Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination is an expansive choose-your-own-adventure horror story, where you’ll uncover the secrets of an anachronistic corporation reigning over a post-truth world. Solve cryptic riddles, make difficult choices, and escape the depths of SMYRNACORP with your mind intact, no matter the cost.
Developed by: Finnegan Motors
Played on: Steam
Length: 4-6 hours
A review key was provided by Indie Asylum.
In a time when choice-based narratives have begun to blend into each other, a game like Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination feels like a welcome change of pace. Although from its text-heavy presentation and limited gameplay elements, some might struggle with even defining it as a game at all.
Having grown up reading my fair share of choose-your-own-adventure books, Inhuman Resources definitely presents more like an interactive book than the visual novels we’ve come to know. But if you’re willing to give it a chance, you’ll find what lies within is descriptive and expansive writing, compelling characters, and immersive sound design that will make you forget that you’re just reading words on a screen.
Inhuman Resources is set in a twisted dystopia where an anachronistic corporation reigns over a post-truth world from the shadows. The fact that its story is largely marketed as a Severance-like narrative makes perfect sense here, especially as your main character plays the role of a new SMYRNACORP employee who might just hold the key to the corporation’s eventual doom.
Besides the copious amounts of reading, Inhuman Resources mostly plays out like a twisted game of Dungeons & Dragons. Your story is determined by the decisions that you make, affecting everything from your skills to inventory items. Some of these are wackier than others, from being clinically diagnosed depression to specialising in Ultimate Frisbee, but each of them contribute to the hundreds of possible story routes and endings you can achieve in the game.
As a choice-based experience, Inhuman Resources does a good job of giving each decision its due weight. Most choices in the game requires a prerequisite skill or item, with many of them giving you different information or unlocking a short-cut route. There’s also the occasional mini game that act as a direct skill check, so get ready to step into your Best Employee shoes to get the best outcomes.
But much like any role-playing game, you are generally rewarded for your curiosity. Each problem presents multiple solutions, even if you don’t meet any of the special requirements. It might take a lot more clever decisions, and you might risk fatal injury along the way, but the game doesn’t have a dead-end constantly looming over your shoulder — although sometimes it might feel like it.
It’s worth noting here that Inhuman Resouces has a mature warning that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The story leans heavy on its psychological horror, including detailed descriptions of violence and gore. Although this violence is never depicted visually, its insistence on pointing your attention to it, accompanied by eerie and occasionally nauseating sound effects, makes this one of the more effective horror experiences I’ve had in recent memory.
But if you have an iron stomach and an appreciation for horror, Inhuman Resources is a solid literary experience that addresses philosophically dark themes in a fairly approachable manner, even for those approaching these themes for the first time. As for those who are more than familiar with Orwellian dystopias, the experience is still unsettling and unexpected enough to make it worth the read.
Bonus points if you enjoy crude, anti-capitalist humour.
Verdict: For Fans of Severance & Disco Elysium
Fresh off the heels of Severance Season 2 and searching for your next corporate dystopia? Welcome to Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination. This choice-based horror narrative presents more like an interactive book than a video game, but if you’re willing to give it a chance, you’ll find what lies within is descriptive and expansive writing, twisted and compelling characters, and immersive sound design that will make you forget that you’re just reading words on a screen.
Wishlist Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination on Steam, and top up your Steam Wallet on Codashop to earn bonus rewards.
