PATHOLOGIC 2 Review for Steam

A good rule of thumb for horror movies, that applies well to horror games, is this – go in knowing as little as possible, and you won’t be disappointed. Thus it was so when I began my playthrough of Pathologic 2 from developer Ice-Pick Lodge and publisher tinyBuild, having never played the first game. Baroque medieval plague doctor simulator was the vague aesthetic I had in mind when I entered – I’d done my Amnesia playthrough, so I was fairly confident I knew what to expect. I was wrong!

What is Pathologic 2? It is a slow building, beautifully rendered, and atmospheric exploration of the horror genre. Atmosphere is everything in horror, and when utilized well, it does the legwork of raising fear long before any monster or enemy reveals itself. From the slow, incessant, and ominous beating of distant drums that play as you walk through the burning ruins of some seemingly Victorian era town, watching masked soldiers aim bayoneted rifles at refugees, there is the immediate sense that something is wrong. Even the most basic interaction with other characters is unnerving – hitting the dialogue prompt makes your conversation partners face occupy most of the screen, and they stare at you dead eyed as you click through dialogue options.

The horror comes through the ambiance of storytelling. Through the creak of floorboards and the deepening of shadows, and the sense of alienation and unfamiliarity – returning to a semi-mythical town where everyone knows you, or, do they? There are few jumpscares to start, but a slowly building sense of dread, of off-putting, gives the game a hook – one that kept me playing despite my absolute squeamishness at horror. There’s also a survival element – food, water, medicine, and other vital factors all need to be managed carefully to keep yourself alive. That is partly where the danger comes in – giving you an almost sandbox-open approach to moving through the first level, while keeping the threat of starvation as a kind of check against overlong exploration.

Time and its passage are the real enemy; as it goes by you will become hungrier, closer to death, and the world itself, more dangerous. I nearly died from starvation my first playthrough, but once the town begins its inexorable descent into darkness and madness, an empty stomach becomes only one of several considerations that need to be managed. Pathologic 2 is a beautiful, haunting, and intricate game; a dark gem of a psychological horror that I will almost definitely be replaying, if only to see what other ways there are to explore and experience this baroque, alien, yet unerringly familiar world.

9/10

Check Out the Pathologic 2 Developers On Game Difficulty Trailer:

Pathologic 2 is available for PC via Steam.