to carry the experience. I really wish I could love this game as much as other people do, but the only way I see myself playing without losing my sanity is to look up all the puzzle solutions. Not super interested in that idea.
With that being said, those of you who are like me and want some semblance of (video game) logic toward a conclusion in puzzles, Infra is a test of frustration. For the handful of hours I got through this, every puzzle I found was met with a sense of dread and calling it quits for the day.
The way puzzles are structured are fairly straightforward. You walk into a location, are met with infrastructure that's in serious disrepair, and need to fix it to progress. That's all the guidance you get outside of the odd note here and there. As such, puzzles are less about finding the correct solution and more about finding whatever it is the game wants. To me, that process is grating and makes me feel like I'm walking in circles finding that one thing I didn't interact with.
I completely understand why the developer did this. They wanted Infra's puzzles to feel as realistic as possible, at least within the ability to actually complete them. On the front of uniqueness, there's few games with puzzles quite like it. It's just not for me and, judging by the fact 35% of people have gotten just under halfway through the game, it's not for a lot of people.
Though outside of things that could arguably come down to personal tastes, the voice acting for this game is laughably bad. It's mostly due to Finnish voice actors not speaking their native language which isn't the fault of the actors themselves, but it does make any line delivered feel unnaturally wooden. I almost considered swapping the language at times and just reading the subtitles, which is tough since I tend to have a tough time putting subtitles to emotion.
For what it's worth, there are things Infra gets right. Its world is gorgeous and arguably some of the best Source 1 content we've ever gotten. It also has decent music whenever it interjects. For my tastes though, it isn't enough to carry the experience. I really wish I could love this game as much as other people do, but the only way I see myself playing without losing my sanity is to look up all the puzzle solutions. Not super interested in that idea.
the most finnish eurojank source adventure game i think i've ever played (positive). even if the puzzles feel like kind of a slog at times, and the battery drain mechanic is kind of just an annoyance (luckily, you can edit the configs to decrease the rate that it drains, or just turn it off completely), every environment has an endless amount of care put into it and the photography helps to incentivize you to explore every little crevice you can, find every document and easter egg.
i do wish it was made a bit more obvious at times which path leads you to the next area and which is optional, because there are multiple times where i'll walk into a hallway thinking it's more map only to be met with a level transition. still, i'll definitely replay this at some point, maybe check out the surprising wealth of fan-mods too. i like this game quite a bit, even through the tedium.
i do wish it was made a bit more obvious at times which path leads you to the next area and which is optional, because there are multiple times where i'll walk into a hallway thinking it's more map only to be met with a level transition. still, i'll definitely replay this at some point, maybe check out the surprising wealth of fan-mods too. i like this game quite a bit, even through the tedium.
It's a nice game, I actually started playing it with great interest. But turns out this game is created to spite me: a linear puzzle game with a lot of the puzzles and content being skippable. I guess it would be alright if I had a counter or something that told me if I am missing stuff but no, most of this stuff is either designed to make you play the game multiple times or straight up force you to use a guide.
I don't like that you cannot revise your discoveries, your items, etc. Specially so that I can keep up with the lore more effectively.
The battery mechanic was also totally unnecessary imo.
Other than that it's a cool and well made setting so far, and I like the idea of fixing everything you find
I don't like that you cannot revise your discoveries, your items, etc. Specially so that I can keep up with the lore more effectively.
The battery mechanic was also totally unnecessary imo.
Other than that it's a cool and well made setting so far, and I like the idea of fixing everything you find
[Infra has this magical quality about it. It's like that surreal experience of exploring empty multiplayer maps and never being able to shake the feeling you aren't alone. It's the perfect urbex game, a real adventure with a fascinating, strangely grounded story and endless, varied areas to explore.]
If you've ever opened Gmod and loaded up gm_construct and had this uneasy feeling that the map wasn't as empty as you though, you know the general vibe Infra gives off. Part of me chalks that up to the Source Engine powering the game which is known to give it's games a bit of a "liminal" vibe, but it's also the layers of world building, the intensely detailed levels and the uneasy tension that envelops you in this foreboding sensation.
Set in the fictional country of Finland, you play a civil engineer tasked with documenting the structural failings of Stalburgs infrastructure, and as you rifle around old warehouses and abandoned industrial plants you begin to piece together a conspiracy that stretches back to the cities founding.
You'll find yourself wondering through a huge variety of urban environments, taking photos of damaged buildings and solving puzzles for almost 15 hours as the game slowly ramps the stakes from non-existent to dramatically tense. It's an incredible experience and one packed full of funny surprises and horrifying secrets that makes every second spent poking around memorable.
