"Industrial dread and grief told through sound, despite punishing chases"
About
MOLE puts you inside a hulking post-war drilling machine boring down through Slavic soil. The minute-to-minute is mechanical maintenance work: flip switches, fix failing systems, operate a torpedo array, all from a first-person cockpit lit mostly by emergency red. Between repairs you follow recorded voices and piece together what happened to the vessel and its crew, while something else seems to be down there with you. It's a linear, single-playthrough horror story built on cassette-futurism dread rather than combat, with occasional chase sequences through cramped corridors. Cassette futurism means retro hardware aesthetics: tape reels, CRT glow, analogue dials standing in for a future imagined by the past.
Verdict
MOLE is one of the most assured industrial horror experiences in recent memory, and it earns that through sound and environmental detail rather than spectacle. The descent toward its portrait of grief is paced with real craft, and the machinery you tend gives the dread something physical to grip. The chase sequences are the weak link, demanding precision the dim corridors actively work against, and a save system that surrenders progress on a crash can undo an evening's work. Those flaws sting, but they don't break what the game sets out to be.
You'll like it if …
- +you want dread, grief and slow revelation over jump scares and combat
- +tactile machine-operation that feeds the atmosphere appeals to you
- +a tightly authored one-and-done story matters more than replay value
You'll dislike it if …
- −precision chase sequences in near-darkness frustrate rather than thrill you
- −you need clear objective markers and hate being unsure what to do
- −losing progress to a crash would end the experience for you
Breakdown
- +Operating the machinery has real weight: every bolt turned and switch thrown registers as a physical act
- +The repair loop is woven into the horror rather than sitting beside it, so fixing a system doubles as advancing the dread
- +Pacing varies the tactile work with quieter investigation, keeping the minimal toolset from going stale
- −Chase sequences ask for pixel-perfect navigation through corridors you can barely see under the red lighting, with no margin for a misstep
- −Several players find sequences stretched two or three times longer than the story needs
- +Plot threads connect across the descent and reward players who actually read the environment
- +The story carries enough buried detail that attentive runs surface more than careless ones
- −One linear playthrough with no replay structure: once you know the ending, there's little reason to descend again
- −Mechanical variety is thin by design, so the pull rests entirely on the narrative
- +A genuinely devastating portrait of parental grief filtered through religious dogma and psychological collapse
- +Environmental storytelling does the heavy lifting, with character work that lands without spelling itself out
- +Pacing of revelations is handled with care, building toward an ending that reframes what came before
- −Some find the story too explicit, closing off the room for theories and reflection the setup invites
- +Sound design is the standout: diegetic, oppressive, and central to how the tension is built
- +The retro industrial art direction and disciplined use of emergency lighting make the cockpit feel like a coffin
- +Atmosphere leans on suspense and growing tragedy rather than cheap shocks
- −No native ultrawide support, a real annoyance for a 2026 release
- +Interactions are intuitive and picked up fast, with just enough friction to stay engaging
- +Runs smoothly for most players without notable performance trouble
- −Crashes and a save system that drops progress force restarts from the start of a day, wiping real playtime
- −Reports of save corruption and progression softlocks
- −Weak signposting on critical mechanics leaves players unsure what to do next
score
