Stasis Review (Crazy_Tiki)
Christopher Bischoff spoke about how he was very inspired by films like "Alien" (1979) , "Event Horizon" (1997) and even "The Thing" (1982). The video game Sanitarium from 1998 played a hand in this as well and I have no doubt that the original Fallout had contributed some ideas to Christopher's vision. Having these themes of a dystopian corporation, cyberpunk like fusion of electronics with flesh and displaying peoples as mere tools to play god. STASIS finds ways to take many aspects of everything listed while standing original in its presentation and story.
However, STASIS has a problem that many point and click adventures faced in the past. The 200 IQ puzzle problem. I am no tourist when it comes to these games, especially when it comes to the most bizarre solutions. I understand the puzzle elements include experimentation with item combinations and frustratingly clicking on everything. STASIS on rare occasions did not make sense in its puzzle solutions and puzzle combinations. I did hit a wall once and had look up a guide and the solution to a puzzle was even out of my reach even when I was thinking outside the box. I am not going to blame the developers here as I think this was an oversight and its not an issue that I had faced constantly while playing the game, only merely had come up a few times during play. Due to this, a good amount of players should know what they are getting into when looking into this game. I would argue the prequel that came out after named CAYNE is actually harder.
While your not hitting your head on the wall on certain areas with its puzzles. You get a lot of time to breath the atmosphere and it does an immense job of sucking you in with its sound scape. Christopher has mentioned that sound in an important element and he is not wrong. Everything sounds either eerie or violent. Empty hallways with emergency lights followed by a spacious echo of the alarms blaring or the sound of machinery at work as it sounds like something that would tear your flesh like paper. The other means of really pulling the player in is the shock value that its brought in the game, extreme violence, grotesque design and vomiting environments.
STASIS succeeds in the world the Bischoff's present to you. STASIS is not going to be leaving my head for a very long time, just like the television movie "Threads" (1984) its a way to show effect of what happens when humanity is no longer relevant. Another perspective presenting an apocalyptic futuristic dystopian hell.