Just remember t̶͈̓h̶̘̔ä̶̰t̴͙̆ ̸͚̓ǐ̷̝f̴͍͑ y̵̩̯͓̰͋̃̔͂͗͠͝o̷͉̱̭͌ṷ̶̋ ̵̛̫̺̓̌̓͗̚̚ș̴͉̦̖͐̐̒͝͠e̷̪͓̘̺͒̀̉̒͗̕e̷̻͊̐͛̑̀̿͠ M̴̡̢͙̤̺͓͍̣͙̠̱͉̱̱̮͖̤̙̰̜̙̦͖̓́̋̆̐̈́̕͜͜͠ö̶̢̬̭̝̜͒̏̌̄́͛r̴͇͎̣̦̬̜̺̟͎̺͉̲̬̪̘̿͆̿͗͒͋̓̃̾͑͂̈́͒͊̏̊̍͛͌̊̓̅͋̿̊̃̂͛͗͘͘̕ͅk̸̢̛̯̲͙̜̺͖͍̦̜̲̩͙̖͔̩̣̺̼͈̩͔͙̱̦̲͈̆̾͛̆́̔́̐͗̉̎̆͒̏̈͜͝ͅͅö̸̪̠̪̮͍͇̖͓̇ͅ ̶̨̢̛̮̥̬̼̖͕̦̱̫̤̘̺̖͎̞̼͚̥͚͍̲͓̣̦͇̺̲͎͗̎̌̌̇͛͗̉̏̊̊́̽͊͛̈̈́͐́͌͂͘̕͘͜͠͠͝ͅţ̸̦̼̘͈͇̝̻̟̲̀̂̽̏̔̈o̷͇͍͍͇̤̻̿͐͊̃̀̀͐̂͆͝͝ ̸̦͇̰̟̩͒̓͑́͑̌̓͛̆͆̚͝t̵̡̡̖̱͓̥̘̻̘͆͗̌̀̍̔̍̂̂̾͑̓̀͗͝ư̴̡̡̛̱̯̞͓̺̲̇̇̐̏̐̈́̿́̇́͒̀r̵̰̺̅̈́̈́̈́̎́͑́͒͐̅̊n̶̨̛̬̻̦̯̣̺̩͙̜͖̩̠͒̿̉̉̆ ̶̛̪̜̲̱͇͚̞̙̝͉̻͇̠͕̀͒̿͑̅̔̓̏̉̀̊̾͌͋̐̕ͅa̵̧̤̹̞̟̣̲̼̔̆̒͠ņ̷̢̨̤̩͍̜̬͖͍̻̪͔̗̄͗̈́̿̏͗̌̄́̈́̄͑͐d̸̛̺͉̳̫̣̥̑̂̈́͒́̉̀͂̈́̏̕
If you've ever opened Gmod and loaded up gm_construct and had this uneasy feeling that the map wasn't as empty as you though, you know the general vibe Infra gives off. Part of me chalks that up to the Source Engine powering the game which is known to give it's games a bit of a "liminal" vibe, but it's also the layers of world building, the intensely detailed levels and the uneasy tension that envelops you in this foreboding sensation.
Set in the fictional country of Finland, you play a civil engineer tasked with documenting the structural failings of Stalburgs infrastructure, and as you rifle around old warehouses and abandoned industrial plants you begin to piece together a conspiracy that stretches back to the cities founding.
You'll find yourself wondering through a huge variety of urban environments, taking photos of damaged buildings and solving puzzles for almost 15 hours as the game slowly ramps the stakes from non-existent to dramatically tense. It's an incredible experience and one packed full of funny surprises and horrifying secrets that makes every second spent poking around memorable.
Just remember t̶͈̓h̶̘̔ä̶̰t̴͙̆ ̸͚̓ǐ̷̝f̴͍͑ y̵̩̯͓̰͋̃̔͂͗͠͝o̷͉̱̭͌ṷ̶̋ ̵̛̫̺̓̌̓͗̚̚ș̴͉̦̖͐̐̒͝͠e̷̪͓̘̺͒̀̉̒͗̕e̷̻͊̐͛̑̀̿͠ M̴̡̢͙̤̺͓͍̣͙̠̱͉̱̱̮͖̤̙̰̜̙̦͖̓́̋̆̐̈́̕͜͜͠ö̶̢̬̭̝̜͒̏̌̄́͛r̴͇͎̣̦̬̜̺̟͎̺͉̲̬̪̘̿͆̿͗͒͋̓̃̾͑͂̈́͒͊̏̊̍͛͌̊̓̅͋̿̊̃̂͛͗͘͘̕ͅk̸̢̛̯̲͙̜̺͖͍̦̜̲̩͙̖͔̩̣̺̼͈̩͔͙̱̦̲͈̆̾͛̆́̔́̐͗̉̎̆͒̏̈͜͝ͅͅö̸̪̠̪̮͍͇̖͓̇ͅ ̶̨̢̛̮̥̬̼̖͕̦̱̫̤̘̺̖͎̞̼͚̥͚͍̲͓̣̦͇̺̲͎͗̎̌̌̇͛͗̉̏̊̊́̽͊͛̈̈́͐́͌͂͘̕͘͜͠͠͝ͅţ̸̦̼̘͈͇̝̻̟̲̀̂̽̏̔̈o̷͇͍͍͇̤̻̿͐͊̃̀̀͐̂͆͝͝ ̸̦͇̰̟̩͒̓͑́͑̌̓͛̆͆̚͝t̵̡̡̖̱͓̥̘̻̘͆͗̌̀̍̔̍̂̂̾͑̓̀͗͝ư̴̡̡̛̱̯̞͓̺̲̇̇̐̏̐̈́̿́̇́͒̀r̵̰̺̅̈́̈́̈́̎́͑́͒͐̅̊n̶̨̛̬̻̦̯̣̺̩͙̜͖̩̠͒̿̉̉̆ ̶̛̪̜̲̱͇͚̞̙̝͉̻͇̠͕̀͒̿͑̅̔̓̏̉̀̊̾͌͋̐̕ͅa̵̧̤̹̞̟̣̲̼̔̆̒͠ņ̷̢̨̤̩͍̜̬͖͍̻̪͔̗̄͗̈́̿̏͗̌̄́̈́̄͑͐d̸̛̺͉̳̫̣̥̑̂̈́͒́̉̀͂̈́̏̕
Hidden Gems
I couldn't get this game out of my head for some reason, and I'm finally done with exams, so I wanted to come back and finish it.
I've already done my review for this, but I've never finished it out of frustration with the Turnip Hill section, plus other stuff like some bugs and college. I think my opinion of the last chapters (8, 9 and 10) not being as good as the rest of the game still stands, even if chapter 10 gets better as it goes, but nevertheless, I LOVE this game. It's really rare to find a game so unique as this, and in a way it's something similar to Shadow of the Colossus, where the uniqueness of it is kind of a negative, at least to me. And I say that because I really loved the game, and I wish to go right ahead and play similar ones, but there just isn't. There's nothing like this, at least that I know of, and I think just by that alone it is worth to give it a higher rating. Like I said on my first review, there are obviously some rough edges like the voice acting or the jumbling progression, but the positives highly outweigh the negatives, so I'm changing the score from a 6 to a 7. In short, fantastic puzzles and "gameplay" loop, with the best compilation of infrastructures I've seen in gaming.
