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Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason

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7.9 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
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Based on 29 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 29 User Votes

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

O.C. H gave it a10:
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.

Evan T gave it a7:
It's a shame this game hasn't received a better critical reception than it has. Based on the critic reviews I feel that overall this game has been largely misunderstood. The biggest flaw in this game is - without argument - combat mechanics, particularly the melee combat. However, these failings in design were not enough to turn me off to the game. This game's story and the folktale that is being told concurrently tie together nicely - the game's story leads us through a modern mystery which gives us "facts and details" about the events that lead up to the demise of the ship's crew, while the folktale gave us a more esoteric insight into the base human emotions and fears that often - and in this case have - lead to highly irrational actions. The criticisms of the "heat" based health system also seems to be larger misunderstood. A standard practice in FPS games these days is to indicate you are being shot by the enemy with a red "arc" or "blur" in your line of sight; the red being meant to correlate with blood. Here, the indicators are not red blurs, but ice "marks" indicating that hits from the enemy are freezing you rather than physically piercing you. However this is only an indication of the overall misunderstanding. Why is it that your character is even assumed to be physically alive or moving through a frozen ship in what we would term reality? I went through this game thinking the body of my character was lying dead somewhere, either in the ship or back in the ice when the sled fell in the crevasse. It makes the bizarre enemies, traveling back in time, etc. much more plausible within the context of the story. I felt as if I was supposed to be "between" time, giving me this this one opportunity to change the course of events that have already occurred. And why the complaints about homogeneous environments? The entire game is played in a single location, an old rusting ship. What kind of variety do these critics expect? Comments like these justify my assertion that many game journalists lack the credentials to adequately evaluate and comment on games. Being a past employee of a videogame retailer should not be sufficient qualification for gaining employment as a critic. But I digress... Despite Cryostasis's graphical glitches and poor combat design, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and the story it presented. I hope the developer can bring other similarly creative and interesting concepts to markets beyond its Eastern European home. My score reflects the technical imperfections of the game and their impact on my impression of the game as a whole.

Dave R gave it an8:
What's going on here?. This game is much better than the 69 score it received. Cryostasis is an innovative and refreshing concept, with great delivery. I mean, I actually feel cold when I play this game. The puzzles are sufficiently hard, and the enemies are as easy to kil, as you are to die by them (as it should be). The PhysX is awesome, play it without, then with, and you'll see what I mean. Great flashback stories, but that deos get a little old after the tenth time. The controls work great, by the way...no bad porting here. So, I really like this game. I'm playing it for the second time now. I highly reccomend it to anyone who is bored with the usual cookie-cutter, FPS stuff.

Hertyrson gave it a10:
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.

MrA gave it an8:
This game has a great atmosphere and the story is alright too even though there wasn't much explanation for the monsters. Although much of the game looks the same, it does resemble a Russian Icebreaker well and generally makes you feel creeped out. The health system is extremely creative and totally original. Kudos to them. The only reason why I don't rate this higher is because the game runs horribly. I have a 4870 and the game is filled with stuttering. This is must likely because it runs on the Crysis engine. However, if you can get the game to run smoothly it is a beauty to look at.

Mathias K gave it an8:
Cryostasis is the return of oldstyle Survival Horror games, it is slow, the enemies are powerfull and rare, you're weapons suck, puzzles over enemies, and atmoshpere and psychological horror comes before cheap scares and shock moments. But frankly, while it does so many things well, it have several gameruining bugs that occurs while replaying, you're HUD disappears after a specific flashback, jumping and sprinting might be impossible, and some doors appear to to have invisible walls when oppened. But plot, puzzles, innovation, the mental echo function and especially the sounds are what makes this game so good.

Sam H gave it a10:
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.

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Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason

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