12. Miasmata | PC | Action Adventure | 2012 | 8.5hrs | 8/10It's sometime after midnight, and you're lost in deep woods on top of a hill. In your right hand you've got some burning twigs to light your way, and in your left you clutch hard-found flora. You've become dehydrated, due to hiking too long with a rising fever. Desperately you peer into the darkness, searching for the path you once knew. And then you see it; the glowing eyes of an unmistakable predator. You hear your heart pounding louder as you scramble away down the hillside. But a root catches your foot, betraying your balance, and now you're tumbling down, bashing against trees, rocks, and fallen logs. You lose your grip on the plants in your hands; the flora that could offer a cure, and burning twig-torch, now rolling away to disappear into high grass. Painfully you lift yourself from the ground, lumbering against a sapling for support. You ignite your lighter, offering scant illumination. Disoriented you attempt to view your compass, but then you're rattled by a deafening roar. Suddenly you're knocked to the ground face first. The sound of your own skull imploding into your brain as all goes permanently black.
Welcome to Miasmata.
A serene trail is safe enough, but sticking to safety won't get you cured.Earth is wracked by a plague. A high standing zealot blames scientists worldwide, claiming the scourge is lab born. Scientists become targets, and many go into hiding. A group of botanists exile themselves to a remote island, hoping to find a cure among its exotic plant life. Hearing of this excursion, the protagonist you play as (Robert Hughes - also a plague stricken botanist), decides to join them. Barely alive, you scarcely make it to the shore, pulling yourself weakly from the boat onto the island known as Eden. Not knowing what's ahead of you, you stumble forward and soon see a hut in the distance. Making your way there, you suddenly spot a dead body. A scientist, murdered with a knife in his back. And this is your first clue that Eden is anything but.
Tents, huts, and cabins are your sole refuges sought island-wide.Your new life will consist of searching for the lost memos of previous scientists, using that information to seek botanical ingredients, and combining them into a possible plague vaccine. Thankfully there are many make shift labs at your disposal, along with comfy beds, and various pieces of survival gear. And you'll need every bit of it, because you have no one to help you whatsoever. You are all alone, with only slain corpses and a stalking malevolent beast for company. The indigenous bunny rabbits, squirrels, and tweeting birds will happily remain indifferent to your strife. Find the ingredients, synthesize the cure, and find a way back off the island. Or die a miserable fever ridden death under cold sleeting rain. Miasmata doesn't care.
Hope you remember everything you learned in chemistry 101, you'll need it.I have never played anything like Miasmata before. This has to be the most non-hand holding, non-casual friendly, most player-intelligence respecting video game I've ever played. And I hesitate to even call this a video game, as Miasmata's more a survival simulator. There's barely anything "gamey" about it. You have no HUD, no numerical stats, no life points, no lives, no conventional game elements to speak of. Everything you do in Miasmata is seen your through your character's eyes, and interacted with via your character's hands. This is a supremely immersive experience, and Miasmata does everything in its power to suck you into its world. Including successfully imitating the feeling of a being a plague stricken man, who is the opposite of sure footed (I nicknamed him Sir Trips-a-lot). You must constantly manage your illness (drink lots of water, get lots of sleep, and formulate meditative doses using found ingredients). And simply the act of walking around is a serious exercise in careful traversal.
If you don't bother to stop and search the ground, it's easy to miss useful fungi like these.The most difficult part of Miasmata is actually not the plague, and not the beast, but rather just getting around the massive island. Your character has the ability to run and jump, but is also a very sick man. Push him too hard, and he will pass out from fever. Run too fast, and he will trip and fall. Move haphazardly down a mountain side, and you'll soon be rolling end over end to the bottom. And every time you fall down and hurt yourself, your fever gets a little worse. So rambling around like a madman is an easy way to get yourself dead. I have to give the developers credit, I've never played a game that made hiking seem so realistic. Your character actually has inertia, and you can't just stop on a dime. Run too fast and try to turn too sharp, and you will lose your footing and eat dirt.
Learn to triangulate and master the art of orienteering.Learning to walk successfully around the island is one thing, but not getting lost while you do it is another. It is extraordinarily easy to lose your bearings in Miasmata. The game gives you a compass and a map to fill in yourself. That's it. No floating waypoints, no auto-fill, no on-screen icons to guide your way. You will have to use the built-in triangulation system to fill in the blanks. And there's a lot of blank, as Eden is a huge island indeed. But it's hand crafted, with each corner unique, and an absolute joy to explore. Until you run into a homicidal beast whose favorite thing is to rip your throat out when you least expect it.
That knife isn't gonna save you, if you're this close you're already dead.As you wander Eden, you begin to realize there's more to the story than you first expected. Who killed the scientists? What is the beast? Who built all these ruins? Those questions and more start being answered by the writings, photos, and evidence you find left behind. There are some twists to the story indeed, and soon this is not just a tale of a sick scientist surviving. But even if you don't care for the plot, you'll probably love the scenery. Miasmata has amazing graphics, that often make you forgot your plight as you gaze upon its gorgeous naturalist beauty. Then you drown while navigating a bog that ended up being deeper than you thought.
Wise man say; throw rocks in water before walking in it.Miasmata is a triumph on many levels, not the least of which being this game was created by only two people. Brothers Joe and Bob Johnson of IonFX, that's it. It absolutely blows my mind that a game of this size, innovation, and competence was made by just two people. If you want to talk about impressive indie development, here it is folks. If more indie games were as forward thinking, brave, and uniquely daring as Miasmata, I'd be the happiest gamer in the world. But the truth is, I find it extremely difficult to recommend Miasmata to the average gamer. If anything, Miasmata's greatest strengths (no hand holding, extreme difficulty, unique gameplay) are its greatest enemies when appealing to a broader gaming demographic.
Your notebook slowly becomes filled with useful memos, and any restoratives you craft.The size of this review is testament to the obvious; I absolutely adored Miasmata. As someone who is all too often bored by the proliferation of trope addled samey game genres, this experience was a breath of fresh invigorating air (with a hint of zesty plague). Couple that with my love of exploring the wilderness in real life, and a deep respect for games that respect me back... and I almost feel like Miasmata was made
just for me. But I encourage anyone reading this review to give Miasmata a try, if this at all sounds interesting to you. Miasmata is a game of huge contrasts; serene beauty and obscene danger. Against Eden's gorgeous adversity you may discover a part of yourself you didn't know was there, and enjoy nurturing it. Or maybe you'll just be bored out of your mind and die, who knows. While I won't call Miasmata flawless by any means, I will call it one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've ever had. If nothing else, Miasmata is one hell of a hiking simulator. I am actually sad that the experience is over. I can't think of any greater praise for a video game than that.
Sit on the beach and watch the sunset. Paradise found.https://www.gog.com/game/miasmata