Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason PC
  • Publisher: Aspyr
  • Release Date: Apr 24, 2009
User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 108 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 82 out of 108
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 108
  3. Negative: 14 out of 108

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. RomanY.
    Apr 28, 2009
    9
    You know, I live in Ukraine(country where this game was made), An to my mind Criostatis is the best game of the gaming companies in our country. I know that it requires good computer system but however here are the best monster appearing, cold effects and story giving that I saw. I hope, the next part will be soon!
  2. laundryhampr
    Sep 21, 2012
    10
    This game i found to be slow to start but as the game wore on it became addicting. The story line was beautiful and this game had me jumping in my seat at certain times in the game. Overall it was a great game
  3. Hertyrson
    Jun 15, 2009
    10
    I just finished playing the game four times. The story is the deepest and most mystical of any game I've played to date. I'm 53 years old and I love and cherish a good storyline. I'm looking forward to playing the game on a very cold day in the winter so that it will be more engrossing. I would like to thank the team of Cryostasis for a job well done and well deserving. I bought a GTX 285 to play this game. What a perfect match! The game with the latest patch is virtually bug free. Just a minor hiccup here and there. I did have to turn off advanced physx for the final boss scene. I did leave the regular physx on though. I used 1280x720 with 2x antiliasing and it looks great on my 24" monitor. The mood is perfect. I love to see sparks flying when fighting some tough little bosses. I look forward to more games from the Russians.… Expand
  4. AndyM
    Jan 13, 2010
    9
    It's not for everyone. I thought long and hard before spending money on this game but I was surprisingly impressed. This is probably the scariest game you will ever play that manages to exclude even a drop of blood. The gun play takes some getting used to and the plot is linear and confusing but the presentation and innovative mechanics are what makes this a truly memorable accomplishment for the FPS Horror genre.… Expand
  5. SamH
    Jun 7, 2009
    10
    Cryostasis offers a very refreshing and original presentation to its already well-written story about the human psyche, and how one man slowly changes the fate of a ship and its crew. While an FPS, it is slow, steady, and well-paced in its delivery, and is not for everyone who expects a constant stimulus of gunfights and action. All in all, if you appreciate a great story and setting, Cryostasis is for you.… Expand
  6. JLewis
    Aug 20, 2009
    9
    This game is definitely different then other 1st person action (?)/ adventure games I've played. With limited action (which is why i put a ? next to action) and a kind of slow pace, many gamers more inclined towards games like Halo might be turned off from an initial view, but It's not a bad game at all. While it sometimes suffers from being slow and dull, I think that that might be one of the points that the developers were trying to get across. The arctic is very much void of color and isn't very interesting to look at, and this game captured that feel very well. Give it a try.… Expand
  7. O.C.H
    Jul 17, 2009
    10
    Cryostasis has dull gunplay, graphical issues (some computers can't run the game properly -- it doesn't take advantage of dual-cores), and a repitive environments. It also contains the single best story in the history of gaming. This is a landmark achievement. I was stunned and amazed. Not everyone will like it, but everyone NEEDS to play it.
  8. DragonsInSpace
    Oct 2, 2010
    10
    The only problem with this game is its advertising. It's advertised to be a first person horror shooter and puzzle adventure. In fact, it is none of that. It takes place in the first person perspective, you shoot things, monsters run at you and can kill you quickly and the atmosphere is heavy, and there are puzzles. But all of that is minuscule. Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason is a mystery game. Everything about the game, from graphics to lighting to monsters to cutscenes, is part of the environment that tries to tell a story. These pieces of information scattered about are all for piecing together of the absolute most amazing tale in video game history. Symbolism is heavy and atmosphere is so thick you can cut it with a knife. It's not just a game, but a spiritual experience. It shows more than any other release that games are art and a valuable storytelling medium. Buy it, at least if you make sure your computer can run it.… Expand
  9. tonyv
    Aug 30, 2009
    9
    Slow, but very atmospheric shooter if you have the hardware to run it.
  10. DanielI
    Dec 23, 2009
    10
    Innovative and genius. This is the kind of game that should be praised. I love the health system as well as the time-travel mindblowing story. Open your mind.
  11. Sendai
    Oct 1, 2011
    10
    The best of the game, getting the dive, the sublime ambience, the scares that gives the game (much more than Dead Space), the sound gets acongojarte, all without music, which is a great merit (a Unlike other games like Silent Hill that base much of their potential in the excellent music), the pace of play, how to get into the story, graphics, * the original so they have established the''life''in the game, continuously seeking warmth to avoid being cannon fodder, the visions that has the protagonist, the realism of the guns.

