ROUTINE

A genre-defining masterpiece of cosmic horror and existential dread! The atmosphere of this game is unmatched in the genre. Even when compared to Alien Isolation—which had a massive scope as a AAA project from a major developer—I found the oppression and dread here to be much heavier. The retro-modern 70s-90s aesthetics are executed flawlessly, creating a parallel technological reality that feels entirely practical despite its clear inspiration from the older Alien films. Complementing these visuals is stellar sound design. The game strategically chooses silence most of the time to build tension, so the few musical tracks we do get perfectly enhance the player's auditory experience, keeping you on edge at all times. Regarding the gameplay, you spend most of your time running and hiding from entities while piecing together some of the most imaginative puzzles I have seen in the industry in recent years. The controls are highly responsive, and the C.A.T. gun brings back fond memories of playing Prey (2017) for the first time while I was trying to figure out the GLOO Cannon. Ultimately, the game's strongest point is its story, which delivers cosmic horror and existential dread on a level rarely seen across any medium. While I can think of a few games—such as Iron Lung, Prey, SOMA, Signalis, and Darkwood—or even books like The Three-Body Problem that have touched upon similar themes, none of these masterpieces left me with such profound despair as I gradually understood the narrative unfolding before me. At one point, I was absolutely desperate to be wrong about the direction the plot was heading, but I could only watch in silence as everything went up in flames. The storytelling can be a bit confusing at the start (and again at the end, though it all pieces together perfectly after some thought) because most of the lore is hidden in emails, diaries, and environmental details. You are NEVER explicitly told what is happening. Instead, you are forced to think for yourself. You must theorize, uncover evidence, and piece together your own version of events. Still, with a bit of effort, most players should be able to grasp the general idea of the overarching plot. The future of space exploration presented in this game is utterly despairing. For a cosmic horror experience, I think that is the highest compliment a piece of art can receive. Play this game blind. Let us become one.