Back in October, I spent a lot of time trawling Steam for horror demos to play, and that’s when I first came across Dead Format. What I saw got me incredibly excited for the full release, and now the time has come for me to fully immerse myself in the era-traveling horror adventure.

Dead Format is a solo-made horror epic by Ketanalevy that blends live-action ‘movies’ with themed levels to accompany them. It’s like traveling through the history of horror cinema, covering vastly different genres from monochromatic creepiness to 1970s B-movie classics. It’s a true masterpiece, in the eyes of this horror lover, and there’s something for everyone to love.

Overconfidence could be your downfall

From the very first haunting monochromatic level, your heart will be in your throat as you creep through the dilapidated crypts while trying to avoid the melodic musings of the ghostly violinist and try to figure out what you’re meant to be doing. It’s like jumping directly into a horror movie in the best and worst of ways; epic because of the impeccable vibes, but terrifying because you’re suddenly the main character in a tale that promises fear and possibly (probably) death. 

Having played and fallen in love with the demo of Dead Format, I went into this with the confidence that the first noir-horror level would be a piece of cake. I mean, I’d done it before, right? I knew what to expect, and nothing could scare me.

Wrong. So, so wrong. On so many counts. 

As it turns out, my confidence was short-lived when the ghostly violinist orchestrated my first jump scare and sliced at my throat with the bow, I wandered into a room that was previously empty only to be inundated with enemies that made me turn tail and hot foot it the hell out of there, and then got stuck on a puzzle that I’d already done once before, all while silently begging that I could just walk a bit more bloody quietly. 

Every footstep felt like a beat on a bass drum, alerting all of the ghouls and ghosties that I was there like a neon sign begging them to come and attack me because clearly that hadn’t happened enough already. Sprinting, while making things a little faster in the long run, only makes every footstep reverberate even louder, so I found myself tiptoeing through the map like a child sneaking down the stairs for a forbidden helping of stashed Halloween candy. 

Channel hopping at its finest

Back when I was a kid, because I’m old and embracing that fact, watching any movie on TV involved a number of ad breaks that had me either heading to the kitchen for snacks or, most often, flicking through the channels to find something else to watch while I waited for the movie to come back on. Dead Format somehow manages to capture that nostalgic experience, not with ads, but with the constant to-ing and fro-ing between different movies to get what you need. 

Each ‘movie’ is separated into different sections that can only be accessed by completing things either within the movie itself or in other movies. You need to constantly hop between the movies to get things done, which means that none of them are forgotten as you progress. This also serves to keep you thoroughly on your toes, because the experience in each movie is entirely different. 

The black and white creep-fest that is the first movie is spooky, haunting, and unforgettable, while the sewers of the second are filled with jump scares and combat that you might not be expecting. Once you enter the 70s slasher flick of the third movie, you’ll find yourself entirely distrustful of the suddenly colorful surroundings and on edge. 

You can only save yourself

What is a game without a save and load system? It’s a pretty basic requirement these days, and like all good games, Dead Format has one. Obviously. 

However, the save system of Dead Format is only available as long as you’re a) within the safety of the apartment and b) there isn’t a tape in the machine atop the TV. This means that every time you dive into the immersive world of each tape, you get one shot to make it out alive, or you lose every bit of progress you made since you last saved. Which, now that I write it down, doesn’t seem like such a terrible thing. 

Playing through it is an entirely different experience, though, especially when you end up popping your clogs through your own impatience or lack of spatial awareness (like running into a stream of hot steam because you didn’t give it quite enough time to turn off completely. Three times in a row.) 

There’s nothing more humbling than doing the same thing repeatedly because you don’t learn from the mistakes you made the first time, but on the plus side, you do at least get pretty good at speed running certain sections. Thankfully, every time you take a tape out of the player, you get a friendly reminder that power has been restored to the rest of the apartment (just how shoddy are the electrics, here?), and you can now save the game. 

Weird timing, perfect execution

Look, if I’m being honest, the run-up to Christmas does seem like a strange time to release such an epic horror game. In my opinion, it would have made more sense for Dead Format to be released pre-Halloween, so that horror lovers and fans of the creepy could get fully immersed in the thematic and immersive settings at the appropriate time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that horror should be reserved for October (that would make me a huge hypocrite), but Christmas seems like the least horror-adjacent time of the year. 

However, Dead Format is a solo-made indie masterpiece that may have had a hard time competing with the slew of horror-based releases that always come during the Halloween rush, so the timing does make a strange kind of sense. It stands out, as it would have done at any time of year, and that’s thanks to the immaculate presentation of the themes and spectacular execution of settings and ghouls that you’ll end up facing. 

The different locations of each movie are stunning, and each manages to be starkly different from the others while all clearly belonging to the same ‘universe’ of linked realities. There should be no reason why a violin-playing, floating dude should appear in the same story as a sentient trash bag with teeth, but it just works, and it works a way that makes it more-ish. 

Dead Format is out now and available through Steam. If you want a break from the rapidly increasing festive cheer, or just want to dive into something that bridges the gap between horror movies and gaming, then you’re going to love it.