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Amidst this hell are 27 key characters known as Adherents, who are distinct from regular NPCs, each with their own agenda. To the East is the enormous Abattoir and Apiary which houses the workers, both locked to prevent spread of the disease. To the South is swampland and the closed train station. In the West of the town is the Polyhedron tower, an unnatural almost Luvcraftian structure, floating above the ground and seemingly constructed from the paper upon which its plans were drawn.

The beleaguered town is split into a number of named areas (Bridge Square, Tanners, Damp District, etc), divided into three main sections adjacent the Gorkhon River (the river doesn’t actually exist, though is named similarly to the Orkhon River). You may well find yourself trading in your only handgun for some bread and antibiotics, while outside the store arsonists set fire to anyone they think has the disease. At first medicine, food, and clothing will be plentiful, but as panic sets in prices will rise, money becomes worthless, and the authorities will start imposing draconian measures to maintain order. This entire system meanwhile is facilitated by a constantly fluctuating economy, based around currency and bartering. It’s actually fairly easy to avoid infection, especially if you abuse the quick save/load options, but getting infected adds an incredible new dimension to proceedings – the regular need to medicate yourself. You need to eat, sleep, avoid injury and, most importantly, avoid infection by the sand plague. Pathologic is a “survival game” in its purest and most intense form. The main challenge, whoever you choose, is simply to survive for 12 days – actually stopping the plague, and dealing with various characters subplots, is secondary. Players take on the role of either the Bachelor, a doctor from the capitol the Haruspicus, a returning folk healer or the Devotress, a mysterious young woman thought to have magic powers and feared by the townsfolk. Regardless, the entire town is gripped by the “sand plague”, which threatens to become a country ravaging epidemic if not dealt with. One military character even mentions being pulled away from the front, implying perhaps one of the conflicts Russia was involved with just prior to World War II. A precise date is never mentioned, but given the presence of an enormous Soviet railway gun at one point, it obviously occurs between the two great wars. Set in a remote cattle farming town on the Russian Steppe, accessible from only one direction via train, the game takes place over 12 days at some point in the early 1900s. Persevere and you will be rewarded with a genuinely unique gaming experience. Ultimately, the game let’s you correct any mistakes you’ve made via a rather ingenious system, so even if you fail some tasks it’s still possible to see the best ending. It’s also not particularly difficult, if you stay calm and think. It has flaws, undeniably, but in a similar situation to Deadly Premonition, many of its bizarre quirks are what make it so wonderful. Also, don’t be put off by exaggerated claims of it being obtusely difficult, unbearably archaic, or having a translation which makes it unintelligible. If you’ve not yet had the pleasure of experiencing Patholigic, try to avoid anything which details the surprises it holds.

#ROCK PAPER SHOTGUN HALF LIFE OPPOSING FORCE SOFTWARE#

Even so, it’s still a comparatively obscure Windows based game, and one that’s likely to grow increasingly so as the Windows OS makes older software obsolete. Not to mention all the awards and GOTY recommendations it received in its native Russia. Gamasutra has championed its eccentricities alongside Deadly Premonition, and Rock Paper Shotgun ran an exhaustive three part feature on it. Despite visuals that would turn many players away, a complete lack of presence on Metacritic, a Game Rankings score of only 66%, and a generally pervasive feeling of being unplayable, Pathologic by Ice-Pick Lodge has received a lot of praise in some circles.

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