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    Mouthwashing Review – Horror in Simplicity, Beauty in Madness

    God is not watching.

    Nowadays, the indie horror game genre has managed to hit the same heights as mainstream horror. Games like Signalis or Hollowbody have used styles inspired by past horror games to create an experience that both moves and terrifies players in ways that other entries in the genre can never accomplish. So much love is poured into a game by a small team of people and for a price that’s a quarter of the asking price of most AAA titles.

    The reason indie horror works is because the developers are able to use simplicity to their advantage. With a smaller budget, limited resources, and sometimes a short time, they’ve been able to create magic out of such little material. There is no better example of this than the recent release of Mouthwashing, an indie game from Wrong Organ. Published by Critical Reflex and available on Steam, the game has a simple premise: a spaceship has crashed, and the crew tries to survive as their resources run out.

    Yet it’s within that simple premise that Wrong Organ takes what is possible in the genre and runs with it. In spite of a short runtime of two hours, when I reached the game’s credits, I found myself thinking that Mouthwashing was one of the scariest games I’ve ever played in my entire life.

    “I Hope This Hurts”

    Mouthwashing I Hope This Hurts

    Mouthwashing starts like most other Sci-Fi stories and has a description of the setting. Players are greeted with an overview of the ship the main characters are on, the number of crew members, how long they will be in space, and how long they’ve been there so far. At the bottom of the page, there is an anomaly: a message that doesn’t belong. The message simply states, “I hope this hurts.”

    In those first few moments, the terror of Mouthwashing is already established. That terror only compounds as the character you’re playing manually sets the ship on a collision course with an asteroid. My heart was in my throat as I ran through the hallways of the ship…only to find myself at a dead end. I turned around, and the path that I had just followed was replaced by something else. The character runs down the hallway only to find himself at more and more dead ends until he finally wakes up.

    Mouthwashing Story

    Mouthwashing uses some fascinating techniques to tell its story. It goes back and forward in time, showing how things unfold both before and after the crash. You interact with five characters: yourself, the co-captain named Jimmy, the young and shy medical student Anya, the rookie mechanic Daisuke, and the cynical and bitter main mechanic Swansea. There’s also one more character: Curly, the captain.

    In the opening moments of the game, you learn that he organized the crash that left the crew abandoned in the middle of nowhere. They’re running out of food, water, and medicine, and all they have left is a cargo hold filled with nothing but mouthwash. There is no rescue team. All Jimmy can do is the best he can as he watches himself and the rest of the crew descend into madness.

    As if that wasn’t enough, Jimmy insists on keeping Curly alive. Despite his being in the cockpit when it crashed, he is still alive, albeit covered in bandages and barely clinging to life. Every few sequences, you have to open his mouth and feed him painkillers. Anya would do it herself, but she’s too disgusted by “the sounds” Curly makes.

    Mouthwashing manages to do so much with such a small cast of characters, no voice acting, and a two-hour runtime. Every character is distinct, and you learn more about them in ways that are genuinely devastating. Realizing that Anya is a medical student who never finished her degree or that Swansea had a good life before ending up on this ship creates so much tension as you watch the crew members begin to descend into madness.

    This even extends to the protagonist, Jimmy. As the story continues, you realize that even he has his own demons, and you begin to see him through the eyes of his crewmates, including Curly himself. There are dream sequences, flashbacks, flash-forwards, and insane visual moments that both establish the game’s narrative and add to the horror.

    That truly is the masterstroke at the heart of Mouthwashing. Despite only being two hours, having very little gameplay, and very few jumpscares, it manages to be completely terrifying using those few gameplay sequences and some phenomenal visual choices.

    Terror That Goes Beyond Comprehension

    Mouthwashing Horror

    Going into Mouthwashing, I was expecting a few segments that would be inspired by both analog horror and games from the PlayStation 1 era. The opening sequence completely shattered any expectations I had about what kind of game this would be. Those expectations continued to be shattered as I played more.

    Unlike a lot of other indie horror games, there is no big city or abandoned space station to explore. The only area you really have to explore is the remains of your ship, the Pony Express Long-haul space freighter called the “Tulpar.” It’s not that big of a ship, either. There are only two floors that contain a lobby, a medical wing, a cargo hold, a cockpit, and a utility wing that Swansea will not let anyone else enter.