I can't stress enough how great INFRA is if you enjoy atmospheric puzzles games or walking sims, and I immensely recommend that you give it a try. Also, I just found out that their next game is already out on Early Access, hell yes.
★★★½ – Great ✅
I've already done my review for this, but I've never finished it out of frustration with the Turnip Hill section, plus other stuff like some bugs and college. I think my opinion of the last chapters (8, 9 and 10) not being as good as the rest of the game still stands, even if chapter 10 gets better as it goes, but nevertheless, I LOVE this game. It's really rare to find a game so unique as this, and in a way it's something similar to Shadow of the Colossus, where the uniqueness of it is kind of a negative, at least to me. And I say that because I really loved the game, and I wish to go right ahead and play similar ones, but there just isn't. There's nothing like this, at least that I know of, and I think just by that alone it is worth to give it a higher rating. Like I said on my first review, there are obviously some rough edges like the voice acting or the jumbling progression, but the positives highly outweigh the negatives, so I'm changing the score from a 6 to a 7. In short, fantastic puzzles and "gameplay" loop, with the best compilation of infrastructures I've seen in gaming.
I can't stress enough how great INFRA is if you enjoy atmospheric puzzles games or walking sims, and I immensely recommend that you give it a try. Also, I just found out that their next game is already out on Early Access, hell yes.
★★★½ – Great ✅
This is the "Indiana Jones" of Civil Engineering. I just imagine the main character saying "It belongs in an OSHA review board!"
great game with wonderful environments. pushes source 1 to a cutting edge in terms of mapping. unfortunately the puzzles are not very good
Surprisingly good, and I say that because this is considered a true urban exploration game, which is something that never really interested me before. Is there any other game like this? Definitely leave a comment if you know one, because it was really fun.
To summarize it, Infra takes you onto the role of a structural analyst who has been sent onto the field to make repairs and take photos of structural damage and any important documents you find, all while exploring the meticulously designed city of Stalburg, and unrevealing its mysterious conspiratorial plot. The main appeal of this game are the environments. I can't express enough how detailed and how naturally the infrastructure flows, specially because of how varied it is. From industrial complexes, to sewers, metros, abandoned buildings, offices, water treatment plants, urban areas, and more. The work that must have gone into creating these places is really commendable, and I guess that's the main reason behind the game releasing in three parts. But there's also some really smart environmental storytelling, lifelike puzzles, secrets, and other s̸͕̾t̶͇̔u̶̳͘f̷̳̎f̵̯̌ to find. And oh yeah, great nostalgic Source prop humor (the spider, holy shit). The plot is also really engaging if you like indulging in a really long and complex conspiratorial interconnected story (seriously, it's massive).
Now, this is probably the only game that I give a positive rating and did not finish, mostly because of a combination of factors. Between being occupied with college, getting soft locked in a puzzle, and the last chapters not being as interesting as the rest, I don't feel like continuing it. But to be honest I already got my enjoyment out of it. This is a walking sim, but it's REALLY long, like 20+ hours, so for me it's not that big of a deal. There are other complaints I have about the game, like the voice acting, but I feel like the uniqueness of it outweighs the negatives, so I'm not going to ramble about them.
If this sounds interesting for you, I recommend giving it a try. It sure didn't for me, but I'm glad I tried it. I guess thanks to David Szymanski for recommending it on twitter.
If you already completed the game, check out what happens in the B2 tunnel if you haven't already because it's uh...something.
★★★ – Good ✅
To summarize it, Infra takes you onto the role of a structural analyst who has been sent onto the field to make repairs and take photos of structural damage and any important documents you find, all while exploring the meticulously designed city of Stalburg, and unrevealing its mysterious conspiratorial plot. The main appeal of this game are the environments. I can't express enough how detailed and how naturally the infrastructure flows, specially because of how varied it is. From industrial complexes, to sewers, metros, abandoned buildings, offices, water treatment plants, urban areas, and more. The work that must have gone into creating these places is really commendable, and I guess that's the main reason behind the game releasing in three parts. But there's also some really smart environmental storytelling, lifelike puzzles, secrets, and other s̸͕̾t̶͇̔u̶̳͘f̷̳̎f̵̯̌ to find. And oh yeah, great nostalgic Source prop humor (the spider, holy shit). The plot is also really engaging if you like indulging in a really long and complex conspiratorial interconnected story (seriously, it's massive).
Now, this is probably the only game that I give a positive rating and did not finish, mostly because of a combination of factors. Between being occupied with college, getting soft locked in a puzzle, and the last chapters not being as interesting as the rest, I don't feel like continuing it. But to be honest I already got my enjoyment out of it. This is a walking sim, but it's REALLY long, like 20+ hours, so for me it's not that big of a deal. There are other complaints I have about the game, like the voice acting, but I feel like the uniqueness of it outweighs the negatives, so I'm not going to ramble about them.
If this sounds interesting for you, I recommend giving it a try. It sure didn't for me, but I'm glad I tried it. I guess thanks to David Szymanski for recommending it on twitter.
If you already completed the game, check out what happens in the B2 tunnel if you haven't already because it's uh...something.
★★★ – Good ✅
To put it simply, one of the most unique and soulful experiences in the whole medium. It's lengthy, deep, intriguing and has a very strong devotion to immersion. This game really isn't about it's mechanics, it's about the insanely believable and memorable world it creates and how you can uncover it's many secrets by being curious and attentive. At times it's humorous, other times its creepy or just plain weird and everything in between. A fantastic walking sim.
