Posted November 10, 2009
Ok, first of all I was always a great adept of adventure games: Gabriel Knight, Tex Murphy, Phantasmagora, Police Quest, Indiana Jones, The Neverhood, etc. All games that mark my childhood and growing ages.
But this one, this one marked me in many ways.
It's premise is very simple: You control the character, talk to npc's, use items to solve puzzles. The camera is in isometric view, and the graphics are, even if dated, aging really well. Nothing easier and this review could very well be about any generic adventure game out there.
But when you start the game and realize you are in a very uncommon sanitarium, Angel statues become living, deformed children play in a city where all grownups are gone and you can become a comic book character, that's when things start to build up.
You start as an amnesiac male, waking up in one of the most weird and disturbing places i've seen in a videogame. Not knowing who you are or where you are, you start talking to other patients only to realize that there is no one sane...but yourself.
This part serves only as an introduction. The real game starts when you travel to a small town and have your first "chit-chat" with the local children. Not wanting to spoil anybody, let's just say you are in for a really insane experience.
The game consists of mainly in-game scenes, but some FMV's show some of the player's flashbacks.
This is one of the best adventure games out there, and even one of the best, atmospheric and rich story games in general.
I can only say that you have to be crazy not to buy Sanitarium.
But this one, this one marked me in many ways.
It's premise is very simple: You control the character, talk to npc's, use items to solve puzzles. The camera is in isometric view, and the graphics are, even if dated, aging really well. Nothing easier and this review could very well be about any generic adventure game out there.
But when you start the game and realize you are in a very uncommon sanitarium, Angel statues become living, deformed children play in a city where all grownups are gone and you can become a comic book character, that's when things start to build up.
You start as an amnesiac male, waking up in one of the most weird and disturbing places i've seen in a videogame. Not knowing who you are or where you are, you start talking to other patients only to realize that there is no one sane...but yourself.
This part serves only as an introduction. The real game starts when you travel to a small town and have your first "chit-chat" with the local children. Not wanting to spoil anybody, let's just say you are in for a really insane experience.
The game consists of mainly in-game scenes, but some FMV's show some of the player's flashbacks.
This is one of the best adventure games out there, and even one of the best, atmospheric and rich story games in general.
I can only say that you have to be crazy not to buy Sanitarium.
