Why Iron Lung Is The Scariest Game Ever Made 

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The game was pretty good but it had no item shop filled with funny bright colored skins 6/10

This would make the perfect VR game -only have to walk around the sub and press the buttons -would make it even more scary -it’s short and can easily run on any current VR Platform

What I like about small horror games is that they compensate for their size by really pushing the creativity.

Damn that is a scary game, hopefully no one in real life would be dumb enough to go into the deeps with a makeshift submarine that's clearly not designed to go that deep.

The developer note is so funny to me "you can run this" Like with all the games needing different graphics cards or this this and that to run the developer is just like "no matter what you have this game will work" is hilarious to me

I also think that the name "Iron Lung" also says a lot, because have you ever seen an actual iron lung? It's a huge machine with the same type of windows as the one that the ship has. I think the ship "Iron Lung" refers to humanity breathing on it's last resort. With an Iron Lung. And it failed.

I personally find the concept of the quiet rapture infinitely more terrifying than any big fish in a blood ocean

I think the most interesting thing about this game is how many levels of doomed the protagonist is. He is trapped in a submarine, which is itself trapped in an ocean of blood on an alien moon, which is inside of a universe where every planet and star that contained life dissappeared. I mean, I feel sort of bummed at the end when the convict is killed moments before completing his mission, but its not like him or anyone else is surviving for much longer anyway

What strikes me the most about Iron Lung is that in most horror games, there's at least the hope that'll make it out alive and return to normalcy, but in Iron Lung there is no normalcy to return to.

I remember pyro saying in a stream he was worried about the reaction to him doing animations and skits in his videos would have but this honestly made for the best pyro video yet, adding so much more to the video when theres only so much to talk about with a game like iron lung. Very nice.

Hard to recognize Schlatt without the sideburns lol. Also goddamn way to dig deep and turn an hour long indie game into a cinematic experience with voice acting in between. Marvelously creative man!

I think another terrifying thing about this game is that the “quiet rapture” isn’t necessarily sending those raptured to a better place. Its named that by people who are left, who have no idea whats happened. Also, the blood moons are full of human blood. Like, blood presumably from the vanished humans. I dont know what that means but its terrible

I finished iron lung yesterday, literally perfect timing. When I finished it I didn’t really think it was anything special, but only after the fact while I was laying in bed at night, did I realize just how well crafted the atmosphere was

I feel like one of the most important reasons why this game is so terrifying is because all the odds are stacked up against you from the beginning and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

"The quiet rapture" is still one if the scariest description for an apocalypse yet. Its like everyone vanished so fast that no one could even scream or make a sound. From the sound of it, it happened fast and without warning. Now thats a haunting thought.

Something about the stars slowly vanishing in the background as the ship slowly floats forward, probably dead and without engine power is so immensely depressing. It's a small detail, but one that really ups the immersion and really makes you feel the desperation and despair that the last humans would've felt, even though you, as an observer, know they're most likely hopeless.

"Even with less then a thousand people still alive there's still a conflict" Well just as the Sniper says "As long as there more then two people left alive someone is going to want somebody dead"

It's amazing how such a simple game can be so frightening.

The idea that suddenly, everyone and everything on a celestial body just disappeared and there wasn't even a scream is terrifying. It would be interesting if the planets, stars etc. got transported to a sort of hell of other realm where blood moons are a thing. could also be a situation where everyone was destroyed and all the human remains appeared on these moons. creepy AF anyways

People watching this now at 24:04

I really do like that this video is more of an “extended narrative” video than an analysis video. The little animated parts are great and help add to the minimal, yet essential, story of iron lung

My brain saw the monster and immediately went "Angler Fish", triggering my memories of Finding Nemo and making the game 10x more scary than it already is.

The part that was partially said here, about the "Frog" not being hostile might as well be true. It is curious of you, it follows you and doesn't attack you untill you do a picture of its eye. And since the pressure is to high for you to have a open sight window, it means that it is a deep water being, not used to light and by taking the picture, you effectively flash bang it right in the face. That's when it becomes hostile and attacks you.

just noticed the titanic submersible at 25:02 aged like the finest wine

I hope the Iron Lung universe is expanded for future games, the lore is so interesting

Honestly, for 6 USD the game carries its worth in gold. Szymanski deserves every penny Iron Lung gets on Steam.

