@Alpha Cipher Did you watch 'Sphere'? Gives the same vibes. You should check it out if you haven't before! If being trapped all alone deep underwater is your kinda thing. 😊
Claustrophobia together with a really creepy, dark and lonely premise, with the unsettling nature of an ocean of blood, what is in there and why. It's perfect horror, the kind that creeps in and stays with you rather than a big sound and ooga booga.
ambience is key. for example, in STALKER: shadow of chernobyl, lab x-18 was pretty scary for my first time through. even with decent body armor, an assault rifle, armor piercing ammo, explosives, and plenty of healing items, i was terrified at the notion of navigating the place.
@@christopherkovalcheck3964 What I want to know is, has it been confirmed that it is actually blood and how? The properties of blood would indicate it had to come from a living being/living beings, and where are they? Why is their blood make up an ocean? There are so many questions.
@@sean3578 How do we know it's blood and not red-pigmented halobacteria? "In 1980, after one such rainy winter, the normally dark blue Dead Sea turned red. Researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem found the Dead Sea to be teeming with an alga called Dunaliella. Dunaliella in turn nourished carotenoid-containing (red-pigmented) halobacteria, whose presence caused the color change."
@@eadbert1935 Yep! I also found out that Lovecraft made a lot of things in his syories sea-related due to not liking the ocean and REALLY hating the smell of rotting fish and fish in general that he thought it is the worst thing....I kinda agree with him.
11:41 there's a giant fish face to the right. In my playthrough I took another photo right after and it was gone. I think that moment made my heart sink down into my toes.
Genuinely one of the best horror games in a while; tells you what you need to know, doesn't overstay its welcome, understands how long it can play with the tension. It's up there with Anatomy imo
I love the double reaction to the death scene at 31:26 where at first you're spooked by the blood splashing everywhere and the loud sound, then you getting the dreadful feeling of "I'm dead" when you see what destroyed your sub.
I honestly thought there was some kind of religious twist, with the rapture concept and what it looks like a mortuary. It reminded me a lot of Yames' "Water Womb World". The big monster was cool but kinda disappointing :D
those photographs of that house (or whatever that was) or just the plain ocean are really creepy.. the deep-sea, no matter where, is just plain horrifying.. the game definitely plays with that fear.
There's always something eerily spooky about undersea horror. Probably because there's just so much that could go wrong and there could be pretty much anything in the water. Still, I do like deep sea horror and am very excited to watch this video.
The game prey on the claustrophobia, fear of the ocean because you know you’re just an expendable pawn so nothing is built to protect you from said threats.
I've read that the further down you go in the ocean, the more grotesque the fishes and sharks look. They really do look like something out of a nightmare.
@@roccoon9892 I think a lot of deep-sea creatures are cool, but they can definitely be pretty monstrous. I don't think they really mind what we call them either
It's mostly because they have to adapt to the high pressure and lack of light down there. There's a lot of really neat stuff down there though! Scientists discover new deep sea creatures every couple of years, and there's a lot of them we've known about for awhile yet still don't know too much about, like colossal squids and stuff.
23:33 - 23:43 I'm laughing so goddamn hard I'm crying oml-- just-- John focusing and working out the map, then just starting to hear the crackling, then turning around and EVERYTHING IS ON FUCKING FIRE I JUST CANNOT OMG
Bruh... genius. This feels like a game jam game polished to perfection. So simple, so little actually in the game, but with such purposeful design choices made that it does what it intends to do.
I like how the one in that really narrow cavern was distorting your vision, and then it seems like you got transported randomly. Seems like either an advanced creature or some type of technology.
Actually that was just a particle, there's no programmed face in thT building. But, that's the great thing about the camera being so blurry. It adds to the scare factor since you're seeing shapes where there are nonem
that lore in this game made my brain go brr. i wanna know what the hell happened to the universe!! what caused this quiet rapture?? were the oceans of blood made from living creatures that were thanos snapped out of existence?? im instantly intrigued! cant wait for the rest of the video, hoping for answers
Same. It's very intriguing. Part of me wants to know more, but also part of me wants it to be done right there. No answers, only questions. The mystery is a huge part of what makes it so exciting.
You should see the game "presentable liberty" it kinda gives the same vibes. In the game you are apparently stuck in a "prison cell" (much like the iron lung in this game) and all of humanity is dying slowely to a virus where people are dropping left and right, your only form of contact to the outside world are letters being sent to you by a few individuals of different situations.
I liked this one... I have a fear of the ocean and then being in cramped spaces with oxygen running out, this checked off those boxes. The photo that really got me was the photo of that odd structure!
Let's just note the concept for the game is all habitable planets and stars disappeared in a rapture. So you check a moon that was already visited previously that had three oceans of blood and then you find a fourth one and decide to send a convict in essentially an iron casket down to take pictures hoping to find a solution to the dying universe?
what licorice said. they probably weren't expecting answers, they just wanted to look for...something. humans are obsessed with exploring and observing and documenting the universe. if it was dying, i'm sure the last thing humanity would do would be to ship some guy off to go check out the last crevices they could, more out of a stubborn undying habit to seek hope rather than out of any real belief that it would be found
Honestly for me, the premise is the most terrifying part of this game. Just imagining everything gone. Floating in an galaxy with phantom lights. No where to settle. No where to land. No where with oxygen. Then finding this... moon with the ocean of blood, these skeletons at the bottom... that big eye staring into the camera and then attacking as if it KNEW you took a picture of it.
I had tingles the entire time. I don't like the idea of not knowing what's in the ocean let alone that bloody abyss. thank you again for this amazing experience!