Unfortunately, it is a game for a niche audience since it really does require a lot of patience and an eye for detail or being interested to some extent in city infrastructure. It's a game especially made for those that want to get lost in a unique world that's under the mask of a normal contemporary setting and don't mind spending time simply observing and figuring stuff out, probably the best urban exploration game out there too.
If you have the patience and the curiosity, don't skip this one!
Unfortunately, it is a game for a niche audience since it really does require a lot of patience and an eye for detail or being interested to some extent in city infrastructure. It's a game especially made for those that want to get lost in a unique world that's under the mask of a normal contemporary setting and don't mind spending time simply observing and figuring stuff out, probably the best urban exploration game out there too.
If you have the patience and the curiosity, don't skip this one!
An inspirational story of how one regular schlub yet committed model employee can clean up after an entire country's 40 years of engineering incompetence. Fantastic
immersive atmosphere and detailed grounded environmental story telling deliver one of the most unique and gratifying experiences with a game I've had in a while.
immersive atmosphere and detailed grounded environmental story telling deliver one of the most unique and gratifying experiences with a game I've had in a while.
um jogo massivo, cheio de coisas pra explorar e sentir. ele traz uma sensação constante de que você bugou e agora tá em uma área vazia que não era pra você estar. eu, apaixonada pelos gráficos de half life 2 e portal, me deleitei nessa jogatina cheia de indução de nostalgia pelas paisagens.
por mais que seja extremamente longo e cansativo e pedante e a historia seja beeeem ok mas soe muito que tá ali só pra ter algo, eu não me arrependi de ter jogado em nenhum momento! a gameplay é boa e os puzzles são legais e inteligentezinhos e é muito divertido o sistema de fotos :)
talvez eu até rejogue depois, achei muito interessante!
por mais que seja extremamente longo e cansativo e pedante e a historia seja beeeem ok mas soe muito que tá ali só pra ter algo, eu não me arrependi de ter jogado em nenhum momento! a gameplay é boa e os puzzles são legais e inteligentezinhos e é muito divertido o sistema de fotos :)
talvez eu até rejogue depois, achei muito interessante!
The first 6 hours were tedious but good! My jaw dropped when i learned that the game is over 20 hours long. No way i was going to do all the same things over and over again in this period of time!
one of the most immersive and best examples of environmental storytelling. what the devs managed to pull off in the source engine looks amazing for a game engine that old while also having the framerate stay stable (90% of the time). great exploration puzzle game that's paired with a slow-burn story. get it if youve ever wanted to walk through abandoned places or if youre looking for a new puzzle game.
creppy atmosphere, but the puzzles keep getting worse and worse as you advance.
the plot is really uninteresting
the plot is really uninteresting
I think this deserves a port to modern consoles more than any other game. I don't know why but walking around in this game, looking at the scenery, it just puts me in a mood. Fucking love this fucking thing yeahhhhhh.
Wow, where do I even start? This game is so unique and definitely not for everyone. But if you can get absorbed into this game like I did, you won't stop thinking about it.
The exploration is amazing due to the simply beautiful world design and stunning, picturesque moments. I've played some games that look really good with their fancy schmancy graphics, but this one's different. I took 65 screenshots while playing because the game looked amazing and I wanted to capture the moment. I think the Source engine helps it here, creating a sort of creepy yet alluring atmosphere throughout the whole game.
The game is long, it could be seen as a 20-30 hour walking simulator. But it's really more of an exploration-puzzle game. The only downside is that some of the puzzles are obscure or easily missable and I had to use a walkthrough for many sections in the game. Without the walkthrough I would've spent a dozen more hours wandering aimlessly. It can also be hard to remember what keys you have. The game would've really benefited from an inventory, or even a simple list of keys.
The game is pretty funny too, some of the things Mark says, but also the actual story. Like, this guy had the craziest fucking day at the office. Once you think you've seen it all, Infra keeps throwing new locations at you that get bigger and better as you get further into the game.
If you can deal with a slow-burning game, try out Infra. The gameplay is slow, yet the pacing is anything but.
The exploration is amazing due to the simply beautiful world design and stunning, picturesque moments. I've played some games that look really good with their fancy schmancy graphics, but this one's different. I took 65 screenshots while playing because the game looked amazing and I wanted to capture the moment. I think the Source engine helps it here, creating a sort of creepy yet alluring atmosphere throughout the whole game.
The game is long, it could be seen as a 20-30 hour walking simulator. But it's really more of an exploration-puzzle game. The only downside is that some of the puzzles are obscure or easily missable and I had to use a walkthrough for many sections in the game. Without the walkthrough I would've spent a dozen more hours wandering aimlessly. It can also be hard to remember what keys you have. The game would've really benefited from an inventory, or even a simple list of keys.
The game is pretty funny too, some of the things Mark says, but also the actual story. Like, this guy had the craziest fucking day at the office. Once you think you've seen it all, Infra keeps throwing new locations at you that get bigger and better as you get further into the game.
If you can deal with a slow-burning game, try out Infra. The gameplay is slow, yet the pacing is anything but.
This game tells you that finnish people don´t do maintenance
Tremenda locura, tremenda cumbia. Tremenda ingeniería civil. Salvemos Stalburg...
I've written about Infra before, and I still stand by everything I said there, but I wanted to go more into depth about why in particular this really impacted me out of everything I played this year.
I played a lot of extremely video-gamey games this year. I ground through Vampire Survivors, I relearned how much I fucking love pinball, I attempted to catch up on Destiny 2 and eventually gave up when PlayStation fucked them, and I played a bunch of AAA and point and click games with my girlfriends.
But Infra is the game which really captured my brain in a way that fundamentally changed my opinion of what I want out of games. Infra made me feel comfortable cheating through Alan Wake's sloggish combat. It reminded me how much I fucking love adventure games. It reminded me how my least favorite part of Amnesia games was the fucking monsters. And it showed me a type of game I never thought could be played straight: The infrastructure thriller.
