ROUTINE

Routine stands out. It targets a specific aesthetic, a specific vibe, and a specific cadence, and it pulls out every stop to land on those targets. It does so with striking accuracy, making technology that feels real and of this world despite its fiction, simply due to the ways in which you interact with it and use it to solve problems and progress the story. It runs at a slow pace that won’t gel with everyone, and its lack of interest in guiding players is an observable filter as well. But those interested in the hardest of hard sci-fi, the challenge of powerlessness against ever-present threats, and the patience for environmental deduction have six or so hours jam-packed with all that stuff ready for them here. Routine has a niche appeal, but wears it like a badge of honor.