24:06 The absolute unintentional irony

Iron Lung really made me remember how similar space and the deep sea really are and combined both of it so fittingly. Every crevice of this game utilizes this fear of the unknown and the vast emptiness that may or may not be completely empty. Really makes me want to see more deep sea horror or games with expedition-style exploration. Cause deep sea and space already capture those core elements: vast loneliness, inherently hostile environment where sheer exposure will violently kill you and of course, the unknown. It's just a really hopeless place to be, yet still has that enthralling quality to it that makes you want to explore and understand. I got that dread in Subnautica when diving deep down just questioning what the hell might live there and I'd love to see it used more.

This is such an incredible universe. The fact that the stars that are dead are still visible because of the speed of light is such a good symbol of the hopelessness that everyone seems to feel. It's so cool.

28:25 This stood out to me, the fish in Iron lung is called the "Frog" and in real life, patients who are in an iron lung must use a method to regulate oxygen which is called “Frog Breathing”

24:03 bro predicted some shit... That's that Oceangate sub that imploded, right? Or at least the same model

I really hope that the fish we got attacked by is just a small, puny, low-tier creature trying to survive and there is indeed something A LOT bigger and A LOT more dangerous

how pyro went from “sir the aliens are coming! we’ve been compromised” to this, is a mystery on its own Edit: guys don’t go to the reply comments to reply seriously on a comment that is *obviously a joke*

I love games that utilize "The Fear of the Unknown". And what better way of doing that. Then just not letting you see where to go XD

the use of the submersible image at 24:07 did not age well...

Man what a great commentary on this game, surely this would never happen in real life

Fun fact: The “Whale” as it’s called or the more scaly creature is actually presumably herbivore and just kinda bumps into your way damaging the iron lung, which is how the more predatory “frog” or “angler fish” bursts through to kill you, at least according to the Iron Lung fandom wiki. Such an interesting world with such terrifying elements… I hope we get to see more someday, even on other moons. Who knows what’s out there from what we’ve seen. Edit: We getting a MOVIE 🔥

Seeing jerma in the intro is the scariest thing in this video. That psycho was living under our noses the entire time, my heart goes out to all the families of his victims.

With what’s going on with the Ocean Gate submersible, it must be just as terrifying as the the story in this game

Iron Lung is one scare stretched out exactly as long as a single scare can be stretched. It doesn't overstay its welcome. It builds and builds and builds, it gives you the scare, and then it bows out because it knows that trying to carry on would take far more work and undermine everything that just came before. It is expertly crafted horror.

Dev: I'd like to tell more lore but I don't know how. Markiplier: Allow me to introduce myself and my entire movie crew

I'm glad David Szymanski is getting more attention. He's a great developer and is finally getting the praise he deserves.

This game is so cool, someone should make a movie about it.. 24:04 he fucking predicted it.

Look at my boy trying his hand at voice acting again. He's at least gotten better from Hunt down the Freeman. Good job Pyro, keep it up

Iron Lung is a perfect example of being scared of what you DON'T see. The game constantly reminds you that there is something lurking outside of your submarine, but it never let's you know what it's intentions are, where it is and almost never let's you see it. You are forced to let your imagination fill out the blanks of what could be out there, where it is and what it's intentions are. Whatever your imagination conjours is far more terrifying than anything the game could ever throw at you

This'll sound weird but personally the big fish being called "Frog" in the game files just makes the blood moon more terrifying. When we think of a frog we think of something small, cute, something that only really feeds on small insects and poses next to no danger to any even remotely bigger life forms on Earth. So if this colossal fish that tore a hole in your submarine to eat you is what's considered a frog down here so just think of what kind of monsters would prey on it.

24:04 how did he know

Anyways here's some secrets I saw from watching others play: if you go take a picture of the humming monolith, the sub will be destroyed "strangely" - no fishy, but like you crashed, but there will be strange static before you're sent to the menu Another secret is, when going into the narrow cave to get to the shiny, the walls have very faint humanoid face texture overlays

“And not the stars, they don’t count because they’ll be gone in a couple of weeks..” I love that line. Such a brilliant line.

I think it’s also the fact that even tho it’s in a high fiction setting, it feels very real and close to home, the sea is made of blood, you’re put in something incredible unsafe and being sent on an expedition you’re completely unprepared for, and you control the submarine in a way that feels like you don’t actually control it at all, that alone feel scary

No f. way you used THIS in 24:03! AHAHAHAHA

Ironic that the PNG he used at 24:05 was literally the same as the tour sub that just imploded trying to dive down to see the Titanic... That was controlled by a cheap logitech controller... Did Pyro just predict the future??

