Comments on: Same PR Problem As EST: GoG Sanitarium

By: Petërkopf

Petërkopf — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:39:44 +0000

Sanitarium is definitely one of the best adventure games that I can remember playing. It has a truly intriguing story that doesn’t feel like it’s cutting any major corners, just to add some mindless puzzlery or overly composed scenarios.

As Malkav noted, the puzzles are all quite logical, and the game tends to funnel you around the maps quite cleverly, which is something I prefer, to standing around for two hours, trying to scry what the hell the game wants me to do. It might be a let-down for some of the more hardcore adventurers, but as far as I’m concerned, the adventure games they crave, are just masochistic and irrational trainwrecks that no one can actually stand.

It’s worth noting that even though it won’t cause you too much unneccesary grief to get through, it’s still quite an elaborate game. I’ve spent countless hours playing, and unlike most adventure games, I didn’t put it down only to pick it back up, purely because it bothered me that I’d left it unfinished. You just need to see what sick joke is next.

Certainly if you’re slightly morbid minded, it’s going to appeal to your sense of humor. Sort of like Downfall, except it’s actually good, and it makes a hell of a lot more sense. Sort of.

By: Bassem B.

Bassem B. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:39:36 +0000

Sanitarium is great. A friend gave me a uh, borrowed copy, many years back. It was missing the voice acting. It still was engrossing, immersive, and at times horrifying. And the music was amazing. Once I can pay online, I’ll buy it off GoG for a renewed experience.

By: The LxR

The LxR — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:29:50 +0000

Sanitarium is a great game, and was received very well in Russia back in it’s days. A shame, that it wasn’t worldwide, and great that GoG and this post will bring the game some attention!
Seriously, buy it. Ice-Pick Lodge recommends it. ;)

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:59:34 +0000

I really, really loved Sanitarium. It’s not 100% even, but it’s an adventure game with some very, very atmospheric areas, an intriguing plot of madness and loss, and brilliant dialogue. And I think it’s one of the very few adventure games where I powered through almost entirely without hints. There’s only one red herring that I can think of (a literal red fish), and everything else has a more or less intuitive use, with most of the puzzles being inventory-based rather than some sort of horrible minigame or alien machinery (the kind of puzzles that most frequently stymie me).

I don’t know for sure how well it holds up these days, but unlike quite a few of GoG’s picks over time, Sanitarium is genuinely a Good Old Game.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:54:50 +0000

There are actually multiple action sequences, although they’re all pretty easy and they just restart if you fail them.

By: wellsaidted

wellsaidted — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:03 +0000

Is that a Manics reference in the headline?! Is it? IT IS?

Good.

By: TeeJay

TeeJay — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:28:53 +0000

“it’s basically Psychonauts if the designers didn’t find anything funny about mental illness”

I think there is an interesting discussion to be had about the treatment of mental health/illness in video games. As someone whose life has been blighted by prolonged depressions and occasional manic episodes (bipolar disorder) my experiences – of my own, of other people with similar conditions and of psychiatric facilities etc. is a long way away from how things are depicted in video games.

While modern movies still have plenty of psycho-serial-killer characters the last decade has seen a lot of movies with sympathetic characters who have mental illnesses and there is increasing public awareness of fact-versus-fiction especially as more high-profile/famous/respected people have “come out” as having illnesses, including people who have continued to work and hold postions of responsibility. There continues to be a lot of stigma, fear and misinformation about “madness” and “mad people” however. It is a moot point as to how much “stereotypes” and other popular media treatments feed into this.

By: Calabi

Calabi — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:15:01 +0000

I bought it at the time in spite of most of the reviews being less than positive. It just sounded fucked up so had to get it. And it was I liked it alot. It had lots of flaws annoyances, I was frustrated with bits of it but it made up for it with its atmsophere and just not knowing what to expect next and really feeling as if you were part of this mystery that had to be solved.

By: TeeJay

TeeJay — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:51:30 +0000

“Old pronounciation, not often used these days”

‘left-’ (as opposed to ‘loo-’) is the standard UK/British pronunciation, especially in the military. Also used by the BBC etc. For example: http://vodpod.com/watch/1848747-tributes-to-outstanding-officer

By: syllopsium

syllopsium — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:08:42 +0000

Anonymous Coward said:
Rpgs & adventure games, apples & oranges?

Not really. More excellent game vs good game.

PS:T has a more coherent plot, a better constructed world and less annoying action sequences.

By: oceanclub

oceanclub — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:29:16 +0000

Tried to install the old demo of it but got a “win 16 subsystem” error even with Win 95 compatibility mode. Oh well. Since I’m not big on adventures, and have enough games on my plate, I probably won’t go for this ’til the price drops even more, but it does sound a little intriguing.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:44:03 +0000

Misses the mark for me, which is a shame as it had potential.

Overall great atmosphere and some really memorable setpieces, but marred the progressively sillier bits towards the end, TERRIBLE Shatneresque voice acting and incredibly slow, clunky movement of the main character.

Worth a look, but by no means a classic.