Red Entropy: Journeying to the fringes of spacetime and sanity

Who decided space was cool? Space is existentially terrifying. It's a vacuous wellspring of mortal dread that has a habit of turning up every time someone makes a game with a great atmosphere. Games like Dead Space or the System Shock series, premised on exploring decrepit space stations, juxtapose the decay of mankind's fading achievements against the cold isolation of space. Red Entropy, an upcoming adventure-horror title, promises to follow in that tradition.

The game begins with a mood-setting narrative sequence in which the player navigates an idyllic forest. The forest, soon revealed to be a nature park on the moon, was colonised by New Star. Throughout, the player receives messages from an apparition, a woman who misses the protagonist, tells them about the increasing level of unrest on Earth, and hopes they can join them soon.

No sooner than any clichés can take root, Red Entropy immediately jerks into a disturbing and distinctively strange space. The demo reveals it is the far future; we're talking 'the stars begin to die out' far. Understandably somewhat concerned about this scenario, the Iron Star corporation has revived the player to repair a mining rig orbiting a dwarf star to repair its flagging power. The demo hints at a parasite that will embed in the player's brain in the full release, should their decaying sanity, affected by the horrors of the complete game fall too low.

Upon entry to the station, the game becomes an adventure-horror experience in which players navigate the station and solve puzzles. Movement follows an old-fashioned fixed-direction system. This linear approach is visualised by a gridmap brought to life on a dynamic and immersive HUD menu, also a little reminiscent of the Dead Space series. Players can look freely and click on items of interest, and right-clicking operates a torch with a slowly depleting charge. You'll need it!

The design of the interiors in Red Entropy is atmospheric and memorable. In classic vent-spelunking tradition, everything is dim and gloriously claustrophobic, crawling slowly through a decaying machine that needs urgent repair. The sound design, sparse but effective, reinforces this well, with a cacophony of metal clangs, crackles, and hums, and just enough reverb to emphasise its cold vastness.

As a horror-adventure game, there are also puzzles that fit the game's conceit. In repairing the rig, the demo requires the player to transfer power to one door at a time until they can restore power. There's a small time-based rotating puzzle in which players line up patterns in concentric circles. This aspect only briefly factors into the demo, but provides a good proof of concept for the overarching design.

The demo for Red Entropy does a great job in establishing the game's possibilities and curiosities just enough to make an impression before it ends. Noting the existence of a 'sanity level', a mainstay of any psychological horror, it will be interesting to see how this mechanic is interwoven with the gameplay and cosmic horror narrative. Otherwise, I'm curious how Red Entropy, with its mind parasites, fatalistic cosmic streak and eerie mechanical design takes full form.

Red Entropy is being developed by AEtherAltar. The game is their third project after the 2022 title The Tarkiff Transfer Incident, a monochrome horror title, and IMMUNE.EXE, a first-person shooter with nods to Quake and the viscera of Cruelty Squad, released in 2023.

A demo of Red Entropy is playable on Steam or itch.io, with an expected release date around mid to late 2024.

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