Interesting that it's titled Iron Lung and the submarine and does kind of look like an actual iron lung (just bigger). Though it might not have to do anything with the story/ game itself. It had some pretty cool moments though.
There's a lot of parallels. An iron lung is just like the sub, you're trapped in, you can never leave. It's small, cramped, limited visibility. The entire game is an analogy to being stuck in an iron lung in an abandoned hospital, waiting for your oxygen to run out, wondering what happened to everyone. You start to hear noises, wondering what's going on around you. Maybe an animal wanders by, sniffing around but you can't see it because your head doesn't turn far enough to look down.
@@JoeTAC Except for the animal part, your comment actually makes perfect sense. This is a great explanation! The sea monster could also be death coming for you or something.
@@csongorkakuk5871 I'm imagining like this long abandoned hospital, where the glass doors are shattered and stray animals just wander in and out in search of shelter and food. Of course, the man in the iron lung can't know that, and can't turn to see the animals walking around near the floor, he can only hear them moving around the hospital or his iron lung. Kind of like John can hear something around the sub, but can never catch it on camera - until that one part.
@@JoeTAC I also think of it as symbolic of how the expeditions in search of hope are essentially mankind trying to forcibly survive in a universe that has died. All the life-giving sources of energy are gone, and like a body without lungs, our species is living on borrowed time.
I think the concept alone more than makes up for the relatively simple/straightforward mechanics in this one. Fantastic sci-fi horror stuff. The moment with the eye set ice through my fucking veins even though I did see it coming, which was nice. Would love to see more games set in this world!
This game covers an impressively large amount of phobias. Fear of a small confined area, fear of being alone, fear of alien creatures, fear of the unknown, fear of fire, fear of drowning, fear of underwater structures, fear of deep bodies of water (or in this case blood) fear of blood itself, fear of running out of oxygen, fear of dying and fear of large objects/creatures. I think I got them all but there could be more that I missed. Overall the dev did an excellent job on this.
Something cool is that there is an unmarked anomaly on the map. There is a small pillar that makes eerie vibrating noises. It's also possible to take photos of the points of interests in any order, so you can go to the last coordinates first and there is actually something there. Makes me wonder if there's any more secrets.
throughout the game theres a lot of creepy locations dotted around that arent marked as points of interests, and in your pictures that you take through the game you can actually take pictures of the creatures that arent gaurenteed but the "fish" that killed you at the end you can actually capture in your pictures of the points of interests aswell as other creatures and faces
Second time watching someone play this and frankly, the looming heat death of the universe is larger in my mind than at any point previous. Nevermind what goes on during the game, the premise of the setting is horrifying.
14:55 So it seems like there's multiple living entities within this 4th Blood Ocean moon place. If you look at the left window thing that John takes a photo from, you can see some kind of head there. It looks humanoidish almost. Then the 2nd time he takes a picture it's gone. Creepy stuff man
i've extensively searched through the games code and could not find ANYTHING about a face being scripted to appear, or some kind of anomaly in the house. Creepy
That was really cool! I think you would enjoy the game called Barotrauma, it's not a first-person game but it does have that deep-sea atmosphere, especially when you need to dive down and salvage wrecks etc. It could be a fun multiplayer game with your friends!
There's just a creepy ambiance of having visual deprivation on a journey to the depths of the ocean. And the camera you have produces only black and white images.
I wouldve never thought that a horror game with this much finnicky gameplay and such "little" visuals could be SO effective. But they absolutely nailed every aspect of it and I think especially the fact that you are so reliant on that shitty front camera to see ANYTHING leaves the imagination running wild and thats what makes the audio sooo damn effective. What a truly terrific job!
The thing i like about this game is the CAMERA, in most games the "picture" is just a Pre-made Texture. But Iron Lung doesn't do that. You are in an ACTUAL WORLD, The camera takes a picture of the outside map in REAL TIME, Meaning the Monsters are actual NPCs that move around
speaking of jurassic park, that eye looked a lot like a t-rex eye, lol. really cool game. definitely fills you with a sense of dread. i would not be able to comprehend the controls; the coordinates would be lost on me. i was confused as to how well you were navigating the entire time. thank you for playing, john! also soma is the best and that's exactly what i was thinking. i want to know more about this universe. oceans full of blood? waaaah????
I really, really appreciate Max's very deadpan zoom-ins on John's face when he's about to crack a bad pun lmao. I like this game overall, interesting idea and setting - I thought the "oceans of blood" thing was a little silly, but the end describing it as a "wound" in the universe itself (metaphorical or not) was cool enough to bring me around on it lol. The navigating looked like I'd find it frustrating, but I love the photos, so grainy and black and white and creepy, starting off very low key and building up to that awesome ending!
I really wish there were more underwater-based horror games. Feels like there could be so much done with it because it's got such a unique kind of terror to it. This was cool to watch. it was a nice simple idea that didn't overload with us with useless information and even though the tension points were obvious, it was still successful with its atmosphere/spook. I wouldn't have the patience for that navigating though x.x thanks for sharing this!
This was DELIGHTFULLY scary and well done. Thank you for sharing because I could NEVER play this game. XD I also get a little freaked out by structures underwater, but for me that includes things like dead trees. It's gotten less bothersome as I've gotten older, but still makes me shiver.
I am both impressed and disappointed that out of every LPer and streamer I've watched play this game, John is _the only one_ that notices the change in coordinates when the sub gets bumped.
john's yell when the fires started popping up followed by a couple absurd and tense moments of putting out the fires AND WRAPPED UP WITH "say cheese ocean!!" im so glad i subscribed to this guy all those years ago
I feel like it does weaken the stakes a bit to start with the player character proclaiming that they don't care if they don't make it. It was poetic, and having the character acknowledge that they're being sent to die was atmospheric, but the second half of the note was just "ok okay don't worry about this character I guess."
