I came across this game years back, however under a different name (The Experiment) and while I had started it several times in the past, I never got around to finishing it. Then I lost it to time, and didn't realise it was on Steam - mainly due to the name difference. But, when I did, I was happy to get it and finally get through it. So now that I have, here are my thoughts.
Overall, it is an interesting take on an adventure / point & click game. Why? Because in this game, you do not control the main protagonist. Instead, you are someone sitting at a desk looking through security cameras and reading files, while leading the lead character through a derelict ship by switching on lights to guide her way.
The game requires you to draw the attention of the lead character to investigate areas to find valuable items to aid her in her quest. At the same time, clues are provided to you to access personnel files to uncover solutions and further access codes to proceed in the story - so be prepared for a lot of reading.
There are just a couple of things that marred the experienced for me.
1) There is no item highlight in the game world, so a lot of the time, you are basically leading the main character to every light source to see if she will interact with that area and MAYBE pick something up. Sometimes you might be able to spot something on the cameras, but not always.
2) There is no inventory. Since you are obviously not controlling the main character directly, you cannot see what she may be holding. So if you picked up a key early on in the game and then come across a locked door much later on, you won't know if its the right one unless you lead her to the door to try it out.
The above were minor nuisances, and with a bit of patience, you can overcome them. In addition to the above, especially with regards to items, there were a couple of times that the game bugged out. After collecting and item and saving the game, for some reason, after loading, the item was not registered in the inventory but at the same time could not be collected again. Multiple saves helped me get through this.
The biggest annoyance I would have to say is the dialogue/voice acting. The voice acting is very stiff and basically feels like they are just reading off a script. It does not feel natural at all. To make matters worse, sometimes there would be long pauses, which you begin to think you need to start doing something, only for the character to continue talking. Lastly, there are two characters that practically sound the same that when they spoke with one another it often confused me, especially when I hadn't realized that there was a second person (if you don't see them on the camera, you don't realize they are there. They sound that similar).
The game is a product of its time and the journey to completing it was enjoyable. There were a couple of tough puzzles here and there, but nothing that made me want to turn it off. Just be prepared to have your reading glasses on.
Oh, and what ever you do, don't leave the lady waiting between sessions. She will make you feel bad for leaving her there for X amount of days. (Game looks at the date and time of your last save and throws it back in your face.)
