Dead Format is a very unique and well-crafted survival horror that simultaneously retains many core components of the genre, while also creatively bending the rules. It is a unique experience with some meta overtones, combining Survival Horror with Analog Horror in a similar vein to last year's Among Ashes. It is very fun, but there is a couple places where there is room for improvement.

You begin the game by breaking into your brother's apartment after he had gone missing. You find some mysterious notes and a birthday present - a video tape in GHL format, which is basically VHS but with haunting properties. You pop it into the VCR and suddenly the front door transports you into the universe of the film. You then proceed to find other films, and go back and forth between them solving puzzles, facing enemies, and trying to untangle your brother's disappearance.

The game features a limited inventory, some very solid puzzles, a mixture of both classic Resident Evil combat with a Tyrant-style stalker enemy, lots of backtracking to explore previous areas, optional secrets, and some really cool atmospheres. Every film has a Live Action sequence that you can actually watch on the television before entering its universe, and these are GREAT. This includes: very convincing German Expressionist horror, Evil Dead type practical effects, a 70's bright and colorful slasher film... and each world also has a type of filter to make you feel part of that era.

The gameplay has a good balance between puzzles, exploration, and combat - though the combat is not really a highlight. There are way too many resources for a very small amount of enemies, so I never felt that true scarcity-worry that you expect in this genre. The stalker enemy is very intimidating though, and the game does deliver some very tense encounters despite the imbalance of the combat.

The level design is well-built, but there is no map. For the most part, the areas are manageable enough to navigate, but there are definitely times where a map would have enhanced the experience. The puzzles are about 50% simple inventory interactions, but the rest are very clever and unique.

The game took me around 8 hours to finish, so I do wish the game was a bit longer and had more films to explore. The ending was also a little abrupt, though I did find a couple things that seem to indicate replayability and perhaps alternate endings. That said, I absolutely recommend this game if you enjoy first person survival horror / survival horror adjacent games like Among Ashes, Resident Evil 7, or Routine. Dead Format is definitely one of the better horror games I've played this year.