I have submechanophobia too, and underwater shipwrecks creep me out so badly, but I'm so fascinated by them at the same time. Something about the fact that something like the Titanic sitting at the bottom of the ocean, in the cold darkness, just gives me the heebie jeebies.
Worse. Definitely worse. Not being able to see outside except in pictures is the worst part for me. Though, I'm not afraid of the ocean, exactly, I'm afraid of giant voids I can't pierce with my eyes. Because you can't see, you imagine so much worse out there. Just so happens there *is* something worse out there and you took a photo of its fucking eye and pissed it off.
I have it too and i just played it just to test myself lmao. I immediately came here to see if other people reacted to the experience in the same way i did and… they surprisingly did. This is such a creepy game that even people that don’t have thalassophobia get creeped out.
Yaay thanks a lot John for the new content. Can't wait to see it during my free time on job. Sending tons of love and good wishes. Stay healthy and thanks a lot for the video. Wishing the same for Kimmy. Friends and family. Also doggo ❤️
I often see your comments on this channel... You are such an incredibly sweet person... I wish there were more people in the world with such a friendly disposition. 💛💛
@@mmkorn22 Thank you :). I'm just very thankful that I found John's channel. I have a heavy depression and general anxiety/emetophobia, so I can't pay much attention to maaany stuff (I don't even watch cartoons anymore. Only animated movies and few ones) and John is the only one that makes me laugh and watch the entire video without having attention issues or lazyness. So when I'm feeling pretty down, I look for the funnier ones he has to cheer myself up or watch another channel I really love, about ragdoll cats. That's why I do it normally with the content creators I enjoy watching. Because they put so much effort and I would love for them to just receive sweet things for their hard work and make them feel as good as they make me feel ♥. Love out to your way too, hopefully! ❤️
the idea of a lonely universe is already horrifiying and something that has been explored in media plenty, but the concept of a literally empty universe with nothing but a few humans and trillions of moons...that could easily become its own series of horror game classics.
There's so much to love in this game, like there's sometimes things in the background of the images that disappear. At 14:56, you can see a face in the bottom left window, then when John readjusts it's gone. That can also happen with the big fish in the background of the bones too. David Szymanski is such a good developer, it's nice to see someone taking advantage of making the player use their imagination and sound to form their own horror (especially if the deep sea scares you), and it still has a jumpscare pay off after all the build up. Man's a legend.
Nice, I was holding out on watching Iron Lung playthroughs in case you played it! Cool game, I look forward to submarine and literal blood moon themed nightmares tonight.
Wow, I loved watching this playthrough. I found myself genuinely encapsulated in the setting and scared with the environment, despite it being a little bit out there (a pool of blood in space). You are right, the gameplay mechanics were a little dry, but I thought it added to the game in some ways by limiting the way you could move. I wonder if there is more to see in the game by just exploring and taking pictures all around the map, aside from the preset nodes. Great game and great playthrough!
20:00 my man with that God-tier recommendation. SOMA is awesome. It has everything I love: It's scary, underwater stuff, sci-fi, existential dread, great atmosphere, amazing story, great characters, post-apocalyptic events, *EXISTENTIAL DREAD*
This was pretty good for a one off. The atmosphere of navigating through a place you are completely blind to. Working with nothing but a map containing vague points of interest for direction. Interesting concept that I can appreciate. The photo system was a nice touch too. But just like you John, I need more visual substance from my horror. Still, was fun while it lasted. Just kind of limiting. Since you can't see what's happening so you just have to push through it and hope for the best. Either you crash into a wall or object and game over, run out of oxygen, or get eaten by some beast you absolutely know is out there waiting for you to run into it. Barotrauma does something similar but with more visuals.
This reminds me of a game that came out a bit ago, it was made by the same guy that made the game called "My Body," where you are a student that morphs a willing participant in to a hideous monster while being talked through about the process. The game this reminds me of was about a guy that was obsessed with finding and studying the fossils of the 'precursors' of humanity by going back and forth from submarine and deep sea scuba diving. (Sorry for long comment, name of games escape me)
I really enjoyed this one! Underwater horror is one of my favorites because the ocean is so vast and still largely unexplored like...there could be something down there and we would never know...😱 I agree it was very analytical, the map really took me back to math class, I don't think I could play this game on my own, on account of being math illiterate, but watching John do it was a blast!
The premise for this game is great. Not just for the world, which is really inventive (a universe with no stars and no planets because they vanished overnight in some sort of rapture), exploring a moon with an ocean of blood which seems to have life on it, but inside of a sealed submarine with no vision besides some photos you can take. The gameplay wouldn't appeal to me, but it's a great approach to horror and really sets up the atmosphere. The finish startled me but was a tad bit uglier than I expected, since it looked like a 2D image, but that reveal before it with the eye of the underwater monster was pretty well executed. I honestly want to see more about this universe devoid of life, but maybe it's better to leave it at that. The less you know about the state of that universe, the better. The mystery is what's so great about it.
I’m not really afraid of the ocean or space, like the void or not knowing what is out there, what does it to me and the reason I think Soma is one of the greatest horror stories is the goal in the hopeless mission. They give you a task and the fact that you’re running out of air and you are not getting out of there becomes kind of secondary, the sense of achievement keeps you entertained enough. Even if you took that one last picture, then what? You are spending the rest of your life waiting for the oxygen to deplete. The idea that you did everything you could, knowing it was for nothing, that is the best type of horror. The reminder that we are truly powerless. I wish I could forget Soma and watch it again for the first time. Rant over. Great video as usual John!!!