Anybody familiar with the late-00s era of gaming is probably familiar with Viscera Cleanup Detail, and infrastructure thrillers have been sort of caught in a twee physics-comedy era ever since. Infrastructure, something that is vitally important to real spaces and generally only scenery in video games, is usually treated as an avenue for comedy in games. Space is never given a sense of vibrancy, reality, and depth, for the sake of life. It's all for fun gags about physics objects bouncing around, or to add tension to guys shooting at you, or to make two sweaty men look even grosser as they climb out of a dumpster.
But Infra is so confident, so made with love, and dedicated to putting you squarely in the shoes of a site inspector for a city architecture firm. You certainly go above and beyond the call of duty, eventually scrambling through a dam, a bunker, and a nuclear plant, but none of this is with the tension of guns or aliens or "enemies" beyond incompetent politicians and corrupt business mogals. And it's a deeply funny game at times. There's reasons I've been caught shitchosting about Infra multiple times here.
And most of all, this is perhaps the only true liminal game I've played. Backrooms content has exploded in popularity lately as an extension of analog horror, and all of it is basically mediocre at best. The best Backrooms game of 2023 was My House (.wad), and literally not a single "Backrooms" game I played featuring the titular title was any good at all. (I also played Anemoiapolis this year, and it was quite good, but not as good as Infra.) But the best liminal game I've played is Infra.
"Liminal" does not mean "scary empty place". Liminal refers to spaces whose purpose is transient - people are meant to travel through them, but not stay in them. You're not meant to pay attention to them. And Infra makes you not only look at these spaces, and pay attention to them - it requires you to care about them. It wants you to look at the wounds on the walls, see where the bones are cracking, listen to where the ventilation wheezes. It understands that liminal is not inherently scary - it's definitely alien, but it's also a part of life. It's quiet, and a little lonely, and a little beautiful in its own way.
And yeah, the first two acts of the game have some bad gameplay. Please, please, endure the raft ride if you generally like video games. I promise it gets better. The computers we've built can make spaces like this feel real. They can make you think about the cities we live in as breathing, real places, with all the guts and back rooms as actual places. I need more games like this. I crave it.
I played a lot of extremely video-gamey games this year. I ground through Vampire Survivors, I relearned how much I fucking love pinball, I attempted to catch up on Destiny 2 and eventually gave up when PlayStation fucked them, and I played a bunch of AAA and point and click games with my girlfriends.
But Infra is the game which really captured my brain in a way that fundamentally changed my opinion of what I want out of games. Infra made me feel comfortable cheating through Alan Wake's sloggish combat. It reminded me how much I fucking love adventure games. It reminded me how my least favorite part of Amnesia games was the fucking monsters. And it showed me a type of game I never thought could be played straight: The infrastructure thriller.
Anybody familiar with the late-00s era of gaming is probably familiar with Viscera Cleanup Detail, and infrastructure thrillers have been sort of caught in a twee physics-comedy era ever since. Infrastructure, something that is vitally important to real spaces and generally only scenery in video games, is usually treated as an avenue for comedy in games. Space is never given a sense of vibrancy, reality, and depth, for the sake of life. It's all for fun gags about physics objects bouncing around, or to add tension to guys shooting at you, or to make two sweaty men look even grosser as they climb out of a dumpster.
But Infra is so confident, so made with love, and dedicated to putting you squarely in the shoes of a site inspector for a city architecture firm. You certainly go above and beyond the call of duty, eventually scrambling through a dam, a bunker, and a nuclear plant, but none of this is with the tension of guns or aliens or "enemies" beyond incompetent politicians and corrupt business mogals. And it's a deeply funny game at times. There's reasons I've been caught shitchosting about Infra multiple times here.
And most of all, this is perhaps the only true liminal game I've played. Backrooms content has exploded in popularity lately as an extension of analog horror, and all of it is basically mediocre at best. The best Backrooms game of 2023 was My House (.wad), and literally not a single "Backrooms" game I played featuring the titular title was any good at all. (I also played Anemoiapolis this year, and it was quite good, but not as good as Infra.) But the best liminal game I've played is Infra.
"Liminal" does not mean "scary empty place". Liminal refers to spaces whose purpose is transient - people are meant to travel through them, but not stay in them. You're not meant to pay attention to them. And Infra makes you not only look at these spaces, and pay attention to them - it requires you to care about them. It wants you to look at the wounds on the walls, see where the bones are cracking, listen to where the ventilation wheezes. It understands that liminal is not inherently scary - it's definitely alien, but it's also a part of life. It's quiet, and a little lonely, and a little beautiful in its own way.
And yeah, the first two acts of the game have some bad gameplay. Please, please, endure the raft ride if you generally like video games. I promise it gets better. The computers we've built can make spaces like this feel real. They can make you think about the cities we live in as breathing, real places, with all the guts and back rooms as actual places. I need more games like this. I crave it.
A game for Half-Life 2 fans that loved the decaying Eastern European backlots more than the combat. Probably some of the best-looking Source can get, Infra takes you through a concrete-clad adventure, snapping photos of exposed rebar as you descend into the Totally-Not-Finnish city of Stalburg and the conspiracies underpinning it.
This is probably my favorite recent imperfect game.
I think it's really cool that there's like, a very granular infrastructure focused game like this. It does a lot of good adventure gamey stuff while also avoiding doing weird inventory puzzles. It's also definitely a eurojank game, full of eastern europe cultural artifacts and odd design decisions which might seem weird and counterintuitive. It's like the machine fixing puzzles of Myst mixed with the "carry this object" puzzles of Amnesia and the environmental design of a walking sim. There's no enemies, this is an adventure game through and through!
The only thing weird about it is how it gets better designed as it goes. There's this awful horrible raft ride in act one which is the WORST part of the game, it's so awful i couldn't blame anybody for dropping the game there. I had to noclip to get myself out of some spots in act 2. But then in the last act of the game there's a REALLY good boat scene, and the contrast is kinda jarring! But also, kind of inspiring! You get to see developers hone their craft while you're playing the same game!
