Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason

Cryostasis is a breath of fresh arctic air that won't leave you cold.

Cryostasis is a kind of revelation in the horror genre where you can alter the past to change the present. Game excels in visuals but lacks in combat system. [Feb 2009]

Investigating the frozen interior of a lifeless icebreaker is an enterprise full not of bloodcurdling action, but rather of adventure that sometimes freezes the action with horror. Interestingly told story for explorers who like the challenging conditions. The whole cause-and-effect machinery works in the open view, a drawback that tends to cool the atmosphere considerably. [Mar 2009]

Cryostasis is not a game for everyone. It's a game the player has to play from the start until the end to understand it. It's slow and fast at the same time, anachronistic and futuristic in many aspects of the gameplay. It's too linear but so fascinating in the plot. For sure it leaves something in the brain of the player. But usually it's a negative feeling.

Cryostasis is a brave, fascinating, often very beautiful game, but I find it impossible to recommend it - and not least because it runs like an exploded dog on most PCs. It's not quite creative enough - its environments fall into a monotony of samey rooms and bulkheads - and its combat is too clunky to be delicious.

Action Forms’ moments of ingenuity and the sophistication of its writing demonstrate that it could do great and yet more terrifying things with a more intimidating budget. [Apr 2009, p.124]

Cryostasis is a good attempt to extend the FPS genre and blend it with some survival-horror ideas. Despite the fact that the game is sharp and brilliant at the visuals, it ends reusing the same ideas over and over again. Creepy environment and frozen zombies are the main hazards for Alexander Nesterov, a Russian soldier that has the ability to revive the last minutes of the dead humans. Set in the North Wind, a Russian ship on the North Pole, the game has some good ideas that end on a dead end, providing a quite good game experience.

The setting is spooky, the time-travel bits are engaging, and the overall vibe scores big in the traditional components of fright. On the other hand, the mystery doesn't unravel quickly enough to keep players interested and the overall progression of the game is restrictively linear.

So how does Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason stack up? With mediocre horror themes, poor level design, and a poor story all muddled with poor stability, this is one game you wont miss playing.

It's certainly worth a try, and perhaps a buy, although it's up to you whether it's a better-than-average story-based game, or just a below-average role-playing game.