Very creepy atmosphere and quite well done. The whole setting was so claustrophobic and depressing, so it worked very well. The sounds really make this one work.
@@goobermcnoober8140 That's why your character is sent there. To find out. Or to die. Either way it's a win. You're a prisoner so if you die, then execution successful. If you live and find something, then good job.
@@goobermcnoober8140 I get what you mean, why is there a ocean of red blood in an alien planet But then again, it's part of the fun of the mystery, maybe there's once a mass colony of humans lived there
Oh man, watching someone play horror games usually doesn’t creep me out but I have a fear of deep/dark water so this was very fun but also very nerve-wracking to watch
Something this game makes me wonder is "would creatures living in a sea of blood need skin, or circulatory systems altogether?" Would they evolve to function more like autonomous organs in a larger organism than individual creatures? With that constant shared bloodstream would there be any need for predation, or even feeding? What would life look like when the external is the same as the internal?
Someone went out of boundaries with this game and the monster does seem to not have skin (given, it looks goofy without the filter and the dev himself said he never thought of seeing the game like that, but who knows)
This was a very cool game to watch. I love this idea and suspense in horror. Making your mind wonder what you’re hearing, to the grainy photos as your only visual. Making you still wonder what you’re seeing. I’d love a deeper dive (no pun intended) into more of this type of game. Some type of sequel or continuation of this universe.
Despite doing very little as far as scares go, this game still managed to give me slight submechanophobia. The whole set up is creepy and taking photos of the unknown is unnerving.
![I "love" home invasion horror games [Fears to Fathom - Home Alone]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-WlSt-FPHXM/mqdefault.jpg)
![I "love" home invasion horror games [Fears to Fathom - Home Alone]](/img/tr.png)
![Most disturbing horror game of the year? [Bloodwash]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/O3USeDps27Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for playing!
the people in the comments didnt even realize
@@moca6655 do they know?
thanks for the game.
What a dark world to set a game in. Not just the ocean of blood, but the dead universe, slowly fading away into the ever darkness
its so beautiful
@Alpha Cipher Did you watch 'Sphere'? Gives the same vibes. You should check it out if you haven't before! If being trapped all alone deep underwater is your kinda thing. 😊
@@c0pperdaem0n Is it a movie or a series of some kind?
@@TheJasmine172 A 1998 psychological thriller 😊
@HolgerDanske14 yeah, you right
Proof that a game doesn’t need to be riddled with jump scares to be terrifying. I liked this one!
i agree. i get creeped out with silence, guessing, extra creeped when you are trapped in one place and water makes me fell extra trapped.
Claustrophobia together with a really creepy, dark and lonely premise, with the unsettling nature of an ocean of blood, what is in there and why. It's perfect horror, the kind that creeps in and stays with you rather than a big sound and ooga booga.
ambience is key.
for example, in STALKER: shadow of chernobyl, lab x-18 was pretty scary for my first time through.
even with decent body armor, an assault rifle, armor piercing ammo, explosives, and plenty of healing items, i was terrified at the notion of navigating the place.
@@bungiecrimes7247 Two seconds? You must not understand the premise of slow-burning, psychological horror.
@@bungiecrimes7247 You play games to complete them not to enjoy them.
Perfect setup for a horror game really. Deep water, confined spaces and weird noises. Class.
Also a very weird setting. An ocean of blood, on a moon, in a universe where all stars have vanished.
@@christopherkovalcheck3964 What I want to know is, has it been confirmed that it is actually blood and how? The properties of blood would indicate it had to come from a living being/living beings, and where are they? Why is their blood make up an ocean? There are so many questions.
@@kvl2420 maybe it's the blood of the people killed by the creature?
@@kvl2420 its red
@@sean3578 How do we know it's blood and not red-pigmented halobacteria?
"In 1980, after one such rainy winter, the normally dark blue Dead Sea turned red. Researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem found the Dead Sea to be teeming with an alga called Dunaliella. Dunaliella in turn nourished carotenoid-containing (red-pigmented) halobacteria, whose presence caused the color change."
I love space horror and deep sea horror, so this is an exciting combination.
ah, a lovecraftian ^^
Same. There are so many horrors that could be hiding inside both.
Same here, I enjoy ancient ruins and horrors being found in sandy/snowy deserts too !
It perfectly blends fear of the unknown with claustrophobia... and even more fear of the unknown.
@@eadbert1935 Yep! I also found out that Lovecraft made a lot of things in his syories sea-related due to not liking the ocean and REALLY hating the smell of rotting fish and fish in general that he thought it is the worst thing....I kinda agree with him.
Capturing a picture of the creature was a super cool moment. The big eye just looking into the camera in black and white. Great stuff
Spoiled it for me unfortunately
@@20motu08 Don't read the comments before you watch the video next time, haha
@@hannag4768 It was that comment that TH-cam pins right under the video for me; it's kinda hard to avoid when you aren't thinking about/expecting it.
@@PulseOfOpposites Then you need to get into the habit of not scrolling down before you finish a video.
@@Lucifronz The comment is pinned such that it is always visible on mobile devices, Einstein.
11:41 there's a giant fish face to the right. In my playthrough I took another photo right after and it was gone. I think that moment made my heart sink down into my toes.
The fishy a lil shy 👉👈
Genuinely one of the best horror games in a while; tells you what you need to know, doesn't overstay its welcome, understands how long it can play with the tension. It's up there with Anatomy imo
Your pfp lmao 😂
@@Slushiii6804 oh shit lol that's funny
I love the double reaction to the death scene at 31:26 where at first you're spooked by the blood splashing everywhere and the loud sound, then you getting the dreadful feeling of "I'm dead" when you see what destroyed your sub.
