PATHOLOGIC 2
Staying alive, staying alive…
When physician Artemy Burakh returns to his hometown in the steppe, accusations of murder are the least of his problems. After six years away, the town is both familiar yet strange, and long-simmering tensions are about to boil over. You can’t save everyone and the worst – plague – is yet to come.
Even for survival game fans, Pathologic 2 is a unique experience. The intended difficulty setting puts you in a deadly dance of just getting by, true satiation but a pipe dream. The constant nip of death at your heels gets you moving, but the real driving force lies in the story and the ‘hobo economy.’ Between chasing rumours about women made of clay and a man promising he can sell you the only gun in town, you’ll be dumpster diving for stuff to trade with the rest of the townsfolk. 1
The end of each day is a point of no return, unique opportunities evaporating in its wake. As you unspool the town’s mysteries, you’re pulled three ways between surviving, passing time, and making the right choices… whatever that means to you. Altruism is often costly in these desperate times, but that doesn’t mean a hastily fashioned shiv should be your tool of choice either. The nuanced, adaptable approach demanded of any would-be steppe survivor will keep you on your toes, and it’s refreshing to dispense with unambiguous moral choices. The only fly in the ointment is this port’s rough edges, with loading screens, in particular, being frequent and long enough to annoy. But if you can stand the jank and that esoteric intro section, 2 this is one train you definitely don’t want to miss. Jess Kinghorn