Pathologic

Overview

Pathologic is a complex conceptual first-person adventure role-playing game with some action, thriller and survival elements, developed by Russian indie studio Ice-Pick Lodge.

Story

A fatal disease is affecting a strange little town when three outsiders mostly referred to by their nicknames (the Bachelor, the Haruspicus and the Devotress) arrive to this remote countryside location. Players can only choose one of these characters to play with as they try to get to the source of this illness. The storyline will always be the same for all of them, but seen that some of the town's secrets can only be accessed by each one of the three different characters, replaying the game with all three is pretty much key in order for the player to soak in as much from the story as possible, which goes on for 12 in-game days, upon which each of the characters will come to his or her own conclusions. It is then up to the player to make up their own mind, based on what they witnessed through the eyes of these three characters. Players will be given a major quest at the beginning of each of the 12 days that will get them through the main storyline-- the twist to Pathologic is that if players fail to complete these main quests by the end of their corresponding day, a major character will die, and the outcome of the story may change.

Gameplay

The game works on a strict time table--5 seconds of real time being equal to 1 minute of game time; at the start of the 24 hours that make up a day (the 24 hours will not always start at midnight) the player is given a main objective to complete. That main objective must be completed, if it is not the game will end when the next day starts. However in addition to that main objective, the player will be constantly seeking out, or having thrust upon them, additional quests given by the denizens of the Steppe; while these quests will not end the game if they are not completed, they are almost as vital as the main objective due to the benefits they will bring the player character.

These benefits will often come in the form of vital supplies: food, ammunition, medicine, etc. Because in addition to managing their time schedule, the player must also keep a close eye on their characters state of being. Characters in the game are frail, and that include the main character: who must eat and drink or face starvation, use bandages to mend wounds, and make use of the extremely sparse medical supplies so as not to become another victim of the plague.

Characters

The Bachelor

Daniel Dankovsky, a young doctor seeking a method to terminate his nemesis: Death. Dankovsky is summoned to the Steppe in order to perform a postmortem autopsy on what is rumored to be an immortal; this purportedly immortal elder died under under mysterious circumstances, and upon arriving in the town Dankovsky finds himself tasked not only with being the sole professional doctor in the town, but with being chief investigator in the murder mystery which enshrouds the doomed village.

The Town

The gloomy town where the action takes place is almost a character in by itself, given its importance to the story. The most important building in the city is The Polyhedron, which is a geometrically impossible architectural structure that the town's children use as a fortress. An ominous mountain called The Abattoir looms over the town, and next to it lies The Apiary, an insane asylum.

PC System requirements