Fears to Fathom: Ironbark Lookout Review (SultanK)
In the fourth episode of Fears to Fathom you play as Jack Nelson, a 24 year old fire lookout, transferred to a new outpost. As he settled into his new home, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, little did he know what was transpiring down in Ironbark State Park. He survived as he made the right choices.
At the time of writing this review, four episodes of Fears to Fathom have been released. All episodes have been developed and published by Indian MukulNegi, better known on the socials as Rayll. Based on his experience with scary incidents as a kid and thousands of gamers, he has been doing what most indie developers want: making a title horror games lovers want to play.
Inspired by the crampy 80’s B-horror VHS tapes movies, the aesthetic for the game is defined. It is this same old-school horror vibe which will make you fully immersed in the series. Combined with the realism of the storyline, the fact this could happen to anyone, especially yourself, creates a setting which will keep you invested. No supernatural beings, no monsters, just some derailed, disturbed personalities and a high reality factor will do the trick. All just about people’s crowdsourced, grounded, traumatic stories.
Game in created in Unity, so presumably a lot of more standard assets will be used to create the in-game environment. A great job and effort is put into the environment, nonetheless. The diner, tower interior and surroundings layout are properly designed to define the right atmosphere. Well done for small indie developers.
The ambient background sounds set the vibe immediately, and instantly creates an ominous atmosphere. The way auditory elements are used is immensely important in horror games, and is done extremely well in Ironbark Lookout. Various sound effects occur on set key moments in the game, to clearly indicate some, mostly undesired things are happening or are going to happen.
A first person shooter minigame can be played on the computer in the tower. Although it is very basic, flawed and buggy, it’s quite fun. There is an achievement related to this minigame as well, where you have to score 500 or more points, killing zombies. Since these zombies do not respawn infinitely, this may be hard to achieve. There are a few ways this score can be cheesed, however. If you have trouble reaching this score, search for a guide on Steam, on how to cheese this achievement.
Five achievements can be unlocked to get a perfect game. The story can be played through in under 2 hours approximately. Whilst one might need a few playthroughs to achive the perfect game, since there are missable achievements, this cannot be an issue because the game is rather short. Also, you might get the wrong outcomes a few times, and get killed, based on some poorly choices. Nevertheless, it lends episode 4 excellently for achievement hunters as well.
It is recommended to play through the game several times, since one can discover things which can easily be missed during the first run. Also, take your time to roam the premises on several different times, you will notice subtle changes, clues, about what is going on. I myself had missed some occurances during my first playthrough and enjoyed my subsequent runs even more, as I discovered how much love went into development. A lot of references to other games, famous persons and / or tv series can be found in the game.
Being a true indie title, some features are unavailable. Such as the option to rebind keys, even the option to look at what the key commands are is unavailable. The Y-axis cannot be inverted either, which can be quite annoying for someone who is used to control this way.
In the final chapter, there is a chase scene, which can be quite challenging and you propably need a few tries to succeed.
To conclude:
Since Fears to Fathom – Episode 4 – Ironbark Lookout is very decently priced, makes it a must play for fans of the horror genre. In comparison to episode 1, the game does not have graphics settings upon startup, but can be accessed via an ingame menu. It can run properly on lower-end pc’s as well. No excuses, for no one, not to play this little gem! Recommended to play in a sparse-lit room, with headphones on. Make an effort to immerse in the story, and you will not be disappointed.
Recommended for: horror game lovers, achievement hunters, heck even walking simulator fans.
Cheers,
SultanK