    Fantastic game, one of the best games I've played in recent years.    … Expand
  12. acdcrules
    Feb 6, 2012
    10
    I have just finished this game and I must say I enjoyed it immensely. Not particularly scary, but it does have some GREAT moments and gameplay sections that will you'll remember long after finishing the game. If you enjoy something deeper in your game and expect something "different" from a first-person perspective, this is a must-play really.
  13. Chroma
    May 30, 2012
    10
    Story:
    The game does a very good job with the story as it is not cliche written or simplistic good and bad. The characters are complicated and have their faults that leads to the situation they are in. They are written as imperfect human beings that can be liked despite the bad choices they may make. There is no good or evil, just people in a unfortunate situation. The past segments reall    y had me caring for the crew and feeling sorry for the predicament they were in. It lead to me to being compelled to do a good job to save everyone. Also, it does a good job in showing how the crew was handling things and what they experienced that you could care for them despite being nameless. I wish could learn more about the generic crew members and how they felt. The story is complicated and confusing at first that can take a second play-through to piece everything together. It will make sense in the end with no loose holes in the story and a satisfying ending. To me the story is some of the best I have seen in gaming. Just for the story alone is the game worth owning.

    Game play:
    The game is in first person where at first 1/3 of the game you will be using melee weapons until you get a firearm. I should talk about the meters on the bottom left corner of the screen. The small red meter is your health which can be recharged by being warmed up by heat. The big red meter is the heat meter which will recharge your health to high high your temperature is. The yellow bar on your meter is your stamina bar which affects how many attacks you can do in a session and how long you can run. There are not too many times where you need to run though, you can save your stamina for melee weapons or a quick doge when needed. The heavier the melee weapon, the more stamina will be used and the longer the attack animation will be. You can do combos and attack differently depending on what direction you move while attacking. Guns don't use stamina but are old, have no cross hairs, and reload slowly. You can look down the iron sites to aim accurately though. The bolt action rifles and the semi-auto rifle fire slowly, and the SMG uses a lot of ammo to kill someone. It can feel a bit sluggish when using guns though you don't have to use them often. There is a water gun you get halfway through the game if you install the patch that is quite a game breaker as it stuns the enemy while you hurt them and you can get plenty of ammo in the form of icicles.

    The game is linear with 18 chapters to complete. During the game you will come across bodies which you can jump in to change their past before they died. These segments are generally easy though you can't save in the middle of them. Some of them are difficult where you need to really pay attention in order to get through. The monsters you face are strange and unusual with some being creepy . The atmosphere in the levels is gripping and pulls you into the creepiness of what has become of the ship and the crew. Many of the levels are long and difficult with the last 3 levels being very short. The game took me about 16 hours to complete. It never felt tedious to me and always compelled me to continue on. Graphics:
    The graphics in Cryostasis are amazing. On the highest setting, they are amazing with realistic water effects and ice freezing. The water flows in a realistic way when thawing that it can look real. The way the ice crumbles to pieces is neat as you see the little pieces fall part on to the ground and stay there and can be adjusted too in the ini settings. The animations for enemies look very natural and feel real and smooth that even your own fighting animations can be timed in rhythm. If you play the game with PhysX on, the graphical effects are even more amazing. PhysX didn't seem to support anything below shader 4.0 with no window mode. This game has a reputation of having some of the best graphics, comparable with Crysis on the PC. However, it has no multi-core support so it can be rough on all but the high end computers in the 3.0 ghz range

    Sound:
    There is no music in the game and it's all atmospheric effects. This can create an uneasiness to the atmosphere when exploring the environment an helps keep you in the mood no matter what you are doing. So even combat does not ruin the horror but adds to the tension. The sound effects are great from the blowing of the wind, to the power turning on, to the swoosh of a weapon swing. The gun sounds are authentic and sound powerful like you are using a real gun. The voice acting for the game is surprisingly good even if it is in English. The Russian accents are not silly where they will ruin the atmosphere but sound possibly like what a real Russian person speaking English would sound.

    Conclusion:
    You can get this game on steam, DRM free on GOG for $10, DRM free on GamersGate for $13 or you can find it DRM free as a physical copy somewhere. Overall, I would recommend this game to experience great atmosphere and story.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 28 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 28
  3. Negative: 2 out of 28
  1. Absolute Games
    74
    Design flaws and the game's tendency to wax philosophical do not distract from the core idea and its stylish execution. This is what Vivisector, Action Forms' previous project, should have been like.
    Read full review
  2. Eurogamer
    60
    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.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    70
    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]
See all critic reviews »