"im dead 💀"
I want to know more about the previous oceans of blood 🤔
Heyyy love ya videos, Chris!
A prequel? Or a sequel maybeee.. Many convicts sent to their aquatic doom.
I'm glad I found your comment, your videos are great!!
Love your playthroughs, CJU! Been watching for a few years :)
nice to see another youtuber comment
A face appears in a "window" at 14:57, then disappears when John re-takes the photo
Yo, that's super creepy!
Yeah I don't know if I verbalized it or not, but I remember thinking I saw something in the first photo that wasn't in the second. cool!
I honestly thought there was some kind of religious twist, with the rapture concept and what it looks like a mortuary. It reminded me a lot of Yames' "Water Womb World". The big monster was cool but kinda disappointing :D
How on earth did you catch that omg
hee hee hee
those photographs of that house (or whatever that was) or just the plain ocean are really creepy.. the deep-sea, no matter where, is just plain horrifying.. the game definitely plays with that fear.
This game definitely epitomizes the "Thanks I hate it" mechanic of exploring the unknowns
John turning around only to be greeted by fire was too funny 😂 “what’s that crackling sound?”
There's always something eerily spooky about undersea horror. Probably because there's just so much that could go wrong and there could be pretty much anything in the water. Still, I do like deep sea horror and am very excited to watch this video.
And don't forget the fact that underwater there is limited space and little exits which makes you just run around stuck.. isolated
You should watch Leviathan, pretty good deep sea horror movie
The game prey on the claustrophobia, fear of the ocean because you know you’re just an expendable pawn so nothing is built to protect you from said threats.
so much that could go wrong and so little solutions to these problems. once something does go wrong, you're as good as dead
That and the fact that this game is very triggering for those who have either thalassophobia and/or claustrophobia
I've read that the further down you go in the ocean, the more grotesque the fishes and sharks look. They really do look like something out of a nightmare.
@Mittens calling them monsters is a bit too much. They’re living creatures, just like you and I.
cang imagine how scary we would look to them. Fleshy creatures with long fingers and arms and weird faces lmao
@@roccoon9892 I think a lot of deep-sea creatures are cool, but they can definitely be pretty monstrous. I don't think they really mind what we call them either
It's mostly because they have to adapt to the high pressure and lack of light down there. There's a lot of really neat stuff down there though! Scientists discover new deep sea creatures every couple of years, and there's a lot of them we've known about for awhile yet still don't know too much about, like colossal squids and stuff.
There's no light down there, so looking pretty isn't a concern.
23:33 - 23:43 I'm laughing so goddamn hard I'm crying oml-- just-- John focusing and working out the map, then just starting to hear the crackling, then turning around and EVERYTHING IS ON FUCKING FIRE I JUST CANNOT OMG
With me, I was looking onto the panel, and I noticed the sub was getting brighter... Then I turn around and there was fire!
And when he tells the fire to “STOP IT. nooo stopp. NOOO DUDEE!” OMGG 😭😭
such a genuine reaction ahahhaha
Bruh... genius. This feels like a game jam game polished to perfection. So simple, so little actually in the game, but with such purposeful design choices made that it does what it intends to do.
I like how the one in that really narrow cavern was distorting your vision, and then it seems like you got transported randomly. Seems like either an advanced creature or some type of technology.
14:54 has a face in the 'window' that is gone at 15:16 (second picture). Creepy.
Nice catch!
Looking at the shape i THINK that was the giant fish at the end
Yeah creepy
Actually that was just a particle, there's no programmed face in thT building. But, that's the great thing about the camera being so blurry. It adds to the scare factor since you're seeing shapes where there are nonem
i've been debugging the game, theres no scripted function for a human face and i couldnt find anything in the files, creepy
that lore in this game made my brain go brr. i wanna know what the hell happened to the universe!! what caused this quiet rapture?? were the oceans of blood made from living creatures that were thanos snapped out of existence?? im instantly intrigued! cant wait for the rest of the video, hoping for answers
Same. It's very intriguing. Part of me wants to know more, but also part of me wants it to be done right there. No answers, only questions. The mystery is a huge part of what makes it so exciting.
You should see the game "presentable liberty" it kinda gives the same vibes. In the game you are apparently stuck in a "prison cell" (much like the iron lung in this game) and all of humanity is dying slowely to a virus where people are dropping left and right, your only form of contact to the outside world are letters being sent to you by a few individuals of different situations.
Spoilers! We don’t get any answers.
@@Astickkkk omg i remember that game! it was so well done
The sea monster subtly in the picture at 11:41 was a masterful touch. It was subtle.
That in-game description is ...something. Just going to weld you into a metal hamster ball and wish you luck, lol.
Can't wait.
How the fuck did you put that little guy in your comment
I should've known the scare was coming near the end but it still got me 😂😭
I liked this one... I have a fear of the ocean and then being in cramped spaces with oxygen running out, this checked off those boxes. The photo that really got me was the photo of that odd structure!
This was excellent - I truly enjoyed it, and it felt very unique!
Also - the sudden realisation and reaction at 23:35 was hilarious!
Let's just note the concept for the game is all habitable planets and stars disappeared in a rapture. So you check a moon that was already visited previously that had three oceans of blood and then you find a fourth one and decide to send a convict in essentially an iron casket down to take pictures hoping to find a solution to the dying universe?