It's honestly really cool that a game can be this big and epic and expansive and never really veer into science fiction or fantasy too hard. The most unreal aspect of the game setting is these radioactive mushrooms growing in places, but beyond that everything is very real and grounded. And i think that's pretty impressive to me since video games are usually a medium so based in fantasy!
This game is as big as Half-Life 2, and in the same engine and has:
- No combat
- No enemies
- No scince fiction
- No aliens
And still works really well! And that's really impressive.
The only recommendation I would make is going into the settings and modifying the flashlight and camera batteries to just make them never run out. That mechanic feels wholly unnecessary to the flavour of the game, often more frustrating than interesting, and removing the tension of trying to find batteries really lets the walking sim parts shine. The developers seem to have realized this over its long development history, as in the final act you're given an upgraded flashlight which doesn't have the same battery drain issues.
If it weren't for the weird quirks, the awful Act 1 design problems, and the battery mechanics, this would easily be five stars. But it's already basically an instant recommend. Mark Infra goes down in my brain as one of my favorite scrimblos. Good job folks, this game is a winner.
I think it's really cool that there's like, a very granular infrastructure focused game like this. It does a lot of good adventure gamey stuff while also avoiding doing weird inventory puzzles. It's also definitely a eurojank game, full of eastern europe cultural artifacts and odd design decisions which might seem weird and counterintuitive. It's like the machine fixing puzzles of Myst mixed with the "carry this object" puzzles of Amnesia and the environmental design of a walking sim. There's no enemies, this is an adventure game through and through!
The only thing weird about it is how it gets better designed as it goes. There's this awful horrible raft ride in act one which is the WORST part of the game, it's so awful i couldn't blame anybody for dropping the game there. I had to noclip to get myself out of some spots in act 2. But then in the last act of the game there's a REALLY good boat scene, and the contrast is kinda jarring! But also, kind of inspiring! You get to see developers hone their craft while you're playing the same game!
It's honestly really cool that a game can be this big and epic and expansive and never really veer into science fiction or fantasy too hard. The most unreal aspect of the game setting is these radioactive mushrooms growing in places, but beyond that everything is very real and grounded. And i think that's pretty impressive to me since video games are usually a medium so based in fantasy!
This game is as big as Half-Life 2, and in the same engine and has:
- No combat
- No enemies
- No scince fiction
- No aliens
And still works really well! And that's really impressive.
The only recommendation I would make is going into the settings and modifying the flashlight and camera batteries to just make them never run out. That mechanic feels wholly unnecessary to the flavour of the game, often more frustrating than interesting, and removing the tension of trying to find batteries really lets the walking sim parts shine. The developers seem to have realized this over its long development history, as in the final act you're given an upgraded flashlight which doesn't have the same battery drain issues.
If it weren't for the weird quirks, the awful Act 1 design problems, and the battery mechanics, this would easily be five stars. But it's already basically an instant recommend. Mark Infra goes down in my brain as one of my favorite scrimblos. Good job folks, this game is a winner.
nice visuals
Never in my life would I have expected a game about infrastructure to be so good. It casually handles so many things expertly, which most games fail to do. Firstly, how to make urban environments interesting. How many sewers have you been crawling through, how many caves explored, industrial plants traversed, and now you realize how well and interesting these locations could have been instead of running through them in seconds. Even the actual street sections which are rather short show so much intricacy you would never find in another game.
The second point are the mostly optional puzzles, which are my favorite type - getting somewhat complicated and old machines running again. It feels so good. It even sets up the more absurd parts well. And the sheer length and amount of locations are admirable.
Absolutely incredible how someone who, as I understand it, is mostly interested in engineering can not only make a game with those parts interesting, but make one of the best adventures to date almost in passing. Great work, there's nothing like it. Masterpiece.
The second point are the mostly optional puzzles, which are my favorite type - getting somewhat complicated and old machines running again. It feels so good. It even sets up the more absurd parts well. And the sheer length and amount of locations are admirable.
Absolutely incredible how someone who, as I understand it, is mostly interested in engineering can not only make a game with those parts interesting, but make one of the best adventures to date almost in passing. Great work, there's nothing like it. Masterpiece.
This review contains spoilers
Hehe demon core go BBBBSBSSBSHHHSSHHHHHHSHSH
Infra is pretty neat, though definitely esoteric in gaming appeal. I'm really teetering on the edge of whether or not I'm in the small audience group for this game, but for the time being, I've decided I'm not. Though that may change.
Your goal here is to assess infrastructure integrity. To make it more game-like, it's a pain in the ass to navigate your crumbling surroundings, puzzles need solving if you're going to finish today's shift. You take pictures of cracks in the walls, barrels knocked over, sublevels flooding, etc. You open sluice gates, regulate chlorinated water flows, and find keycards. It's not the most exciting game in the world, though there are some whackier-than-normal moments, like a train emerging from the tunnel you're by or a ceiling collapsing. Maybe you'll even find a dead body next to a sink someone shit in. Yet nothing stops courageous Mark, he continues to work through it all like a good lil' wagie.
Despite this game's visuals reminding me of the almost-20 year old Half Life 2 and the stiff voice acting, I like Infra. I found myself strangely satisfied spotting holes in a wooden bridge then stopping to take a picture of it, even though your only reward is a brief audio cue to let you know you found something. There's a company conspiracy at work, here, but I never got far enough into it to learn much. I've seen others praising it, but for me it was the gameplay that was most interesting. I may have even found a possible career calling, here.
Infra is fun, but I stopped because I just wasn't entirely in the mood for this one now. I've read that it's also extremely long, and I felt that: there was no end in sight after several hours on the job, here. Maybe one day I'll be okay with strapping the helmet back on and snapping more pictures of janky craftsmanship, but not today.
