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Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason

EMAIL PRINT pc

7.9 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
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Based on 33 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: 1C Company / Aspyr Media

Developer: Action Forms

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: April 20, 2009

Summary

Cryostasis takes place in 1981 on a nuclear ice breaker called the North Wind, which has become shipwrecked near the North Pole. The main character, Alexander Nesterov is a Russian meteorologist who must investigate what happened onboard the ship. But he’s not alone and the North Wind is now plagued by dead crewmen who have undergone a bizarre metamorphosis due to the effects of the incredibly cold climate. Alexander must try to unravel the mystery of the ship captain’s death and discover whether it was the cold or, possibly, something far more sinister. [1C Company]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Worth Playing

Cryostasis is just a few short steps away from being a video gaming Mona Lisa, and it's still easily an experience worth having.

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Game Revolution

Cryostasis manages to be more of a psychological trip than most games in the past five years, and it’s fantastic to play through. If you’ve found yourself disappointed with the style of horror games in the past few years, give it a try – you will not be disappointed.

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PC Format

Cryostasis is a beautiful, yet flawed, gem of a game. It offers up a thoroughly unique experience, that at its height is as breathtaking as it terrifying. The decision to render this as a first person shooter is slightly double-edged though, because as a shooter it’s less of a stunner, but is still a worthy addition to your game shelf.

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GameZone

Flawed, but easy to learn and occasionally inspired.

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Giant Bomb

A love-it-or-hate-it game. While the world it presents is breathtaking, the game's core combat and slow pace are what hold me back from recommending it to all audiences. However, if you tend to find yourself with more arty tastes in media, or are one of those gamers who thinks a good game necessitates a good story, Cryostasis might just be the game for you.

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Everyeye.it

Old-style gameplay for a new and fresh graphical adventure. The solid plot is linked with a serious reflection about human nature, and in this standardized videogame market, Cryostasis shines.

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Game Informer

The demon-like enemies, while apt enough in their personification of the evils that the crew brought on themselves, are brainlessly simple to slay. Similarly, the puzzles cleverly illustrate elements of the story but require little creative thought to solve.

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PC Zone UK

Recommended for FPS horror fans, although the environments are by definition a tad repetitive. [May 2009, p.72]

Vandal Online

Despite its flaws (some of then, like optimization, may be solvable) it still looks as a different game to us, sometimes absorbent, and an original experience everyone should have a look at.

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GameSpot

If you need the constant stimulation of flying bullets and sprays of blood, Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason likely won't inspire you. But if you appreciate slow-burning suspense, this adventure will keep you glued to the monitor to uncover the secrets buried deep within the inhospitable tundra of the Arctic circle.

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SpazioGames

Cryostasis isn't a game for everyone. If you're looking for something different, if plot and atmosphere are the first aspect you care for, this title could be perfect for you. On the other hand, if you need action, lots of weapons and causal fun, the PC market is full of titles that will entertain you better than this.

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PC Games (Germany)

Have you ever felt cold when playing a game? In Cryostasis you’ll be confronted with deadly cold, while you are exploring a long missing icebreaker-ship in the Arctic. This unusual shooter uses an innovative temperature-health-system and the horror-scripts are well done.

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Computer Games Online RO

Nevertheless, the combat is intense and dynamic, thanks to the reloading times, low clip capacity and the enemies themselves.

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GameStar

13 years after the ship disappeared, you're boarding the nuclear-powered Russian ice-breaker North Wind to find out what happened. The game tells two stories, the present and the past, using interactive cut-scenes, soul-journeys and visions, while a constant sense of menace fills you with fear. But the hardware requirements are too high and there could have been more graphical diversity.

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Absolute Games

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.

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Cheat Code Central

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

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LEVEL (Czech Republic)

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]

Play (Poland)

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]

Multiplayer.it

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.

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Eurogamer

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.

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Edge Magazine

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]

IGN

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.

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Hardcore Gamer Magazine

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.

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Meristation

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.

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Gaming Nexus

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.

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Total PC Gaming

Some original concepts let down by terrible repetition in look, feel and execution.