This game has two horrors: 1. the horrifying sounds 2. Trigonometry

Commenting now because the sub that pyro uses at 24:04 is the exact same sub that is missing with 5 rich people who wanted to see titantic for 250k. Life imitates art, i guess.

Did pyro really use a pic of the Titan sub at 24:08? What a jinx man.

One of the best ways to tell horror: "LESS IS MORE!". Let the viewers imagination scare them!

Pyro saw the open ended bits of the lore and went "Fine, I'll do it myself!" And I love him for it. Those sections were great!

This whole game, the lore, the actual gameplay, and everything is such a great combination of creative horror elements. My favorite part has to be when you find the letter and you get near the end, you know it’s probably going to end badly for you but you still have to actively move your ship toward the last marker. You know it’s out there. You know it’s coming. You can’t just step away from the terminal and wait for it to get to you, you have to keep going closer… It’s much more effective in building tension to the final jumpscare than a typical monster chase sequence. It also kind of reminds me of the sequence in FMA:B where Ed and Ling get stuck in a void dimension with an endless sea of blood, especially with the ruins of buildings and the confirmation from the lore that the blood is definitely human. 10/10 nightmare fuel, the idea that something like this is humanity’s last hope for survival in a post-rapture universe is just fantastic.

24:07 wait, i feel like ive seen that sub in the news recently 😳

Wow, a horror game which isn't secretly in your mind and is just an analogy for depression? How brave of you Pyro, stepping out of your regular content to bring us something new.

Actually, what they probably mean by "how it can maintain its liquid form" is the fact that blood is mostly just water, which would normally just freeze in space, on moons, as it's really cold out there, especially with all of the stars gone, incuding the system's main star(s), considering it even had any. Coagulation only begins when a certain protein in blood comes in contact with oxygen, which in space, is not a problem, since there just ain't any.

I hope that the lore of Iron Lung is expanded upon in the future, but I hope that the quiet rapture is never explained at all. Having it be completely unknown as to why everything just disappeared is way more terrifying in my opinion, and having people speculate as to why is way more interesting than having just one answer.

What a time to get this recommended

Plus imagine how grungy and disgusting the spaceships must be. Like these things are made out of iron. All the oxygen and moisture from the people living on them means oxidisation would set in quickly and turn it all to rust, making it look like the iron lung itself. Imagine living on there, starving with no hope whatsoever, some freedom huh?

Jschlatt voice acting in this is probably the biggest suprise I've ever had on RU-vid and I'm here for it.

the fact pyro used the photo of the real submersible is crazy

NO FUCKING WAY DID PYRO PREDICT THE FUTURE OF THE TITAN SUBMARINE IMPLOSION?!?!? 24:07

this feels like the people who disappeared went to heaven or something, and the people left behind are like the people who would go to hell, but like, this IS hell, ya know?

I love how instead of just doing another analysis and breakdown of Iron Lung, you added your own unique elements to your video such as the animated and voice-acted parts. Every video is truly better than the last.

I know that it’s like a big meme to be sarcastic and never take anything seriously, or whatever, but I really enjoy these little takes on horror games. It truly makes me happy to watch a well put together video like this and just enjoy the cool stuff that’s out there in games that I’ve never seen before.

24:08 no way bro ☠️ shit didnt age up well

This video was absolutely brilliant. You adding a bit of your own lore to it too that feels very faithful to the canon lore was such a nice addition. Also, having Schlatt look for someone to stick into the next iron lung might be risky, he's probably gonna pull off something similar to what he did back in 1999 EIC

Another game that employs this sort of "diegetic interface horror" is Duskers. You control robots remotely. Something has happened to everyone. You control your drones with keyboard commands at your terminal from your ship to search derelict ships looking for answers. The robots can't tell you that much about the hazards you find look like, or even what exactly they are in many cases. It's more mechanics and presentation than horror per se, but it's there.

"The story and characters depicted in this production are not fictitious. Any similarity to any person isn't coincidental." Also chief at this rate you will be shaping the lore of the game

24:07 Holy FUCK that did not age well. Lmfao.

