Sanatorium: A Horror Adventure That… Nevermind, Just Forget It

It’s a long honored tradition among many a folk to indulge in the trashiest of horror, myself included. That being said, I do try to avoid bashing something for the sake of bashing it when it feels like someone is really giving it their best, but there’s something about the cockiness with Sanatorium that just rubs me the wrong way. Take, for example, these character models from the game:

As you can probably tell, Sanatorium isn’t exactly a Game of the Year contender. What bothers me, though, is the reasoning behind making this game. According to the developer, “…for me and other people, nowadays there are no films or videogames producing stress and scare. I do not want to play some titles to see their great graphics, I want to live experiences.” That’s all well and good. Obviously graphics aren’t a big concern for him, and that’s completely okay. But to just ignore what’s been a sort of renaissance for horror games, with the rise of Amnesia, SOMA, and even Five Nights at Freddy’s, and somehow convince yourself that this:

is in any way better than those games? It takes a lot of nerve, and apparently, not a lot of skill.

Now it wouldn’t be fair to say that the developers don’t realize some of the faults. In the video they mention how these screenshots are not the final product. But to achieve the “quasi-realistic graphics” they’re seeking, along with professional V.O. in English and Spanish, as well as money left over from that to rent out an office space, all on an $88,000 budget…well, you can be forgiven for thinking that a little too ambitious. I can’t honestly recommend anyone backing this one, but if you really want to give it a look, then I can only hope that this gameplay demo leads you to the right decision.