I got a nicotine rush and set zombies on fire in this PS1-style survival horror demo, and it's basically Resident Evil on a submarine

The only heavy metal in Heavy Metal Death Can is the submarine you're trapped in. I realize this fairly early on in the demo. Here I am, ready for a face-melter with my Heavys headphones clapped over my ears in anticipation of how this retro-inspired horror game might remix the audio formula when it comes to games like Resident Evil. But instead of duelling guitars, I get creaking metal.

I'm still not sure who took the title more literally – me, or the game itself – but Heavy Metal Death Can manages to impress me despite the misunderstanding. Indie developer Krufs Productions pulls off a skillful blend of classic survival horror elements embedded in a novel, truly terrifying premise: I'm stuck in a powered-down Swedish submarine in February, 1978, and it doesn't look like rock and roll can save me down here.

Abyssal

Imagine Dead Space in the Nordic Sea, with a submarine echoing the eerily silent Ishimura as it lies dormant below the surface. I'm a soldier in the Swedish naval forces, and my vessel has been cut off from the mainland for a week now.

At face value, my mission in this demo is simple: power up the reactor to restore electricity to the submarine, and work out how to use the telecoms system to resume contact with HQ. In typical survival horror fashion, though, it's a little more complicated than that. The vessel happens to be overrun by zombies, my former brothers in arms turned deadly thanks to a mysterious Sludge transforming people into monsters. It seems I'm alone down here, though I'm told our captain might have the codes I need to access the reactor – if he's still alive.

I know many games have been pitched as "The Thing in" a specific place lately, from Still Wakes the Deep to upcoming horror game Directive 8020, but I think it's fair to add one more to that list. Inspired by iconic horror games and movies both, Heavy Metal Death Can is kind of like if The Thing and Resident Evil had a baby in a submarine and left it to rot in the abyss.

Those classic Resident Evil 1 vibes are palpable immediately as I move around the radio room. Heavy Metal Death Can is a dimly lit, fixed camera-angled adventure into the groaning depths of this would-be tomb, complete with a small inventory in which to stash bullets, puzzle pieces, and health items.

I start off without a weapon. As is common in these kinds of games, I find pistol ammo before the handgun itself. It's just behind one of the many doors I encounter, most of them locked, almost all of them requiring some deft swerving to access. That's because the vessel is crawling with zombies, arms outstretched not unlike the infamous Grr, Arg fellow of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.

Most of these zombies can be easily evaded, even with the off-screen dead zones you get from fixed camera angles. Failure to do so results in one of them taking a nasty bite out of you, losing you a health state in the process. Fortunately, Heavy Metal Death Can has its own take on Resi's herb curatives stashed throughout the vessel: snus.

These powerful Swedish tobacco pouches, typically tucked below the upper lip, have gained popularity in the US and UK in recent years. They're known for being incredibly strong and causing a powerful, near euphoric headrush in some people. In Heavy Metal Death Can, the nicotine highs seem to heal you. So essentially, I'm playing a soldier mainlining drugs to make it through the nightmare. I guess that's one interpretation of Capcom's green herbs.

Heads will (rock and) roll

When I'm not playing tag with zombies in Heavy Metal Death Can, I'm playing the age-old game of "is this door locked, and if so, which of these many keys will open it?"

Each time I find a new key, I go straight to my inventory to examine it closer. The keys are labelled most of the time, and a helpful on-screen translation makes up for my lack of Swedish. By the time I reach the Captain, who's drowning his sorrows in his private quarters, I'm feeling pretty good about how I've handled the game so far. Until a wall of freezer doors suddenly burst open on my way back to the central hallway, unleashing a hidden zombie I knew had to be there when I'd checked those doors earlier.

Said zombie is a bit of a menace. He starts chasing me through the kitchen, right as another comes stumbling out of an open door. I check my pistol ammo – bullets need to be combined with your weapon in the inventory menu manually, of course – and line up my shot.

To Heavy Metal Dead Can's credit, shooting feels pretty smooth and precise for a PS1-style game.

Aiming is never easy when you don't get to see the crosshair, and unfortunately, my poor aim has consequences. With one zombie attacking from the front and the other from the side, two bites is all it takes to end my journey then and there. I had failed to save my game at all – I never came across a single tape, a neat stand-in for a typewriter ribbon – meaning I have to start the demo all over again.

I don't really mind. Puzzles, dwindling bullets, and gameover screens: this is what survival horror was always supposed to be about. Being able to retrace my steps at double speed (and feeling like a badass in doing so) is one of the few plus sides of permadeath. Before I know it, I'm back at the Captain's quarters to collect an antique jewellery box. And what do you know? It is locked.

No matter; the thing I really want to do is go back and find those two zombies who finished me off last time. I pop a snus, swap over to my fire-spitting flare gun, and get ready to one-shot those blighters with a burst of flames to the face.

I won't spoil the rest of this brilliant little demo, as I have every hope the developer will unveil it soon for you to try on Steam. While Heavy Mental Death Can lacks a headbanging soundtrack, it has all the creeping dread and atmospheric terror of the best survival horror games you know and love. Add in burning corpses and a nicotine-addicted protagonist soloing a haunted submarine, and I think it's pretty damn metal after all.

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