What is Miasmata?

Miasmata places you in the shoes of Robert Hughes on a fairly bleak island called Eden, with only one goal – find a cure for the plague that will soon kill you. The island is supposed to be home to researchers and scientists alike, drawn there by the flora that could contain your cure, but – just your luck – something has gone terribly wrong.

It's a first-person survival game of exploration, discovery and a completely rational fear of the dark. You're given the opportunity to explore the game however you want, at whatever pace you wish - so long as you keep an eye on your vitals. Your strength is low, you run a little slower than you might like and your plague curses you with fever and dehydration. Keeping all of these things in check and scavenging the huge array of plants to test what might cure you leaves you in a desperate state of confusion about your priorities and to top it all off, you’re being watched.

I don't want to call this game 'flowery' but...

Of course, curing yourself is not an easy task. You can craft basic medicines at the various scientific laboratories around the island to combat your fever while you look for a permanent cure, though you can only carry a single dose. The tiny inventory is a little frustrating, and probably the least realistic aspect of the game.

Experimenting with various plants will give you the option to increase your strength, perception or endurance (which all start off as ‘low’) which are the stepping stones to ultimately curing yourself. Each plant or fungi you’ll find has a unique property, and some of them hold the secret to curing the plague. You’ll need to harvest plants, then run lab experiments to determine their worth. It does feel a little silly since you’re essentially brewing ‘magic potions’, but there isn’t even enough time to consider that – there’s something on the island that wants to stop you altogether.

The deadly enemy on the island will hunt you near constantly, and the only way you’ll know it’s nearby is by the sound of your heartbeat rising through the speakers. While it’s absolutely threatening - you’ll often need to flee if you don’t want to lose everything you’ve just spend hours searching for - it looks about as scary as a Pokemon.

Let me just axe this guy something...

Regardless, it can stalk you for hours on end, hiding in vegetation before finally confronting you. It's also far more aggressive at night time - when the sun goes down, your best move is to find a bed. You’ve got the option of sneaking away quietly and evading it after a while, or you can attempt to fend it off with whatever you’re holding. Don’t get a sense of security, though, because it will always come back and it only gets more persistent. It’s made utterly terrifying by being a permanent threat that’s interfering with your one and only priority, and it desperately wants you to fail.

On the other hand, there’s also the somewhat annoying occasion where your impatience might end up throwing you off a cliff and quickening your fever, so you’ll end up losing the plants you’ve just vigorously searched for. That’s more of a design issue than anything, since Robert doesn’t seem to know how to slow down very well. Maybe the inertia is all part of the plague.

Losing your plants on dying is not only sensible, but a smart mechanic for encouraging caution. It’s just really, really frustrating when you can only carry 3 at once each time you venture out. What kind of man can only carry 3 plants!? Plus, you often aren’t aware just how cautious you need to be a lot of the time, since the movement is fairly awkward.

Blackboard! Blackboard! Upside Down.

Since there’s no convenient mini-map, you’ve got very little way of knowing what’s ahead of you while you’re running from the creature, either. You build your own map of Eden almost from scratch, with certain points of interest allowing you to loosely pinpoint yourself. Your map will slowly unveil various landmarks around the island as you find them or you can pickup scraps from outposts, but it will never tell you where you are.

You’ll have to triangulate your location by drawing lines between the things you can see, or use your compass to assist with direction. It’s real, unassisted exploration, with a lot of getting lost. Alongside the map you’ve also got a handy journal that serves as your inventory. It tells you your statistics, when you need medicine, collects all the notes you’ve found and keeps the screen absolutely HUD-free.

Frantic multitasking and prioritising are the only real narrative in the game. There’s no importance given to the back story at all and your need to survive is what keeps you playing. Since there’s no inventory menu, no loading screens, no HUD and no music either, Miasmata is so immersive. The lonely silence of chirping insects and running water is almost calming at times - until you hear your heartbeat quicken, reminding you of the ever-present enemy.

That looks nothing like Rose from Titanic!

It’s you versus an entire island of (mostly) passive hostility and the intensity and pressure all build and build upon you. Don’t expect every combination of fungus and plants to work, either, because you are not a God in Miasmata, you are plagued, decaying and absolutely human.

It feels a little ridiculous to criticise a hugely ambitious indie game developed by only two men, but it’s really not graphically satisfying. Environmental effects are fantastic but textures are missing, scenery seems to pop in and props lack shading. To counter this, though, there’s a variety of wildlife, different environments, eerie statues and useful huts all around the island. Exploring isn’t all that aesthetically appealing, but it never becomes an issue since it’s absolutely necessary to survive.

Regardless of movement and small graphical flaws, Miasmata it is outstandingly innovative and its absolute lack of assistance is really, really refreshing. Fully exploring the island and revealing notes, landmarks, strange statues and experimenting with botany takes time to get through, but it’s definitely worth it. With a practically invincible enemy and all the odds against you, this game is intense, terrifying and yet absolutely outstanding.

Miasmata is out now. It was created by IonFX and can be purchased from GOG and Steam. Alanah is a video game journalist, the presenter for Xbox Australia on YouTube and NewGamePlus on TV, and also a radio co-host on Brisbane's 102.1FM.You can find her on Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and Instagram all under the name "Charalanahzard".