In tune with their previous works, Rail Slave Games brings us Uriel’s Chasm 3: Gelshock. Published by KISS Ltd — it is another experimental game, which may or not be related to Rail Slave Game’s previous titles.
Uriel’s Chasm 3: Gelshock is nominally the sequel to the previous two Urial’s Chasm games, though the developer has hinted as a relation to one of their other games, Selfie: Sisters of the Amniotic Lens, which we previously reviewed. Not that it matters, as Gelshock does not have internal narrative or thematic coherency, let alone one that spans across the series.
Well, that isn’t entirely true. Like all games by Rail Slave Games, Gelshock is experimental, arbitrary and a bit of a mess. The actual game is more a vehicle for its narrative, which in this case focuses on slimes living on a deep sea mining platform that got corrupted because it tapped into the graveyard of an ancient species.
There is also talk of a prophecy and hints of the slimes once having been something else. Maybe this is an unsanctioned sequel to I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream — the short story, not the video game. Depending on your interpretation, this may make more sense when you play Gelshock. Or maybe not.
That said, Uriel’s Chasm 3: Gelshock does have actual gameplay. Most of it consists of wandering the oil rig and fighting slimes in turn-based combat. Unfortunately, while positioning does help you somewhat in destroying the slimes and harvesting their organs, combat ultimately boils down to random die rolls.
Gelshock’s short length balances the arbitrary difficulty somewhat. The game can easily be completed in under two hours, which, to be frank, is probably enough bizarreness for the average player.
Uriel’s Chasm 3: Gelshock is a game that lives off its weirdness and deliberate inaccessibility, leaving it to the player to decide whether they are witnessing the unfolding a great mystery — or wasting their time with a silly little game.
Uriel’s Chasm 3: Gelshock is available now for Windows PC
