Cryostasis, NecroVisioN, MoW dated News

Somehow I missed NecroVision, i'm sure it hasn't been mentioned once in PC Gamer etc. It looks hilarious - hopefully it will be a sleeper hit.

Really looking forward to Cryostasis, hopefully it'll have some of the System Shock 2 magic about it. NecroVisioN sounds interesting, and I wouldn't mind some more Faces of War/Soldiers action.

Cool!

I can't wait for Men of War.

Faces of War was fun, controlling one squad alongside your npc army. Problem is for me I'm too slow and all the npcs die.

Yeah, Men of War will most likely be excellent (loved Soldiers: HoWWII), Cryostasis could be anything between the greatest gaming fiasco ever and the next Stalker, and Necrovision I've never heard of.

System requirements for Cryostasis, anyone?

matty theres a tech demo out apperently for cryostatis that show some very pretty water effects, so quite high i reckon. not that that is much help. looking forward to cryostatis in particular.

I have played Cryostasis for the last few weeks (the Russian version) and it's certainly less hardware taxing than Crysis or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky. If that helps...

On the gameplay front, it's actually less System Shock and more Condemned meets The Thing, meets , say, some Japanese survival horror.... I mean it is extremely linear (unlike 'shock games) to the point that exploration is actively discouraged because staying in the cold for too long can kill you and everywhere is cold, except for the points of heat where you can replenish health/ heat. Also, you walk REALLY slowly because you're carrying around some 50 kg of arctic clothing and gear so it's logical that you cannot dash faster than a frightened turtle. Even if you could explore, the levels so far (I am on the fourth or fifth level at the moment) are basically a series of corridors. In that sense, Cryostasis is very traditional, bordering on old fashioned.

The psychic abilities of the main character are what adds some welcome flavour to the proceedings as there are a bunch of puzzles you have to solve by going into past of deceased characters you find lying around and doing differently than what they did (getting killed in the process). This does dynamise things a bit as it often demands you understand the puzzle AND find the less obvious solution (because the most obvious one got the character whose past you're playing killed) under strict time pressure.

Combat is slow and ugly and clunky, very reminiscent of Condemned I'd say and it adds a lot to the atmosphere. Haven't seen any boss characters yet, though, and from what I have seen in the Russian language forums, they demand certain strategising to defeat.

So far the game's strongest asset is the atmosphere created through really good visuals and solid use of sound. It adds a lot to the experience and, as far as I am concerned, it is notably more successful than, say, Dead Space whose atmosphere didn't quite work for me. Cryostasis manages to pull something similar to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trick: to look really scary and at the same time to communicate a sense of deep sadness (because you're basically romping through a titanic piece of old Soviet technology with people who once used to be brave explorers lying dead around you).

The Russian/ Ukrainian voice acting is absolutely superb and I really hope the western version keeps at least the option to play the game in Russian with subtitles as it adds so much to the atmosphere. Even the English subtitles I am using are of a very solid quality so I hope this is an option in the end.

On the gameplay front the game is, how shall I put it, less mesmerising than it is with its atmosphere and assets but the fact that puzzles vary and that combat manages to get the blood pumping every single time certainly helps. It probably won't be seen as equally good as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and, um, BioShock, but I imagine it will be viewed as a solid effort...

Cheers Meho, good write up. It sounds very interesting actually, I might have a gander at that when it comes our way.