Pipeline Crawl Review (PC)

In this rotting labyrinth of extinguished lights and oceanic darkness, grotesque tentacles and wandering eyes, there are no forks in the road for me to consider, only a simple choice daunting over two possible routes for me to take: inward to the darker depths of the tunnel, or outward to the initial square that I first trod upon. There are no hidden exits to unearth, nor are there any white lights beaming on the far end of the farthest tunnel. Down here, there is only the basic ingredient of a claustrophobic’s perpetual nightmare—a brutal reminder that, should I fail to make the correct decision, the cycle will have little choice but to reset the clock and put me back to the beginning of its harrowing journey. In Pipeline Crawl, each decision bears a consequence, and it’s up to me to figure out right from wrong.

Pipeline Crawl is a lot like lucid dreaming: the farther you travel from you body and out into the rabbit hole, the stranger the fantasies and the world around you gradually becomes. And, for each step that you take away from your sleeping body, the more reluctant you are to comprehend the oddities revolving around your seemingly contorted mind. The same applies here, in the perpetual cycle where you have no control over your subconscious, only the direction in which you can travel. There are only two options: forwards, or backwards. Sounds almost too easy—to the point where you would naturally question its significance as a video game. But, contrary to what you may be thinking, there is a great deal more to this rabbit hole than an endless tunnel and a somber atmosphere.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Pipeline Crawl establishes the setting for a simple tale—a story that bears no real protagonist, mortal foe, or promises of conclusive grandeur. The goal is a simple one: manually crawl through a tight space, all whilst evading traps, monsters, and other obstacles along the path. With no real choice other than to progress at your own pace in the one direction, you have to use a combination of timed movements, analytical techniques, and the gift of foresight to navigate the corridors as you clamber through to the farthest point possible. But, there’s a catch here: if you get caught, or happen to succumb to whatever wedge in the pipeline that falls before you, then you have to start from the beginning. That’s right — no checkpoints or save states . A gift or a curse? You tell me.

There isn’t so much of a rogue-like progression system here, meaning, you don’t earn perks with each passing death to aid your future attempts. Instead, you have to carefully analyze your surroundings and create mental bookmarks—mind maps, of sorts, that allow you to visualize the route ahead and act accordingly. To this end, there aren’t any winnings for you to carry forward, but rather, a reminder that, should you fail to tackle the same trial a second time, then the map in your mind is in dire need of a few revisions. It’s a tad difficult, I’ll admit, but the longer you subject yourself to it, the easier it becomes, naturally.

Into the Dark

Visually, there isn’t a huge amount to touch base on. What I mean to say here is that, given the setting, the most you have to look at with your own two eyes is the path before you, a small cone of light that illuminates the route forward, and the occasional creature or trap that ties in with the nexus of the tunnel. It’s a lonely place, and one that doesn’t foster all that many things or items of interest for you to bathe in during your short stay in its world. And that’s something of a double-edged sword; it isn’t accommodating enough to make you want to push forward, but it is, on the other hand, enough to instill a certain sense of uncertainty and fear deep within your core.

I can’t bring myself to say that Pipeline Crawl is a full-fledged game, for it does fall short in terms of its own design and creative style. With little to do but push forward, you could argue that it’s more of a personal art piece than an interactive video game. Still, for an indie project, it does serve its purposes by providing an airtight environment that managed to amplify the universal fear of being isolated, trapped, and more importantly, vulnerable.

Verdict

There’s no point in me pretending that Pipeline Crawl is a game-game any more than it is an experimental art installation with pockets of fever dream fodder. True enough, it lacks a lot of the traditional gameplay features—interactive crossroads, multiple endings, and the usual gimmicks that you might find nestled in a bog-standard indie. With only the two directions for you to choose from, you could argue that there just isn’t enough here to keep you immersed for the long haul. But then, presumably, it was never intended to be a slog of a scuffle through a vent, but a one-time ordeal—a slip through the glass shards and a chance to piece together whatever creations HeadArrow had decided to pour into the hole.

If you like simple concepts that blend basic mechanics with relatively challenging memory-based gameplay, then you’ve every good reason to give Pipeline Crawl a try. Granted, it doesn’t boast the most compelling visual palette in the world, what with it being overtly dark and without any formal structure or intricate details. And yet, it accomplishes the one goal that it set out to achieve: to generate a claustrophobic world that could single-handedly exhume the most powerful fear known to mankind. To that end, it has just enough in its arsenal to keep you crawling forward. Well, at least for an hour or two. After that, the fear of being trapped more or less becomes tolerable.

Pipeline Crawl isn’t likely to be the be-all, end-all of psychological horrors, that much is true. That said, if you’re looking to put your mettle to the test, and if you enjoy the thought of engaging with liminal spaces and fever dream-like creations, then you might find what you’re looking for here.