What else are you going to do all day?
what licorice said. they probably weren't expecting answers, they just wanted to look for...something. humans are obsessed with exploring and observing and documenting the universe. if it was dying, i'm sure the last thing humanity would do would be to ship some guy off to go check out the last crevices they could, more out of a stubborn undying habit to seek hope rather than out of any real belief that it would be found
Honestly for me, the premise is the most terrifying part of this game. Just imagining everything gone. Floating in an galaxy with phantom lights. No where to settle. No where to land. No where with oxygen. Then finding this... moon with the ocean of blood, these skeletons at the bottom... that big eye staring into the camera and then attacking as if it KNEW you took a picture of it.
I had tingles the entire time. I don't like the idea of not knowing what's in the ocean let alone that bloody abyss. thank you again for this amazing experience!
I'm assuming it was called the iron lung because it's essentially breathing (lung) under blood (blood containing iron)
@@TheR41ku The shape of the sub also resembles an actual iron lung machine.
What an amazing idea for a game. I felt on edge the whole time!
Long time no see, Jon. Hope you're doing well! Much love.
I hope you are doing well bro
Interesting that it's titled Iron Lung and the submarine and does kind of look like an actual iron lung (just bigger). Though it might not have to do anything with the story/ game itself. It had some pretty cool moments though.
There's a lot of parallels. An iron lung is just like the sub, you're trapped in, you can never leave. It's small, cramped, limited visibility. The entire game is an analogy to being stuck in an iron lung in an abandoned hospital, waiting for your oxygen to run out, wondering what happened to everyone. You start to hear noises, wondering what's going on around you. Maybe an animal wanders by, sniffing around but you can't see it because your head doesn't turn far enough to look down.
@@JoeTAC Except for the animal part, your comment actually makes perfect sense. This is a great explanation! The sea monster could also be death coming for you or something.
@@csongorkakuk5871 I'm imagining like this long abandoned hospital, where the glass doors are shattered and stray animals just wander in and out in search of shelter and food. Of course, the man in the iron lung can't know that, and can't turn to see the animals walking around near the floor, he can only hear them moving around the hospital or his iron lung. Kind of like John can hear something around the sub, but can never catch it on camera - until that one part.
@@JoeTAC I also think of it as symbolic of how the expeditions in search of hope are essentially mankind trying to forcibly survive in a universe that has died. All the life-giving sources of energy are gone, and like a body without lungs, our species is living on borrowed time.
You could also think of it as a reference to how lungs provide oxygen to blood cells during circulation, since blood does have iron in it.
That fucking eye jump scare was actually terrifying
I think the concept alone more than makes up for the relatively simple/straightforward mechanics in this one. Fantastic sci-fi horror stuff. The moment with the eye set ice through my fucking veins even though I did see it coming, which was nice. Would love to see more games set in this world!
This game covers an impressively large amount of phobias. Fear of a small confined area, fear of being alone, fear of alien creatures, fear of the unknown, fear of fire, fear of drowning, fear of underwater structures, fear of deep bodies of water (or in this case blood) fear of blood itself, fear of running out of oxygen, fear of dying and fear of large objects/creatures. I think I got them all but there could be more that I missed. Overall the dev did an excellent job on this.
I needed this today, Mondays suck but Wolfe videos make it better
Yeah, sound design in this game is real solid.
Something cool is that there is an unmarked anomaly on the map. There is a small pillar that makes eerie vibrating noises.
It's also possible to take photos of the points of interests in any order, so you can go to the last coordinates first and there is actually something there.
Makes me wonder if there's any more secrets.
throughout the game theres a lot of creepy locations dotted around that arent marked as points of interests, and in your pictures that you take through the game you can actually take pictures of the creatures that arent gaurenteed but the "fish" that killed you at the end you can actually capture in your pictures of the points of interests aswell as other creatures and faces
The monster's eye really caught me off guard. Great video John!
i thought it was very telegraphed, but the scare worked on me anyway xD
probably would've been worse if i hadn't expected it as much.
Second time watching someone play this and frankly, the looming heat death of the universe is larger in my mind than at any point previous. Nevermind what goes on during the game, the premise of the setting is horrifying.
The atmospheric build-up for that moment when the giant eye picture showed up was a great payoff for me
14:55
So it seems like there's multiple living entities within this 4th Blood Ocean moon place.
If you look at the left window thing that John takes a photo from, you can see some kind of head there. It looks humanoidish almost.
Then the 2nd time he takes a picture it's gone.
Creepy stuff man
i've extensively searched through the games code and could not find ANYTHING about a face being scripted to appear, or some kind of anomaly in the house. Creepy
That was really cool! I think you would enjoy the game called Barotrauma, it's not a first-person game but it does have that deep-sea atmosphere, especially when you need to dive down and salvage wrecks etc. It could be a fun multiplayer game with your friends!
Bruh, that fire would of killed all your oxygen in that small sub. Love the video, was a fun watch!
29:24 The eye photo.
This dude John knows his stuffs around understanding a new approach of gameplay in horror game genre in a flash!!! Good one John!!
There's just a creepy ambiance of having visual deprivation on a journey to the depths of the ocean. And the camera you have produces only black and white images.
I wouldve never thought that a horror game with this much finnicky gameplay and such "little" visuals could be SO effective. But they absolutely nailed every aspect of it and I think especially the fact that you are so reliant on that shitty front camera to see ANYTHING leaves the imagination running wild and thats what makes the audio sooo damn effective. What a truly terrific job!
