Cryostasis, a title currently being developed by Kiev-based Action Forms, looks rather like a first-person shooter. The setting is appropriately gloomy and peppered with beasties, a variety of weapons are present and correct, the view is first-person and the UI includes a health bar. Classic FPS, right? Not quite.
In fact, Cryostasis is more of a puzzler than a shooter: the primary obstacle is the oppressive Arctic cold, not the zombie-like critters barring your way. Your energies are directed towards seeking out vital sources of warmth, with the disposal of enemies being a very distant second priority.
Your current core body temperature is indicated by a gauge on the UI, which functions rather like a traditional health bar. Another bar indicates ambient temperature: if this drops too low, your core temperature will begin to drop. If the environment warms up again, your core temperature will be able to rise - but once your core temperature falls below a certain minimum, you'll not be going much further. Being frozen solid does tend to impede one's plans for the evening, after all.
Thusly, much of the gameplay revolves around finding sources of heat. Just about anything radiating in the infrared spectrum will do: a raging fire is preferred, but an incandescent lightbulb will do in a pinch. Navigating outdoor sections quickly (before hypothermia sets) in, solving puzzles to light fires and uncover heat sources and overcoming obstacles are core gameplay elements. This focus on temperature is reflected visually: as the temperature rises, frost and snow on surfaces will melt and disappear, whilst visible breath is an early indication of cool conditions.
The game is set in 1968, upon a Soviet ice-breaking ship, the "North Wind", which was lost to the ice many years ago. The player takes on the role of Alexander Nesterov, a meteorologist attempting to investigate the last cruise of the North Wind and the fates of those onboard. Having made it to the ship, Alex now has some rather more immediate concerns: survival and escape. You see, not everyone on board the North Wind perished in the cold: the ship is now inhabited by what can best be described as mutant zombies, adapted for the cold. These fellas aren't pretty, don't smell good (can you have a smell in Arctic temperatures?), and really don't want to see you leave before bedtime. Oh, and just in case you happened to be enjoying the Arctic breeze, their weapons and attacks are all based on cold - yet another threat to your precious core temperature.
We were told that the level designs in Cryostasis are based on an actual Russian ice-breaker, and that the weapons are historically authentic. I can't verify either of these statements, but I can say that the environment design meets my expectations: lots of exposed steel, sharp edges and a heavy layer of grime. I'm even less qualified to pass judgement on the weaponry: they look like guns, and I'm happy with that. As for the rest of the environment, a physics and weather system provides ice, frost and snow effects, and the engine supports a unified lighting model, providing effective real-time soft shadowing which enhances the gloomy feel of the stricken ship.
I think Action Forms have the makings of a very strong title with just what I've mentioned above, but they demonstrated one more feature of which they're rather proud: Mental Echo.
As you might expect, many of the North Wind's hands never made it off the ship and their corpses litter the decks. Upon encountering such an unfortunate soul, the player has the ability to step into the last few moments of the deceased's life, observing events and perhaps changing the future - your present - in a favourable manner. Your original mission was to discover the fate of the North Wind and her crew, and Mental Echo provides a means to this end. In terms of gameplay, this feature exposition to be combined with 'productive' gameplay - a pairing I'm always happy to see.
I saw a very early build of Cryostasis, so it's very possible that changes will be made between now and the game's scheduled fourth-quarter release. Given that caveat, I was rather impressed with what I saw. I'm not yet certain if it's a game for me (what? actual thought is required?), but I do look forward to taking a closer look at the game in the future.
As I'm currently living off a student budget, my recent purchases tend to be from the various budget ranges of older titles: I'm more likely to be found playing Quake II or the original Unreal Tournament than Thief III or FarCry. I'll probably make an exception for Doom 3, though. (For the record, I did try Doom 3, and wasn't very impressed. Thief III has made it to the budget range here in the UK, and one day I'll play it. Perhaps after I've updated this profile properly...)
I enjoy online games, but I prefer the persistent world offered by the MMORPGs to the competitive environment of the CounterStrike servers. I've a feeling too many years of leisurely RPG playing have ruined my shooter reflexes; needless to say, I tend to end up on the tail end of the scoreboards in online FPS games. That said, I enjoy the competitiveness of multiplayer gaming, but prefer the face-to-face encounters of LAN gaming to the anonymity of the public servers.