Your goal here is to assess infrastructure integrity. To make it more game-like, it's a pain in the ass to navigate your crumbling surroundings, puzzles need solving if you're going to finish today's shift. You take pictures of cracks in the walls, barrels knocked over, sublevels flooding, etc. You open sluice gates, regulate chlorinated water flows, and find keycards. It's not the most exciting game in the world, though there are some whackier-than-normal moments, like a train emerging from the tunnel you're by or a ceiling collapsing. Maybe you'll even find a dead body next to a sink someone shit in. Yet nothing stops courageous Mark, he continues to work through it all like a good lil' wagie.
Despite this game's visuals reminding me of the almost-20 year old Half Life 2 and the stiff voice acting, I like Infra. I found myself strangely satisfied spotting holes in a wooden bridge then stopping to take a picture of it, even though your only reward is a brief audio cue to let you know you found something. There's a company conspiracy at work, here, but I never got far enough into it to learn much. I've seen others praising it, but for me it was the gameplay that was most interesting. I may have even found a possible career calling, here.
Infra is fun, but I stopped because I just wasn't entirely in the mood for this one now. I've read that it's also extremely long, and I felt that: there was no end in sight after several hours on the job, here. Maybe one day I'll be okay with strapping the helmet back on and snapping more pictures of janky craftsmanship, but not today.
“Whatever he’s planning, it’s going to happen, and I don’t want to be here when it does. If there’s one thing I’m sure of; everything’s about to fall apart”.
A couple days ago, I was calmly and cooly lamenting the way Half Life 1’s cinematic setpieces still remain somewhat unique through to today. There’s something I find incredibly cathartic about cataclysmic things happening to a gigantic facility while the player Mr Bean’s their way through falling platforms and rubble, all the while gormlessly operating critically important, high-powered machinery you have no qualifications for. Everyone wants their FPS to have a shotgun with lots of recoil or something, but I want an elevator shaft sequence with massive casualties.
INFRA is a rough-around-the-edges little anomaly of a game - if it isn’t outsider art, it skirts dangerously close. It’s just so rare for a title to lean so far into its own neuroses alongside such genuinely impressive production values.
Tasked, as a structural analyst, to do a routine survey of the crumbling water treatment facilities on the outskirts of the fictional city of Stalburg, there is little more for the player to do mechanically than take photographs of OSHA violations and flick switches. Even still, the average first playtime of INFRA is 22 hours long. An oftentimes painful linear first-person adventure where the common roadblock is the odd wildly cruel puzzle and level design. It truly begs belief, the shit they make you do in this to earn a crumb of progress.
I really do love the good majority of what this game accomplishes - there’s an engrossing sense of scale on the journeys between the puzzles. Though the game is linear, there is a lot of wriggle room for alternating paths and solutions to key events, all the while the set designers filled every nook and cranny with surprisingly mindful details and assets that make the city feel lived-in and rewarding to poke around. It’s even replete with intense large-scale destructive setpieces that remind me of something like Disaster Report, and the player character's dialogue has that tired in-over-his-head everyman energy that I luvv. Navigation requires careful deliberation as you have to scan the environment for the most subtle nudges in the right direction; finding keys, notes containing passwords, manuals explaining how to operate machinery. Dizzyingly many things here are purely optional and only affect your playthrough way down the line, if at all.
Where INFRA loses me is in how rotely demanding it can be. The kinds of puzzles here are these legitimately tricky logic tests that tend to be sprawled out over a large playable area - often obscured by too much detail and not-enough lighting - meaning that to even test out a hypothesis, the player has to do a not-insignificant amount of travel between inputs. The developers have this undeniable keen interest in civil engineering, the way these facilities and utilities are connected to one another in a grand network of city planning and infrastructure…… but it’s the sole thing that extends the playtime, and it fucking wore me down. There’s a grand conspiracy element to the game’s overarching story and I could hardly pay it any mind because I just wanted the water on the floor to stop electrocuting me. It wasn’t until the game entered its closing act where I finally felt as though I had clocked to the designer’s puzzle logic. I wanted INFRA to kill its darlings, cull extraneous sections and give me more simple problems to solve - but the game’s more interesting with the sheer friction it poses. Imagine you turned the difficulty of Half Life 1 to the max, only for it remove all of the enemies and guns, & make Black Mesa more annoying instead.
While the game routinely lost its balance on the knife’s edge between demanding and frustrating, I found myself completely enamoured by the way Loiste Interactive hyperfocuses on the spectacle, genuine lived-in immersion, of the decaying infrastructure of the fictional city of Stalburg. Allegedly inspired by watching a documentary on the crumbling network of civil engineering that the USA relies heavily on, INFRA is a game about corruption and decay. It’s a crude image, one of vainglorious despots causing corporate neglect to eat away at the infrastructure we rely on, cataloguing the rebar and cabling that protrudes the crumbling concrete like scabs, but it’s truuu.
INFRA ain’t a game for everyone, but there’s a lot here for folk with saintly patience to appreciate. If you do give it a miss, please at the very least say “tyvm :3” to the overpass you drive under for being kind enough not to fall directly on top of you. It’s very tempted, I’d be too.
A couple days ago, I was calmly and cooly lamenting the way Half Life 1’s cinematic setpieces still remain somewhat unique through to today. There’s something I find incredibly cathartic about cataclysmic things happening to a gigantic facility while the player Mr Bean’s their way through falling platforms and rubble, all the while gormlessly operating critically important, high-powered machinery you have no qualifications for. Everyone wants their FPS to have a shotgun with lots of recoil or something, but I want an elevator shaft sequence with massive casualties.
INFRA is a rough-around-the-edges little anomaly of a game - if it isn’t outsider art, it skirts dangerously close. It’s just so rare for a title to lean so far into its own neuroses alongside such genuinely impressive production values.
