Iron Blight Screenshot
Image: Ronesans Interactive & Rock Paper Publisher

While Resident Evil may still be reigning king, tiny indie studios are more than pulling their weight on the survival horror front. Released yesterday and already racking up plenty of positive Steam reviews, Iron Blight is a single-player, first-person zombie horror game set in a crumbling, rainy Eastern Bloc town overrun by the undead. Trapped in the center of it all with no help coming, the protagonist decides to gear up and fight his way out and back to his wife.

Equally reminiscent of classic HL1-engine horror shooter Cry Of Fear (free, too!) and the underrated VR immersive sim The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, while Iron Blight's graphics might be low-fi, there's some smart modern design going on here, including some complex weapon handling options. Rather than rely on any kind of HUD, you've got to physically check magazines for ammo, and there's the option to quick-reload, dropping a part-full magazine in the heat of battle.

The game also has a diegetic backpack interface (the main thing reminding me of Saints & Sinners), with you pulling your pack off to rifle through it for gear, making sure you've got physical space for it. All the kinds of stuff that add tension and memorable moments of panic to a good zombie shooter. And judging by the user reviews, this one's on the money, with the only common complaints being that the story is relatively thin, and the game is quite short - around 3-5 hours for a first playthrough.

It took me a moment to remember where I'd heard the name Ronesans Interactive before. The apparent quality of Iron Blight (and its complex weapon handling) makes all the more sense now I realize that it's from the same developer as the upcoming sandbox immersive sim/shooter Aquametsis - a much larger, more ambitious game. Aquametsis still doesn't have a release date yet, but I highly recommend trying the demo - it's one of my most-wanted indie im-sims at present.

Iron Blight is out now for £11.75/$12.49, with a 20% launch discount running until September 7th. The game is also available in several indie collaboration discount bundles, including recent Deus Ex/Cruelty Squad-inspired immersive sim PARKSIDE: DECAYED SOUL MANIPULATION, Quake mod parody BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER 3 and grindhouse slasher horror romp The Skin Stapler. I've played and can vouch for the first two of those, and heard good things about the third, so Iron Blight seems to be in good company.