I love how Pyro can explain the scariest part of the game and still throw a half second of a meme into it

Thanks for the shout-out! I saw you said beforehand you didn't want to re-tread parts made in my review, but good parts deserve to be highlighted. I'm just glad that people see this game and the clever tricks that can be deployed. I hope it can help other people learn from its strengths. (Side note: I have an embarrassing amount of hours in The Long Dark. Also a good time, if you want a survival game that has a different feel to a lot of other looser experiences. Plus David Hayter the hunter helping out MaleShep find FemShep is a great experience. Love the mention about it.)

This setting has MASSIVE potential. I really hope David expands more on this in a sequel or spin off. Maybe we can explore the surface and find more kooky critters! Also, the editing and story segments of this video are great as always. Keep trucking!

24:09 pyro is a clairvoyant.

I literally broke down in tears when the character says “it’s iron lunging time” right before stepping into the iron lung. Never have such words spoke to me in such a passionate yet depressing way. 1000/10

I just realized. What if those aren't moons? The blood filled ones. What if they're crushed planets turned into moon sized rocks floating in space?

The setting of Iron Lung is the best I've seen for a horror game. It's one thing to be on a ship with some kind of vicious alien intruder, but you're still surrounded by familiar objects with which you can comfort yourself. You know that something like a vent probably provides some level of protection, that you can get the alien into the air lock and eject it. There is always something that you can envision using to eliminate the threat and save yourself. Iron Lung doesn't do that. Everything around you is alien, nothing is comforting. The only way that you can interact with things is by pressing buttons, none of which will save you from a threat. The submarine itself is cobbled together and unfriendly, its cold and neglected husk the only thing separating you from whatever is outside. If you stay in the submarine, you die. If you escape the submarine, you die. There is no way around that. The only hope that you can cling to is the completion of your task... but, even if you do what you're supposed to, the best case scenario is that you're going to go back to a doomed space station with other hopelessly doomed people. The only part of your situation that changes is whether you die alone or with company. It's terrifying, and I believe it would be regardless of whether or not something outside of the sub was ready to kill you. Wonderfully made game, truly amazing horror experience.

24:04 Peak Foreshadowing

I love how Pyro's character wears a face obscuring mask, and the audio is mixed correctly so that it actually sounds like he's wearing one. Unlike the last time he did voice acting,

Iron Lung is what horror games should aspire to be. Existential, slow-building, horrifying due to the unknown. The jumpscare is unfortunate, but so is every jumpscare. I want more games from the universe or even just a book or two.

A society that enslaves their prisoners now has an incentive to imprison their people. (... my point is, your character's greatest crime might have been speaking out, not anything truly damning)

Iron Lung's concept has SO MUCH potential, i honestly don't mind the creator not adding more lore stuff aside from little things like the recently added sm8 because having so little story is i think what makes it such good horror game. Edit: pee pee poo poo balls

PYRO IS A TIME TRAVELLER. at 24:10 you can clearly see the oceangate sub. but this was made a year ago. so how did he do that

24:06 I know it's a coincidence but damn how did this happen?

You know, for a substance as thick and nontransparent as blood, the camera does a pretty good job of seeing what's in it

Ok but "Humanity never changes" is probably the real horror experience about it

Any thoughts on markipliers movie?? Actually I wanna know.

Blood Oceans on lonely moons is incredibly terrifying. Are the creatures whom caused a massacre that flooded a moons with blood. Are they a result of the rapture. I love a game that leaves alot to the imagination. Ig because depending on how far u want to go , u can make it as bad and horrifying as u like

I find that anything with a submarine is ripe for horror, from something like this to something like Das Boot. The nature of these machines and their home environment is innately scary. But change anything about it's environment and you make something even furtherly terrifying.

Horror with comedy is a 10/10

24:04 bruh

I honestly liked your version of the story better, rather than the official one involving conflict with eden. The ‘there’s something down there for us because that’s all that we’re left with’ belief is really interesting.

its been said before, but it's amazing how the guy who posted MLG teletubbies in 2014 went on to deliver some of the most detailed and creative game documentaries out there. edit: minor spelling mistake

The concept reminds me of a novel, where some dude gets recruited back in Soviet days and used as a living machine in a Moon probe. He, and others like him, are locked inside a Moon rocket to operate the various instruments to make it seem like the Russians have advanced automation, when in reality it's slave labour. His job is to sit inside the rover, and when the pod opens, he'll just pedal the thing out of its captule and plant a flag on the Moon before taking a gun and putting a bullet in his head to save himself from suffocating in space.