"I have bigger fish to fry" *looks into camera like an adorable dork"
The thing i like about this game is the CAMERA, in most games the "picture" is just a Pre-made Texture. But Iron Lung doesn't do that. You are in an ACTUAL WORLD, The camera takes a picture of the outside map in REAL TIME, Meaning the Monsters are actual NPCs that move around
speaking of jurassic park, that eye looked a lot like a t-rex eye, lol. really cool game. definitely fills you with a sense of dread. i would not be able to comprehend the controls; the coordinates would be lost on me. i was confused as to how well you were navigating the entire time. thank you for playing, john! also soma is the best and that's exactly what i was thinking.
i want to know more about this universe. oceans full of blood? waaaah????
I really, really appreciate Max's very deadpan zoom-ins on John's face when he's about to crack a bad pun lmao. I like this game overall, interesting idea and setting - I thought the "oceans of blood" thing was a little silly, but the end describing it as a "wound" in the universe itself (metaphorical or not) was cool enough to bring me around on it lol. The navigating looked like I'd find it frustrating, but I love the photos, so grainy and black and white and creepy, starting off very low key and building up to that awesome ending!
I really wish there were more underwater-based horror games. Feels like there could be so much done with it because it's got such a unique kind of terror to it. This was cool to watch. it was a nice simple idea that didn't overload with us with useless information and even though the tension points were obvious, it was still successful with its atmosphere/spook. I wouldn't have the patience for that navigating though x.x thanks for sharing this!
Damn what a good game. Shows that quality comes from love and care from passionate developers.
This was DELIGHTFULLY scary and well done. Thank you for sharing because I could NEVER play this game. XD
I also get a little freaked out by structures underwater, but for me that includes things like dead trees. It's gotten less bothersome as I've gotten older, but still makes me shiver.
I love the Elden Ring gameplay but I like these indie horror games sprinkled in for a nice change of pace. Keep up the great work John. 👍
I am both impressed and disappointed that out of every LPer and streamer I've watched play this game, John is _the only one_ that notices the change in coordinates when the sub gets bumped.
john's yell when the fires started popping up followed by a couple absurd and tense moments of putting out the fires AND WRAPPED UP WITH "say cheese ocean!!" im so glad i subscribed to this guy all those years ago
I feel like it does weaken the stakes a bit to start with the player character proclaiming that they don't care if they don't make it. It was poetic, and having the character acknowledge that they're being sent to die was atmospheric, but the second half of the note was just "ok okay don't worry about this character I guess."
I have submechanophobia too, and underwater shipwrecks creep me out so badly, but I'm so fascinated by them at the same time. Something about the fact that something like the Titanic sitting at the bottom of the ocean, in the cold darkness, just gives me the heebie jeebies.
I have thalassophobia. My ass is clenching while watching this but I can’t decide if it’s better or worse that we can’t see outside the sub 😂😩
Worse. Definitely worse.
Not being able to see outside except in pictures is the worst part for me.
Though, I'm not afraid of the ocean, exactly, I'm afraid of giant voids I can't pierce with my eyes. Because you can't see, you imagine so much worse out there.
Just so happens there *is* something worse out there and you took a photo of its fucking eye and pissed it off.
I have it too and i just played it just to test myself lmao. I immediately came here to see if other people reacted to the experience in the same way i did and… they surprisingly did. This is such a creepy game that even people that don’t have thalassophobia get creeped out.
Yaay thanks a lot John for the new content. Can't wait to see it during my free time on job. Sending tons of love and good wishes. Stay healthy and thanks a lot for the video. Wishing the same for Kimmy. Friends and family. Also doggo ❤️
I often see your comments on this channel... You are such an incredibly sweet person... I wish there were more people in the world with such a friendly disposition. 💛💛
I think kimmy is annoying af
@@mmkorn22 Thank you :). I'm just very thankful that I found John's channel. I have a heavy depression and general anxiety/emetophobia, so I can't pay much attention to maaany stuff (I don't even watch cartoons anymore. Only animated movies and few ones) and John is the only one that makes me laugh and watch the entire video without having attention issues or lazyness. So when I'm feeling pretty down, I look for the funnier ones he has to cheer myself up or watch another channel I really love, about ragdoll cats.
That's why I do it normally with the content creators I enjoy watching. Because they put so much effort and I would love for them to just receive sweet things for their hard work and make them feel as good as they make me feel ♥.
Love out to your way too, hopefully! ❤️
I wish there were more games like this, like a dead space underwater feel XD
the idea of a lonely universe is already horrifiying and something that has been explored in media plenty, but the concept of a literally empty universe with nothing but a few humans and trillions of moons...that could easily become its own series of horror game classics.
Very scary & immersive horror experience. I’m really glad you’re playing it!
I’m getting some “Water Womb World” vibes from this game, very unsettling.
Been watching for years, you’re definitely one of my favorite content creators, also your hairstyle is 🔥
The sound design is AAA tier, awesome game!
There's so much to love in this game, like there's sometimes things in the background of the images that disappear. At 14:56, you can see a face in the bottom left window, then when John readjusts it's gone. That can also happen with the big fish in the background of the bones too.
David Szymanski is such a good developer, it's nice to see someone taking advantage of making the player use their imagination and sound to form their own horror (especially if the deep sea scares you), and it still has a jumpscare pay off after all the build up.
Man's a legend.
Nice, I was holding out on watching Iron Lung playthroughs in case you played it! Cool game, I look forward to submarine and literal blood moon themed nightmares tonight.
This game would KILL in VR. Claustrophia is such a real threat in things like Submarines/Pods and this game could TOTALLY run with that idea.
Wow, I loved watching this playthrough. I found myself genuinely encapsulated in the setting and scared with the environment, despite it being a little bit out there (a pool of blood in space). You are right, the gameplay mechanics were a little dry, but I thought it added to the game in some ways by limiting the way you could move. I wonder if there is more to see in the game by just exploring and taking pictures all around the map, aside from the preset nodes. Great game and great playthrough!
