The Flame in the Flood Review

  One of my favorite things is that indie games will always take on ideas that AAA studios won't touch.  The Flame in the Flood by The Molasses Flood not only brings a neat survival game but a great allegory to our current environmental plight.  This game was quite well put together and while it lagged a little near the end it still kept it interesting with how the gear progression works and the wildlife you encounter.

The Game:

  The Flame in the Flood is a survival game.  Your object is to gather as many materials as you can carry and craft items and food to help you survive.  Your character is a young girl named Scout accompanied by one of two dogs (Aesop / Daisy).  Scout has 4 stats you must keep up hunger, thirst, temperature, and sleep.  You can also be afflicted by many ailments from food poisoning to broken bones all which can be cured by crafting the right item and using it.

  Scout is setting off for a new settlement as she has seemingly used up all here resources at her current location.  To do this you travel on a raft down the river stopping by different spots indicated on the map. Depending on the indicator you are more likely to find certain items.  For example if you see a hostpital like indicator you are more likely to find rags and sewing kits. There are 10 sections of the river, each one getting progressively harder and colder.

  You run into quite a bit of wildlife life rabbits, boars, wolves, and bears.   Each animal takes some level of traps and/or arrows to kill with rabbits being the easiest in you can just use a snare to catch them.  You will use the animal furs to upgrade your clothes to withstand the colder temps you will find as you progress.

  Along the way you will run into strange residents that hint at what has happened to the world. You will also see blankets hanging from lines that give a vague story in a broken southern english describing various people and happenings.  The story is there if you are looking and its a pretty interesting one.

My Thoughts:

  The Flame in the Flood was a pretty cool game.  While it stood on the edge of being boring several times the core gameplay loop kept me interested long enough.

  The animation style is as I described in the first look post a bit Tim Burton like.  It's a unique dark style that works really well with the world that you are dropped into.  This atmosphere is made even better by the soundtrack.  I especially love the song Landsick by Check Ragan.

(Story Spoiler)

  One of my favorite parts of the game was the story.  It's one you will really only find in an indi title.  Through several points along the way you run into people and hints at past civilization.  This flood is no ordinary flood and this river no ordinary river.  This is the result of a calamity that was caused by the rising seas and warming of the earth.  You find out that most people took off into space and really all that is left are the people who didn't make it off or chose to stay.   You also hear of settlements that exist where things are a bit better and that is your destination.  If you are going to bring up political sentiments it's nice when they are just a part of the story and a deeper dive is left for those who wish to go into.  I really don't think global warming should be a political football at all seeing as its happening.

  This game does get bogged down with a few issues one being the camera angle.  You are looking down at your character at a 45 degree angle and sometime the terrain will block where you are going.  This can cause you to run into poison ivy or walk upon a snake you can't see.  It also is dangerous to walk down because you have far less vision then walking up.  Firing arrows was also a bit clunnky as sometimes the giding lines would not pop up.  These were points of frustration but nothing unmanigable.

  Sometimes I felt like the dying had a lot more to do with the luck of the location then my skill to prepare for it.  If you are running low on some supply but you need it to heal before shit goes south, if you don't find it, shit will go south.  You can prep all you want but one bad encounter with an animal can really fuck up your run.  That and finding enough wood to upgrade your boat fully just doesn't seem possible and it looks like you just have to pick your favorite upgrades and hope its enough.  I guess that is survival games though and is more of a personal annoyance.

  The game was still good.  It was an exploratory romp around a dark and desolate world with a girl and her companion fighting the odds.  I found it all endearing and I am happy I got the chance to play the game even with some of it's drawbacks.

TL;DR:

  The Flame in the Flood is and indi survival title. The game surrounds you in unique dark artistry and folksy music as you explore a world desolated by flood.  The camera and controls can be a bit off but is still a pretty decent experience.  I can say its worth playing.