Tasked, as a structural analyst, to do a routine survey of the crumbling water treatment facilities on the outskirts of the fictional city of Stalburg, there is little more for the player to do mechanically than take photographs of OSHA violations and flick switches. Even still, the average first playtime of INFRA is 22 hours long. An oftentimes painful linear first-person adventure where the common roadblock is the odd wildly cruel puzzle and level design. It truly begs belief, the shit they make you do in this to earn a crumb of progress.
I really do love the good majority of what this game accomplishes - there’s an engrossing sense of scale on the journeys between the puzzles. Though the game is linear, there is a lot of wriggle room for alternating paths and solutions to key events, all the while the set designers filled every nook and cranny with surprisingly mindful details and assets that make the city feel lived-in and rewarding to poke around. It’s even replete with intense large-scale destructive setpieces that remind me of something like Disaster Report, and the player character's dialogue has that tired in-over-his-head everyman energy that I luvv. Navigation requires careful deliberation as you have to scan the environment for the most subtle nudges in the right direction; finding keys, notes containing passwords, manuals explaining how to operate machinery. Dizzyingly many things here are purely optional and only affect your playthrough way down the line, if at all.
Where INFRA loses me is in how rotely demanding it can be. The kinds of puzzles here are these legitimately tricky logic tests that tend to be sprawled out over a large playable area - often obscured by too much detail and not-enough lighting - meaning that to even test out a hypothesis, the player has to do a not-insignificant amount of travel between inputs. The developers have this undeniable keen interest in civil engineering, the way these facilities and utilities are connected to one another in a grand network of city planning and infrastructure…… but it’s the sole thing that extends the playtime, and it fucking wore me down. There’s a grand conspiracy element to the game’s overarching story and I could hardly pay it any mind because I just wanted the water on the floor to stop electrocuting me. It wasn’t until the game entered its closing act where I finally felt as though I had clocked to the designer’s puzzle logic. I wanted INFRA to kill its darlings, cull extraneous sections and give me more simple problems to solve - but the game’s more interesting with the sheer friction it poses. Imagine you turned the difficulty of Half Life 1 to the max, only for it remove all of the enemies and guns, & make Black Mesa more annoying instead.
While the game routinely lost its balance on the knife’s edge between demanding and frustrating, I found myself completely enamoured by the way Loiste Interactive hyperfocuses on the spectacle, genuine lived-in immersion, of the decaying infrastructure of the fictional city of Stalburg. Allegedly inspired by watching a documentary on the crumbling network of civil engineering that the USA relies heavily on, INFRA is a game about corruption and decay. It’s a crude image, one of vainglorious despots causing corporate neglect to eat away at the infrastructure we rely on, cataloguing the rebar and cabling that protrudes the crumbling concrete like scabs, but it’s truuu.
INFRA ain’t a game for everyone, but there’s a lot here for folk with saintly patience to appreciate. If you do give it a miss, please at the very least say “tyvm :3” to the overpass you drive under for being kind enough not to fall directly on top of you. It’s very tempted, I’d be too.
ENG: Being a game made in Source, the setting and scenery are incredible, the main mechanic of taking pictures is fine but that's as far as it goes... and it has little else to offer. The story, having potential, is wasted by the uninteresting way it's told and the puzzles are some of the most boring I've ever seen in my life. I'm not a fan of them, preferring games that innovate in that aspect (Superliminal or Return of the Obra Dinn), but I fell asleep.
ESP: Al ser un juego hecho en Source, la ambientación y escenarios son increíbles, la mecánica principal de sacar fotos está bien pero hasta ahí... y poco más tiene para ofrecer. La historia, teniendo potencial, se desperdicia por la forma poco interesante que se cuenta y los puzzles son de lo más aburrido que vi en mi vida. Está bien que ya de por sí no soy un fanatico de ellos, prefiriendo juegos que innoven en ese aspecto (Superliminal o Return of the Obra Dinn) pero posta que me dormí.
ESP: Al ser un juego hecho en Source, la ambientación y escenarios son increíbles, la mecánica principal de sacar fotos está bien pero hasta ahí... y poco más tiene para ofrecer. La historia, teniendo potencial, se desperdicia por la forma poco interesante que se cuenta y los puzzles son de lo más aburrido que vi en mi vida. Está bien que ya de por sí no soy un fanatico de ellos, prefiriendo juegos que innoven en ese aspecto (Superliminal o Return of the Obra Dinn) pero posta que me dormí.
If you want to play a game about urban exploration, this is the best thing you can get. It's a very atmospheric and lonesome game about delving into abandoned areas and taking evidence of anything that's not up to code, which there is a lot of since you visit places that are progressively more and more falling apart. It's just you and the environments, you get to explore at your own pace. Along the way you'll eventually have to do some puzzles to progress, it's a bit like Resident Evil without zombies.
But it's not a shallow game, piece by piece you'll learn about a conspiracy hanging over the city, one connected to it's worsening state.
Strongly recommended to anyone who likes slow games.
But it's not a shallow game, piece by piece you'll learn about a conspiracy hanging over the city, one connected to it's worsening state.
Strongly recommended to anyone who likes slow games.
god, i wish i could finish this game. it seems like the dream! an urban exploration game about crumbling infrastructure tinged with conspiracy or maybe just urban politics and threaded with some light puzzling.
well, the puzzles weren't so light. i hit the PIPE ROOM and realized that, like, .... oh. this is one of those serious Logic Puzzle games, not one of those "pull this lever, haha you did it, good job" puzzle games. which is too bad, because as we have well established in Potato Lore by now i am tired and impatient all of the time.
well, the puzzles weren't so light. i hit the PIPE ROOM and realized that, like, .... oh. this is one of those serious Logic Puzzle games, not one of those "pull this lever, haha you did it, good job" puzzle games. which is too bad, because as we have well established in Potato Lore by now i am tired and impatient all of the time.