Moons have gravity as well.
@@Vulgarth1 I’m aware. My disbelief has more to do with the pool of *blood*
The is basically live footage inside the titan submersible.
20:00 my man with that God-tier recommendation. SOMA is awesome.
It has everything I love: It's scary, underwater stuff, sci-fi, existential dread, great atmosphere, amazing story, great characters, post-apocalyptic events, *EXISTENTIAL DREAD*
New John Wolfe content!!!!
Deep sea horror is the best, Soma is still in my top 5 horror games.
Been waiting for you to play this. Everyone just goes no exploring or trying to catch the monster in a pic during the moaning
I hope the dev does more with this universe! It's an interesting story.
“lit by the ghostlight of vanished stars” absolutely terrifying description
This was pretty good for a one off. The atmosphere of navigating through a place you are completely blind to. Working with nothing but a map containing vague points of interest for direction. Interesting concept that I can appreciate. The photo system was a nice touch too. But just like you John, I need more visual substance from my horror. Still, was fun while it lasted. Just kind of limiting. Since you can't see what's happening so you just have to push through it and hope for the best. Either you crash into a wall or object and game over, run out of oxygen, or get eaten by some beast you absolutely know is out there waiting for you to run into it. Barotrauma does something similar but with more visuals.
I really love how he uses the game's menu music as the outro music. It always works.
This reminds me of a game that came out a bit ago, it was made by the same guy that made the game called "My Body," where you are a student that morphs a willing participant in to a hideous monster while being talked through about the process.
The game this reminds me of was about a guy that was obsessed with finding and studying the fossils of the 'precursors' of humanity by going back and forth from submarine and deep sea scuba diving.
(Sorry for long comment, name of games escape me)
I really enjoyed this one! Underwater horror is one of my favorites because the ocean is so vast and still largely unexplored like...there could be something down there and we would never know...😱 I agree it was very analytical, the map really took me back to math class, I don't think I could play this game on my own, on account of being math illiterate, but watching John do it was a blast!
Yes! Just got home from a long day at work and there's a new John Wolfe video! Thanks for making my day!
A blood ocean… would it be viscous? Would it congeal?
23:38 HAHAHA The comedic timing, lmao. I yelled "Nooo" too.
The premise for this game is great. Not just for the world, which is really inventive (a universe with no stars and no planets because they vanished overnight in some sort of rapture), exploring a moon with an ocean of blood which seems to have life on it, but inside of a sealed submarine with no vision besides some photos you can take.
The gameplay wouldn't appeal to me, but it's a great approach to horror and really sets up the atmosphere. The finish startled me but was a tad bit uglier than I expected, since it looked like a 2D image, but that reveal before it with the eye of the underwater monster was pretty well executed.
I honestly want to see more about this universe devoid of life, but maybe it's better to leave it at that. The less you know about the state of that universe, the better. The mystery is what's so great about it.
It seems like John has navigated a tiny submarine blind before or something lol
I’m not really afraid of the ocean or space, like the void or not knowing what is out there, what does it to me and the reason I think Soma is one of the greatest horror stories is the goal in the hopeless mission. They give you a task and the fact that you’re running out of air and you are not getting out of there becomes kind of secondary, the sense of achievement keeps you entertained enough. Even if you took that one last picture, then what? You are spending the rest of your life waiting for the oxygen to deplete. The idea that you did everything you could, knowing it was for nothing, that is the best type of horror. The reminder that we are truly powerless. I wish I could forget Soma and watch it again for the first time. Rant over. Great video as usual John!!!
Very creepy atmosphere and quite well done. The whole setting was so claustrophobic and depressing, so it worked very well. The sounds really make this one work.
The real question is: why on earth is there a sea of BLOOD? where did it come from?
It's not on earth tho.
Also it's not a sea, it's an ocean. The fourth one to appear.
@@smward87 I mean yeah but why is there an ocean of blood on some moon
@@goobermcnoober8140 That's why your character is sent there. To find out. Or to die. Either way it's a win. You're a prisoner so if you die, then execution successful. If you live and find something, then good job.
@@goobermcnoober8140 I get what you mean, why is there a ocean of red blood in an alien planet
But then again, it's part of the fun of the mystery, maybe there's once a mass colony of humans lived there
This was a much cooler game than I was expecting it to be, loved that final scare.
The fact John missed the fish face at 11:42
It seems to be the same thing that killed John at the end of the game as well if you compare the two
Oh man, watching someone play horror games usually doesn’t creep me out but I have a fear of deep/dark water so this was very fun but also very nerve-wracking to watch
Something this game makes me wonder is "would creatures living in a sea of blood need skin, or circulatory systems altogether?" Would they evolve to function more like autonomous organs in a larger organism than individual creatures? With that constant shared bloodstream would there be any need for predation, or even feeding? What would life look like when the external is the same as the internal?
Someone went out of boundaries with this game and the monster does seem to not have skin (given, it looks goofy without the filter and the dev himself said he never thought of seeing the game like that, but who knows)
This was a very cool game to watch. I love this idea and suspense in horror. Making your mind wonder what you’re hearing, to the grainy photos as your only visual. Making you still wonder what you’re seeing. I’d love a deeper dive (no pun intended) into more of this type of game. Some type of sequel or continuation of this universe.
This is a perfect example of simple but effective
Despite doing very little as far as scares go, this game still managed to give me slight submechanophobia. The whole set up is creepy and taking photos of the unknown is unnerving.
This is, by far, one of the best games you have ever played in the channel. Just amazing
Omg big love and thanks john, love your gameplay as usual