Narcosis

 PC
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. IGN Spain
    Apr 27, 2017
    70
    Narcosis is a suffocating experience in the bottom of the ocean. An interesting game, but it feels a little incomplete in some ways, including its length.
  2. COGconnected
    Apr 5, 2017
    70
    The price is a little high in my opinion, but if you’ve got a VR setup then it’s definitely worth it. Even without, if you enjoy other horror games where resources are limited and your mind is playing tricks on you, then there’s a good chance Narcosis is worth the money. Just make sure to grab your best headset, and turn out all the lights before you start.
  3. Digitally Downloaded
    Mar 31, 2017
    70
    Fans of survival horror should give this title a go, and this is especially true if you have the opportunity to experience it in virtual reality. It may not have ghosts and goblins, but Narcosis still provides a suitably haunting experience worth undertaking.
  5. SpazioGames
    Mar 28, 2017
    70
    Narcosis is an unconventional, intense and well written survival horror game. The abyss is a fascinating setting and the character is forced to survive and fight from inside a heavy diving suit, constantly monitoring the oxygen level. However, gameplay is too slow, awkward and inaccurate.
  6. Everyeye.it
    Apr 4, 2017
    68
    Quotation forthcoming.
  7. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jun 5, 2017
    67
    Although Narcosis turned out to be pretty monotone, it has its own strengths: limited oxygen reserves make you think twice about stopping to take a breather, while subdued sounds keep you on edge. It probably won’t scare you, but it’s certainly an interesting experience. [Issue#220, p.55]
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  8. UploadVR
    Apr 22, 2017
    60
    Once you get past the annoyances of the slow locomotion and uninspired gameplay, it really does start to feel like you’re there, underwater, trudging around trying to find your way. It’s a rare feat in these early years of VR to find the shine of something special, but Narcosis does have the glimmer when you stumble across those perfect moments. If you’re okay with a 2-3 hour adventure that’s a few jump scares spread out between searching for oxygen tanks with an intriguing narrative to guide you through, then Narcosis has enough going for it to be worth a look for some, but not all. [Tested with Rift]
  9. Game Informer
    Mar 29, 2017
    58
    Although Narcosis’ runtime is fairly short (about four hours), it’s padded by frustrating stealth segments and banal puzzle-solving that get in the way of some great storytelling and voice-acting. While captivating, those aren’t enough to make this experience worth wading through.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 18
  3. Negative: 2 out of 18
  1. dr_zoidberg590
    Apr 24, 2017
    3
    In a post-SOMA world, this game is unforgivably bad. Dirty tricks played constantly on the player, naff jump-scares, interminable walkingIn a post-SOMA world, this game is unforgivably bad. Dirty tricks played constantly on the player, naff jump-scares, interminable walking speed, a story that practically doesn't exist, buggy, completely punishing nonsensical experience that thinks it's so profound, when it just isn't. Also the graphics are like something from 10 years ago. The corpses just look ridiculous. No way to navigate so you're walking blind at a snail's pace. The game basically suggests that all will be eventually explained if you just plow on, but it never is. Disappointing.… Full Review »
  2. JasonR98
    Mar 2, 2021
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. For the most part I thought the game was decent apart from the annoying bugs I encountered, terrible jumpscares and lacklustre enemy’s. The twist ending however of the narrator through the full game not be the character you play but rather the character that accidentally gets you killed is pretty genius.… Full Review »
  3. PublicNuisance
    May 11, 2020
    5
    I looked forward to finally playing Narcosis. It seemed like I would love the setting and story. It turns out I was right. Sadly that’s aboutI looked forward to finally playing Narcosis. It seemed like I would love the setting and story. It turns out I was right. Sadly that’s about all I liked. I figured out in the first 30 minutes that I wasn’t going to have a good time. I tried to go forward and find some enjoyment but you can only bang your head against the wall so many times before you have to throw in the towel. The things that I loathed were the timed nature of the game; the one hit kill enemies and the lack of manual saves combined with the previous two. The game forces you to continuously find oxygen, and while realistic, it hampers my ability to go at my own pace and enjoy the atmosphere and scenery. My next issue was one hit kill enemies you encounter. These giant crab like spiders that can kill you in one hit to anywhere on your body. The idea is to sneak around them, hide and go past them. Well I dislike stealth aspects of games so that wasn’t enjoyable. What I did enjoy was the story and atmosphere as I mentioned. It was top notch. The audio was fantastic as well. I may not have liked those spiders but the sound of them scurrying around on my headphones at 2AM put me on edge like few other games have. The graphics were pretty good. The aquatic life was great; people and objects were decent but not awesome. The platforming parts of the game I encountered were enjoyable.

    I played Narcosis on Linux using Proton. It never crashed on me and I didn’t notice any bugs. The game uses the Unity engine. There is 1 setting for AA; 1 setting for AO; and 2 other graphics options to go with Vsync. As mentioned there is no manual save system. The checkpoints weren’t the worst spacing I have seen but far from the best. Alt-Tab didn’t work. Performance was great. One time the game dipped to 93 FPS but other than that it was above 100 FPS the whole time and was smooth.

    Disk Usage: 8100 MB
    GPU Usage: 23-96 %
    VRAM Usage: 1959-4028 MB
    CPU Usage: 38-51%
    RAM Usage: 3.9-4.8 GB
    Frame Rate: 93-144 FPS
    Game Settings: Highest, AA and AO turned on, 1920x1080

    I feel like this is simply not a game for me rather than a bad game overall. It just happened to employ many of my pet peeves as game play mechanics. If the things I mentioned as not liking are things you enjoy then there is probably a good chance you’ll like Narcosis. I paid $4.37 CAD for Narcosis and feel that was a fine price for the content. Even $10 would have been alright. The full price of $17.49 CAD is a bit steep for me even if I had of enjoyed it. I played it for 90 minutes before tapping out.

    My Score: 5/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 5700 XT 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 20.0.6 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Manjaro 20.0 | Mate 1.24 | Kernel 5.6.8-1-MANJARO | Proton 5.0-7    … Full Review »
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