    There really isn’t any gameplay to speak of. Jimmy doesn’t wield a gun, and he doesn’t run from zombies or monsters. While there is an inventory menu, you’ll only be holding a few things, like an axe or a scanner that allows you to find codes to unlock doors that are only available to the captain. In any other game, this would be disappointing, but in Mouthwashing, it only adds to the terror.

    Mouthwashing Anya

    Part of this horror comes through how Mouthwashing‘s gameplay sequences build tension. Most of the time, you’ll be doing a task for another member of the crew, such as “open the cargo hold” or “give Curly his pills.” During the tasks, you walk around the ship, interacting with the crew in calm moments. Yet beneath that calm, you start to see how Jimmy’s crew mates are slowly being consumed by the realization that they’re only a few months away from starving to death.

    In between these segments are sequences that distinguish between fiction and reality. First, you’ll be face to face with an infinite abyss where emergency signs hang off in the distance. As the game continues, these sequences become more grotesque as you see floating eyes, Curly’s body hanging in the distance, and a distorted horse that serves as the mascot for the Pony Express company.

    There are even a few instances where text will glitch onto the screen, such as the phrase “take responsibility” or the words “I hope this hurts.” In other circumstances, the screen will freeze for a second and then be overcome with a wave of datamoshing. Further, there are rare moments where live-action footage will actually play on screen, whether it be with a fictional ad for a mouthwash brand or old videos plucked from history. These moments escalate further and further as the line between truth and fiction blurs.

    As a result, Mouthwashing‘s lack of gameplay isn’t a weakness. Instead, it’s a strength that adds to its horror. I’ve never played a game that had my heart in a vice more than this. One moment, I’d be hooked by the story’s brilliant writing and narrative decisions. The next, my jaw would be hanging open as Mouthwashing created terror in increasingly more creative ways.

    The game uses its short runtime to create a memorable experience that never failed to interest me. It didn’t matter that there were no action sequences or moments where I’d have to conserve ammo to survive. Instead, Mouthwashing is successful because of how it uses a seemingly simple premise and expands it using horrifying visuals and a brilliantly told narrative.

    Simplicity That Pays Off

    Mouthwasing Conclusion

    Mouthwashing is a marvel. In the modern age where the horror genre is the best it has ever been, the game still manages to stick out. Its visual style is unique and lovingly crafted. That style elevates its horror, thanks to creative uses of live-action footage, data moshing, and gory details that always had me at the edge of my seat.

    Further, its narrative is brilliantly told and stands alongside the best of the genre. The characters are wonderfully written, and they each have distinct personalities that are examined and torn apart by the narrative. Additionally, there are some absolutely devastating twists later that add to the tragedy of this story.

    Mouthwashing Conclusion

    Mouthwashing is everything you want from a modern horror game. While its short runtime of two hours may be a hard sell to some people, it doesn’t waste a second of that runtime and tells a story that will constantly have you at the edge of your seat. Even though it doesn’t have any gameplay sequences that utilize action or gunplay like its contemporaries, it has short moments where you’re walking around and talking to other members of the Tulpar or trudging through a nightmare world where eyes are floating in the sky and a monstrous horse in the distance.

    Mouthwashing manages to do so much with just eight developers, very few resources, and a two-hour length. From beginning to end, I was phenomenally impressed with everything the game had to offer. I can’t wait to revisit it and try and make sense of every terrifying visual, every line of dialogue, and every minute detail that can possibly unravel more secrets underneath the surface of this magnificent work of art.

    Disclaimer: Critical Reflex provided Final Weapon with a Steam copy of Mouthwashing for review purposes.

    SUMMARY

    Mouthwashing is a magnificent horror game that accomplishes so much in spite of the limited resources. Despite its short runtime and few gameplay sequences, the sequences that are there create so much tension and add great depth to its main characters. Further, its visual style is filled with surprises that will constantly keep players at the edge of their seats. Mouthwashing is a must-play for any fans of the horror genre.
    Saras Rajpal
    Saras Rajpal
    Saras is a passionate creative writer, with a love for immersive sims, superhero games, and Persona. He is currently writing a thesis about Persona 5 and is pursuing a career as a full-time writer.

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    Mouthwashing is a magnificent horror game that accomplishes so much in spite of the limited resources. Despite its short runtime and few gameplay sequences, the sequences that are there create so much tension and add great depth to its main characters. Further, its visual style is filled with surprises that will constantly keep players at the edge of their seats. Mouthwashing is a must-play for any fans of the horror genre. Mouthwashing Review - Horror in Simplicity, Beauty in Madness