One of my favourite games of all time. Great story and atmosphere, combined with some unusual gameplay mechanics and stunning visuals. If you want something truly unique, you should definitely give this game a try.


EDIT (March 2014):
To go into a little more detail without spoiling anything: This is a survival game but not in the sense most popular games today are. You’re thrown into an alien world between life and death without memories or any knowledge of the world surrounding you. Your goal is to ascend to the next plane of existence as the world slowly dies around you. Instead of using stats and items this game only has a single resource: Colour. It comes in several different forms and serves as your health, mana, food, money and ammo at the same time. It is also a strictly limited substance and you must be very careful with your supply. Hoarding different kinds of Colour also affects the world surrounding you in different ways, increasing or decreasing the difficulty depending on the situation.

And that’s what’s going to make you either love the game or hate it. There’s no real tutorial and the game is extremely unforgiving of mistakes. And you will make plenty of those, often without realizing until it’s too late. Learning how the world works will take serious effort but each mistake you make will get you closer to understanding. And when you finally get the grasp of it the game rewards you with something that most modern titles lack: a true sense of accomplishment. The panic you feel during the early game will give way to a newfound sense of confidence as you learn to control the world to overcome the obstacles in your way. Beating this game without using outside help is a real achievement.

During the quiet periods when you’re not actively fighting for your life you have a chance to enjoy the scenery and music. The game has a very unique and weird atmosphere that I enjoyed immensely. I often took a few extra minutes to explore every nook and cranny, often finding some hidden goodies while soaking in the atmosphere. The music goes very well with the overall feel of the game. The English voice-acting is as good as you can expect from a Russian game but it’s nothing special. The graphics are dated but age rather well. Keep in mind that this looked really good when it came out.

The bottom line: try it if you’re looking for a challenge and enjoy figuring things out for yourself. If you prefer to have your hand held I recommend getting something more casual instead.

One of my favourite games of all time. Great story and atmosphere, combined with some unusual gameplay mechanics and stunning visuals. If you want something truly unique, you should definitely give this game a try. EDIT (March 2014): To go into a little more detail without spoiling anything: This is a survival game but not in the sense most popular games today are. You’re thrown into an alien world between life and death without memories or any knowledge of the world surrounding you. Your goal is to ascend to the next plane of existence as the world slowly dies around you. Instead of using stats and items this game only has a single resource: Colour. It comes in several different forms and serves as your health, mana, food, money and ammo at the same time. It is also a strictly limited substance and you must be very careful with your supply. Hoarding different kinds of Colour also affects the world surrounding you in different ways, increasing or decreasing the difficulty depending on the situation. And that’s what’s going to make you either love the game or hate it. There’s no real tutorial and the game is extremely unforgiving of mistakes. And you will make plenty of those, often without realizing until it’s too late. Learning how the world works will take serious effort but each mistake you make will get you closer to understanding. And when you finally get the grasp of it the game rewards you with something that most modern titles lack: a true sense of accomplishment. The panic you feel during the early game will give way to a newfound sense of confidence as you learn to control the world to overcome the obstacles in your way. Beating this game without using outside help is a real achievement. During the quiet periods when you’re not actively fighting for your life you have a chance to enjoy the scenery and music. The game has a very unique and weird atmosphere that I enjoyed immensely. I often took a few extra minutes to explore every nook and cranny, often finding some hidden goodies while soaking in the atmosphere. The music goes very well with the overall feel of the game. The English voice-acting is as good as you can expect from a Russian game but it’s nothing special. The graphics are dated but age rather well. Keep in mind that this looked really good when it came out. The bottom line: try it if you’re looking for a challenge and enjoy figuring things out for yourself. If you prefer to have your hand held I recommend getting something more casual instead.