Wake up from the Sleep of Reason and embark the North Wind... Cryostasis brings fresh air to the FPS horror genre
Pro:
- Perfect game presentation and realistic ingame environment settings
- Very atmospheric and thrilling gamedesign
- Sound/Voice Acting is top notch and a big addition to the scare factor
- Realistic in many ways
- Only game so far that uses unique Nvidia Physix water effects
- Mental echo ability is an original and awesome addition
- Gunplay is realistic and game is using authentic guns like Mosin Nagant and PPSh-41
Contra:
- Frame drops even on high end PCs
- May appeal too monotonous sometimes
- Enemy AI may lack sometimes
- Few enemy encounters only 2-3 at times
- No gore and blood splatters
- Linear level-design
Story: 8/10
The story goes like this. Arctic circle, the year is 1968 you play the role of Alexander Nesterov a russian meteorologist who is caught up in the nuclear icebreaker-ship "The North Wind" after he wakes up from his slumber he realizes he is trapped inside this huge steel prison and has to uncover the dark truth about the north wind and what happen to all the crew members who seem to be all missing at the time being.
Cryostasis starts pretty slow as you are introduced to the story only by drawings and pictures Alexander finds on his way through the ship, most of the story parts are spoken by a female narrator and the captains voice. This story element seems to be a little weird but actually it fits perfectly into the game setting and I think it was a good and original idea. It's a strong story and you will be intrigued to play even further just to see what exactly happened on the north wind and to its crewmen.
Gameplay: 8/10
Cryostasis is considered to be a sci-fi FPS (first person shooter) and as one you will of course "shoot" with guns but its not the only way to get rid of foes, you also will come across a heavy chain-lock, a rusty valve and even a fire axe which you can use as melee weapons. You control Alexander in first person view and have to solve some puzzles and clear paths as you proceed deeper into the ships interior. Two things let this game definitely stand out for its originality, first the health system is heat based, means you don't have to collect health packs all the time you just have to find hot sources and warm locations to replenish your health back or regain stamina. So whenever you see a light source like a lamp or a torch you can refill your body temperature. The second big original idea is called "mental echo" ability and involves Alexander to enter the dead crewmen or even animal minds to alter their and his future and to prevent tragic events.
Graphics: 8/10
This is where this game definitely can surprise everyone, the graphics are absolutely awesome even thou they are not next generation graphics they deliver just the right atmosphere and cold ambience they should. Cryostasis is the only game so far that uses unique Nvidea Physix water effects and you will be amazed by these as they seem very realistic. For example there are those cool moments when you can see water running down the walls and icecicles melting, these effects are truly amazing.
Sound: 8/10
Overall perfect sound effects even thou this game doesn't rely on background music at all, still you will hear every bit of sound in a realistic way like gunshots, rusted metal doors, rushing water and and and. The voice acting is very solid and I was actually surprised how good it was at some points, the english voice actors have a russian dialect which improves the whole thing and keeps you connected to the story, the guns sound absolutely realistic even the reload times. Also its ha a nice russian ending tune which makes this game in every way epic.
My Review:
Let's start off by reviewing Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason. Your first impression will be that this game doesn't even start as a normal first person shooter and that's what makes it so great. After the main cutscene you are introduced into the story by waking up and realizing that you are in some kind of derelict and frozen russian vessel called the north wind and by frozen I mean everything is frozen on that ship and the cold is actually part of the whole game-idea as it will drain your health from time to time and will kill you if you don't manage to keep your body temperature high enough.
The health system is simple but very original and also implies the cold arctic setting you are thrown into. It works like this, you have on the left down side of your screen a round thermometer clock which indicates the outer room temperature and your internal body temperature as well as your stamina which will drain by running around too much for example. The cool thing is you can refill your body temperature by trying to stay close to light sources like lamps, torches, ovens for example and you have to check the outer temperature from time to time to make sure there is a warm spot or place nearby. Great idea in my honest opinion.
As you proceed through the dark corridors and rooms of the ship you will take note that you will be introduced through flashbacks and sudden events to the terrible things that happened on the north wind.
This game uses a gameplay feature called "mental echoes". Mental echoes allow your character to enter the dead crewmen minds to see the past events and to change their fatal destiny and your future by interacting and interfering with the past. Like for example you will stumble upon a frozen blocked door and you can enter a sailors mind to change the future by taking another path which led to the door being jammed. In short you will make the wrong things right again through your mental echo ability and clear your path for further proceeding. The puzzles in this game aren't that hard and they require most of the time your mental echo ability to solve things out.
Another important aspect are the gunfights and enemy encounters. Soon Alexander will realize that he isn't quite alone on board the north wind and that creatures which take the form of possessed crewmen are trying to kill him. Some of the enemy encounters will make you jump out of your seat as you never know what exactly lurks behind a corner or under the thick ice layer. The game uses only few guns but they are represented absolutely realistic and historically correct. You will use the Mosin Nagant rifle with and without scope, the PPSh-71 automatic gun and the SVT-40 as well as some other melee weapons like a valve, a chain lock and a fire axe. The gunplay may let down sometimes because the reload times appear very long especially for the Mosin Nagant rifle which is a correct thing but some people may get turned off by this fact that the games gunplay is too slow and clunky for an FPS.
I think the slow gunplay raises the fear and scare factor and the fact that ammunition is scarce will keep your tension pretty high sometimes.
What Cryostasis delivers in high amount is cold atmosphere. I personally think that this game comes very close to unique when it comes down to absolute well executed game atmosphere and ambience. Everything seems so right and realistic, light effetcs, water effects, creepy sounds it's all here. You will get a feel of the cold wind blowing around the ship and the water effectes caused by Nvidia Physix will amaze you in the most unique way.
Let's talk about the flaws Cryostasis has. One of the biggest problems with this game are instant frame drops and even people with good balanced gaming PC's and fast graphic cards will have their issues with frames dropping so fast that the game even freezes on some events. I heard it is a very common problem due to the fact that this game wasn't designed for multi-core CPUs and relies much on Nvidia Physix. How they could design a next generation game like this for a single core CPU is truly strange. I hope the developers can fix the frame drop problems with a future patch or something.
My second big complain is the total lack of gore and splatter effects, sure it may offend some people but in my honest opinion this game would rock so hard with the addition of blood and gore effects and would even surpass some other horror FPS titles like FEAR for example. It kinda takes the thrill out of the game if you are equipped with an axe and you can't slice a thing to bits. Dead Space for example combined both atmospheric horror and gruesome gore effects and was very unique and great on this level, too bad Cryostais fails to deliver these moments.
Another thing are the levels which may appear too linear and same-looking but I can't really blame the game designers for that after all you play the whole game on a ship and you can't expect anything else than dark and wet corridors besides that. I also had a problem with the AI of the enemies, they seem kinda dumb and won't threaten you too much if you mess with them on long range equipped with the rifle. Overall the gunplay isn't that fast and engaging as in other FPS titles. Weather you like the realistic gunplay or hate it for being too realistic and slow it's really up to you.
Final Words:
Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason is not your average first person shooter neither it is the terrifying and gruesome horror game you hoped for. It's an very atmospheric and intense sci-fi horror game experience which is slowed down by some technical problems. Overall it offers a strong story and unique gameplay moments as well as game physics beyond things you have seen so far therefor it gets a well earned 8 out of 10.
Final Score: 8/10