Industria (Bleakmill/Headup) arrives 8-months after its PC release, with several post-launch patches to work out some but not all technical issues. It remains a compelling, cinematic hybrid of walking-sim and first-person shooter but, without any new content, it still comes to an end just as it gets going.
Industria has a slow-burn, confusing, and underutilised opening sequence set in an East German research laboratory, on the night the Berlin Wall fell. Your protagonist, Nora, is a researcher who finds herself rushing back to the laboratory after a desperate call from her partner. Something has gone very wrong with the “Atlas” AI experiment, which is now spreading through their network – just as the secret police arrive to shut down the facility and destroy any top-secret data. Shockwaves are emanating from the facility and Nora discovers Walter has used a prototype teleportation device to escape. Unwilling to leave him to his fate, she follows him through.
In the opening hours, frequent narrative beats and plenty of world-building are the highlights, with combat taking a backseat. It’s also the first time you’ll traverse a mysterious library, full of echoed conversations and a sinister play that hints at things to come. The presence of these diversions is explained in the final moments, but I found they simply broke my sense of immersion. Thankfully, Nora awakens in Hakavik – a mostly abandoned and hauntingly beautiful Scandinavian-inspired town – and events pick up as she discovers it full of robots trying to kill her. Robots that are supposedly controlled by Atlas. Nora meets a lone survivor that directs her through the town on the hunt for Walter, while also providing plenty of background lore.
In many ways, Industria answers the question of what would happen if you added more action-oriented gameplay to a walking-sim foundation. The narrative beats and atmospheric exploration are highlights, with solid writing, believable voice acting, and environmental design that makes Hakavik feel like a real place. It also has a mostly cohesive structure so you can often see where you’re going and look back on where you’ve come from, grounding you in the world. As a result, Industria is at its best when you’re soaking up the atmosphere, reading notes, and solving light puzzles – think turning cranks, stacking boxes, and flicking switches in the right order. However, once you get your hands on a firearm, shooting sequences increasingly dominate the experience and they’re never more than perfunctory.
The gunplay doesn’t break from the cinematic experience, with detailed weapon animations, muzzle flash lighting dark interiors, and sparks flying from your targets. However, movement and aiming are deliberately ponderous and combat sequences become increasingly one-note once you realise the AI is not particularly smart – back up to a choke point and you’ll be fine. Most of the deaths I suffered came from falling off narrow ledges and figuring out a puzzle sequence near the endgame with endless enemies. If you’ve got any FPS experience, I’d suggest trying the “Hardcore” difficulty for a more survival-horror-ish experience with reduced supplies and the need to manually save at typewriters with dubious placement (thankfully, there are still chapter autosaves).
Now, I’ve used the word cinematic several times and, as you might expect, the presentation is a highlight – despite a few lingering issues. Hakavik is a blend of classic architecture clashing with the bio-organic Atlas machines, with gloomy interiors, streets bathed in harsh sunlight, abundant reflections, and a general sense of emptiness. Character animations are jerky but their designs are an interesting mix – possibly reflecting their evolving complexity. When it comes to performance, the console release is in a much better state, but this comes at the cost of a noticeable shadow cascade and LOD detail drop-off in open areas. Music is used infrequently but effectively, and the handful of voice actors do a great job sounding natural. Unfortunately, visual stability is still an issue with lots of flickering in motion and some wonky object physics – both issues that persist from the PC version.
Overall, my biggest issue remains the narrative, which introduces players to an incredible setting but then throws in new variables in the final moments and offers no resolutions. That said, Industria is available at both a budget price and day-one on Xbox Game Pass, making it much easier to recommend if you’re someone just looking to immerse yourself in a new world for a few hours. If you keep your expectation in check, Industria offers a brisk and reasonably well-paced adventure, and I hope the developers have plans for a sequel as the world and fate of the protagonists are left hanging.
Developer: Bleakmill
Publishers: Headup Games, Thunderful Group
Platforms: Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5
Reviewed on the Xbox Eco System of gaming consoles
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