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PC Gamer

Dull combat, countless boring gray rooms and an abandoned story make Cryostasis as appealing as frozen dog droppings. [Aug 2009, p.76]

PC Gamer UK

Snail-paced frozen nonsense. [Apr 2009, p.66]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Andy M gave it a9:
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.

Daniel I gave it a10:
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.

Chris n/A gave it a3:
This game gets a 3/10 for it's storyline only. The game itself looks awful, the water effects are extremely cheesy and bad... and not to mention on top of looking awful it also RUNS AWFUL! This thing would probably lag even with a GTX-285 or something, I mean my god talk about terrible optimization. The gameplay is stiff and boring, I can really only see playing it for the story... which is slow as dripping molasses mind you. On the plus side this minds me of Call of Cthuhlu, so I give it a 3/10 for nostalgia and having an 'alright' storyline.

Adam B gave it a6:
Graphic Great, and runs smooth as with a Quad core Q9550 and GTX295.. However I found it repetative and confusing, with no enemys or weapons to start its very dull to begin with!!

Eric W gave it a0:
Absolutely the worst game I have ever had the displeasure of playing. I bought it on clearance for $15 and in my mind was still overpriced. This steaming pony loaf is a monument to superficial minds at the heart of technique and style over substance. Any reviewer who tries to say the story is solid or even comprehensible is as ignorant, vapid and/or juvenile as those that slapped it together. If you merely read the synopsis of the box and read the "survival guide" you will see they don't even agree with each other on the narrative premise. It is not clear what the folk tale that is told throughout has to do with the main plot. Unless you are a typical inarticulate adolescent with little or no education in literature and even less common sense, the thoughtlessness with which themes are slapped together will just be insulting. It is not satisfying as an action game either. It is slow and confining. One might say it is appropriate to the scene but I get the distinct impression combat is heavily hamstrung to prevent performance issues stemming from the fatuous emphasis on empty bullet points of features. Ultimately the loser in the trade-off is game-play. In the worship of shadowing effects some downright asinine design choices have been made. The folk-story telling should really be treated as a cut-scene that you can skip or the auto-saves should happen after every section is read. The "last weapon" hot-key should be implemented like every other first person shooter: Last _equipped_ weapon. In Cryostasis you have to have fired a weapon for it to be the last weapon. It should probably be a clue that this game is one of the biggest half-assed efforts ever seen in that the sub-title "The Sleep of Reason" appears nowhere on the packaging; at least nowhere on the copies that were on the shelf where I purchased it.

david m gave it an8:
Cryostasis is an incredibly flawed game, the combat is weak, the environments are repetitive, its buggy and poorly optimized, and the enemies become kind of lame towards the end. However, the atmosphere, puzzles, sound design, and even the story are all top notch. First of all, I haven't seen a game make you feel so isolated, even games such as Dead Space or System Shock 2 you'll have people talking to you, in Cryostasis the only dialogue comes through flashbacks of the crew and how everything got messed up and it really manages to keep you on the edge of your seat constantly. The flashbacks are the puzzles of the game, you'll come across dead crew members and you'll be able to relive their last moments to try and set things right, things such as having to walk by about a dozen angry snarling hungry dogs is really nerve wracking and one of the many moments of brilliance shown by Action Forms in this game, although there are two or three that end up being rather vague and frustrating, with the amount in the game I think that's a fair amount. The sound design is probably some of the best I've ever heard in a game right up there with Dead Space, hearing the Warden limp around with his chains rattling is incredibly cool, but even that can't compare to the big enemy weilding two tommy guns. When he spots you you'll hear an air siren go off and you know you're in for the fight of your life, hearing the air siren again once you've killed him makes you breathe a huge sigh of relief. All of the guns sound really nice and the reloading animations especially are really well done making combat less of a chore which is nice. The story was a bit vague and mysterious which is always cool, there was never really an explanation for things leaving the interpretation of what happened up to you, the flashbacks following the captain are especially well written and acted. This game is brilliant, it has its fair share of problems so it can't truly be a perfect 10 but I'm really looking forward to the next game from Action Forms.

tony v gave it a9:
Slow, but very atmospheric shooter if you have the hardware to run it.

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Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason

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